Do your homework
If you want to receive a good education at a graphic design school it makes perfect sense to ’shop around’ before you decide on the one that is right for you. In other words, you have to do your homework.

But you may ask, ‘How can I tell a good graphic design college from a bad one?’

In this installment of ‘5 top things you should know about graphic design schools’ we’ll offer some advice and tips on this.

#3 What is the quality of the teaching staff?
It’s probably not stretching the truth much when we say you’ve probably had a few bad teachers during your educational life. On the flip-side you probably can remember one or two teachers that were very talented.

The teachers you fondly remember are the ones who brought something more than just facts when you walked into the classroom. These people were able to inspire you and may have even changed the direction of your life.

When seeking out a good graphic design college the teaching staff is one of the first things you should look into. Your teachers may have been in the graphic design industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can teach.

Are they qualified? How long were they in the industry? What sort of portfolio or awards do they have? Can they communicate effectively? These are the questions you should be asking about the staff.

The staff, as a whole, should reflect high values in education. Of course there will be a few ‘bad apples’ but what you seek is a staff that is committed to helping its students learn the craft of design.

#2 The Equipment
A well-equipped graphic design college needs to have modern computers, design hardware, and the latest software applications.

The graphic design school you want to attend should offer courses in Photoshop, Maya, Illustrator and other industry standard programs.

You should also expect to see graphics tablets, scanners, and flat panel display monitors.

Back-in-the-day a good cache of art supplies and drawing materials was all that was needed to tackle the jobs a graphic designer was working on.

But in today’s job market, computer skills and the ability to use design software is important, if not mandatory, in being a successful graphic designer.

#1 Do you fit in?
Have you ever gone shopping for a car and the salesperson asks, ‘Are you ready to buy today?’ Your answer was probably, ‘I’m just looking around, thank you.’ You can approach the selection of a graphic design school in the same way.

Don’t feel pressured to ‘buy today.’ Look at all the options, including online education, and make your choice carefully.

Your education is your first priority at graphic design college but make sure you feel at home there.

Graphic design school and your career
If you have a natural sense for proper color schemes, have a good eye for aesthetic values, and find yourself thinking, ‘I wish I could do graphic design for a living,’ you may be the right person for a career in graphic design.

The world of graphic design is broad; you can branch off into the areas of animation, web design, multimedia, illustration, and other fields. It all depends on what your skills and interests are.

Your graphic design college representative can guide you in selecting the right courses and answer any questions you have about earning your associate or bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

The inside info
If you are contemplating or curious about graphic design colleges, you want more information and answers to the questions you have about these educational institutions.

In this series we’ll explore the 5 top things that people want to know about graphic design school life and whether pursuing a graphic design education is right for you.
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5. Prepare to judge and be judged
No matter how much talent you have, the rude awakening in graphic design school is there are actually people with more talent than you! On the flip-side you have more talent than others.

In any liberal arts college, talent is the coin of the realm and if you have a well-balanced, realistic image about your abilities and skills, you won’t be fixating about comparing yourself to others.

On the other hand, if you believe you have superior skills, Michelangelo said, “I am still learning.” If the great Renaissance master understood this principle about talent, you can also remain open in your education experiences.

4. Lean on me
Bill Withers, composer of the song “Lean on me,” has a lyric that speaks about the need for relying on others:

Lean on me when you’re not strong,
I’ll be your friend,
I’ll help you to carry on…

In graphic design school your classmates can be a tremendous help in providing you with honest feedback, moral support, and in some cases the beginnings of lifelong friendships.

Whether you are outgoing or not, due to the natural camaraderie that exists in liberal arts colleges, you’ll find opportunities to develop good social networks.

Be sure to enrich your college education with student support in addition to your academic life.

Graphic design school and your future
It doesn’t matter if you are a graphic designer or someone who is contemplating an education in graphic design-the need for solid career training is essential for today’s job market.

The fast pace in this industry means keeping up-to-date with the latest trends, software applications, and design hardware in order to remain competitive and qualified for new job opportunities.

Speak to a graphic design school representative to find out what your education options are.

Next time…
How do you select a good graphic design college? Is a graphic design career right for you? We’ll answer these questions in our next installment of ‘5 top things you should know about graphic design schools.’

Look, laugh and listen
In this article we’ll show more of the graphic design mistakes that slipped through the cracks during the production phase. Were these errors made under tight deadlines or too much pressure? These are the times when visual gaffes happen.

Some slip-ups are understandable while others could have been entirely preventable. Whatever the case, we hope that the mistakes of others can help all of us to be more careful when producing our images.

Have a good laugh and file these “lessons” away until you need them…especially when you only have a few hours left till deadline. Our thanks go to the members of photodisasteters.com for finding all of these gems or should we say lumps of coal?

Sweat the little stuff
Sometimes it’s the little stuff that gets past the gatekeepers during production. The errors aren’t big ones but they do point out that someone didn’t take the time to be more precise in the editing of the images.

In this case, an ad for the Audi A5 dashboard looks elegant and sporty except for one little detail.
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If you look closely between the 5 and 6 on the tachometer (left dial) you’ll see that the image has the rpm markers missing.

Yes, it’s just a little detail but car fans will immediately notice the omission.

This would be OK for the general public but to a car fan it’s a definite no-no.
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Was it really worth it?
Large businesses and companies spend a great deal of ad money to get the word out on their products; the ads cost a princely sum to produce.

Scarlett Johansson has represented Moët beverages for several years and this photo is one of the many she posed for in the Moët magazine ads.

But if you consider that Moët probably spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to have this ad produced, you may have said to yourself, “I could have done that…and probably a lot cheaper too.”
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This ad is about as “cut and paste” as you can get and we don’t mean that in a good way.

The balloons were shot separately in a studio (note the double highlights on many of them), while Ms. Johansson was photographed on a couch during another photo session.

The background (out of focus) was used as the backdrop for this image. Drop out the green screen behind the balloons and Ms. Johansson, do a few layers and voila, you have a composite image.

There’s nothing wrong, inherently with the concept, but considering the cost of this ad we think that Moët received the short end of the stick when the contract was signed with this ad agency.

Sweat the little stuff, again…
Sometimes it’s cost effective to use an old graphic for an event that happens annually. All you have to do is to change the year or date and you’re done.

Not so fast, bud. You have to be careful that you’ve changed all the important graphics in the image to make sure none of the old dates are still present. Can you spot the error in this image?
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The year “09” appears correct but if you look at its reflection you can see that it says “08” from the previous year’s ad.

You can see the enlarged ad here and the actual mistake here.

Graphic design school
Talent can help you attain a career in graphic design; graphic design schools help you to master the techniques of using various elements to produce professional graphics.

If you are a graphic designer, continued education classes are available at your graphic design college. These courses can bring you up to speed on the latest software and hardware applications.

If you are planning to attend a graphic design school, speak to your school counselor about the various career training options available to you in this fast-moving industry.

Next time…
Not everything that is a “mistake” is a mistake. In some cases graphic designers and art directors break the rules to make a point or draw attention to the subject at hand.

Stay tuned for examples in next week’s article on Graphic design mistakes and blunders.

Get a scholarship for your education
The EDSF (Electronic Document Scholarship Foundation) recognizes the need for talented industry professionals in document and image management for businesses, government and public record keeping.

If you are a full-time student and majoring in graphic communications or document management, the EDSF Scholarship Program award may help defray part of your college education costs.

Who is eligible for this scholarship?
You must be a full-time student who is committed to seeking a career in document management or an associated major such as graphic communications.

To be fully eligible for consideration of the EDSF scholarship you must meet all of the following criteria:

* Have an interest in pursuing a career in document management or graphic communications
* Have an overall grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale
* Be registered as a full-time student at an accredited university or college as of fall 2011 ….semester

Scholarships are based upon the student’s performance in a combination with the following:

* Scholastic excellence
* Quality of application essay
* Participation in school activities
* Community service
* Honors and organizational affiliations
* Education goals
* Academic and professional recommendations

Other information and scholarship links
Students who also major in graphic design, web design, illustration, information technology and other associated disciplines also qualify for this scholarship.

There are no entry fees for applying to this scholarship. Applications must be postmarked by May 2, 2011.

According to the EDSF your application must include the following items:

* Part 1 - General Information Page
* Part 2 - Cover Letter
* Part 3 - Essays (two essay responses)
* Part 4 - Activities
* Part 5 - College Transcript *
* Part 6 - Recommendation Letters *

* Your college transcript and recommendation letters may be mailed separately.

Submit all application materials to:

EDSF
1845 Precinct Line Road
Suite 212
Hurst, TX 76054
United States

Follow these links for further information:

Official website
PDF application form

Graphic design school and scholarships
If you currently attend a graphic design college or are planning to enroll, be sure to take advantage of the many scholarship programs that are available to students seeking financial assistance for their education.

Some graphic design schools offer scholarships, loan programs, and grants, so be sure to ask your graphic design college representative about these options.

Learn from the mistakes
Graphic design schools can teach you the proper design principles needed to become a proficient graphic designer, but sometimes mistakes are the defining things that help you to learn what works and what doesn’t.

In the next few articles we will show you the mistakes of others. The comforting part is they are not your mistakes.

The “funny” side is these errors were made by the professionals, which gives us all comfort that even the best of us can make mistakes.

In the following graphics we’ll provide a short commentary on what went wrong and what we can learn from these missteps.

We want to give a big thanks to all the members of the website psdisasters.com for providing all of the leads.

Size really does matter
A good rule of thumb when assembling composite images is to be aware of the proper size perspectives of different objects as they relate to one another. In the case of this Onkyo sound system ad, something has gone awry.
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There are lots of interesting elements in the background of this ad: musicians, singers and a miniature elephant.

It is understood that the various people and animals represent the clarity of the sound system, but the tiny elephant and other disproportional elements makes the ad look cheap.
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Physiology 101
If you took biology, anatomy or physiology classes in high school or college, you’ll remember a great many graphics and illustrations of the human body and how it works.

When it comes to human anatomy, the structure and “rightness” of what a typical body looks like is second nature to most of us. In this ad, the model strikes an elegant pose. But something is wrong…
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The dress the model is wearing is draped a certain way so that her legs appear to be disjointed from her body. Is it a bad camera angle or a Photoshop mistake? Only the art director knows.
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One, two, three, four…
Although graphic design is primarily about images, graphics and layout, the need to be accurate in numbers is also very important. In this poster for a fighting exhibition, the contenders look ready and willing to fight.

But does one competitor have an unfair advantage in the scheduled bout?
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If you look closely at the opponent on the left, he is striking a pose with his fists. But the odd thing about the pose is the number of knuckles showing through his boxing glove. It appears this man has six fingers!

In reality, this is just an example where a little Photoshop magic could have helped. The extra “knuckle” showing is actually his palm appearing through an opening in the glove.

The other fighter also shows the opening, but it doesn’t appear like a finger as in the case of the fighter, Bonnar.
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Graphic design school and principles of design
Layout, perspective, color and design are some of the important elements you’ll learn at graphic design college. These graphic design principles will help you to create and produce images of professional quality.

The attention to detail, making sure all the graphics are presented properly, and ensuring that your piece is free of mistakes is up to you.

Next time…
In part two of “Photoshop mistakes and blunders” we’ll show you more examples of how little details can make the difference between a great design and an unintentionally funny one.

Persistence pays off
There is an old adage that proclaims, “If at once you don’t succeed, try, try again.” The process of applying for scholarships and grants is similar to these words of advice. It takes persistence and patience.

In “5 things you should know about scholarships, Part I” we covered the topics of scholarship assistance services and applying to local institutions for education funds.

In the conclusion of this series we’ll go over strategies that may help individuals who are already employed and why it is so important to be extremely conscientious when filling out forms.

3. Ask your employer for assistance
If you are already a part of the workforce but would like to take continuing education courses, your company may have a program that can help offset graphic design college expenses.

The company sees this as an investment in your future while you gain further knowledge and expertise in your field of design. This becomes a win-win situation for the employer and employee.

There are hundreds of Fortune 500 companies that have education assistance programs for their employees. Check with your supervisor or human resources representative to find out if your firm supports such a program.

4. Something is better than nothing
A parent related this story about their son. He wanted to attend a certain university but knew he nor his parents had the sufficient funds to make his dream come true.

He decided his solution was to apply for scholarships and grants for his education. He sent out over 100 applications to schools, companies and organizations. The result of this was a fully paid college education.

Not everyone is as industrious as this student, but the moral of the story is any amount of financial assistance is better than nothing. And if you apply yourself you may have a significant amount of your educational costs defrayed.

5. Be very thorough
What if a prestigious law firm was looking to hire a front desk receptionist to greet clients and someone appeared at the interview with torn jeans, a dirty jacket, and worn out shoes?

Would the law firm hire this individual? Although the individual may be highly talented with strong people skills our guess is he probably would not get the job.

First impressions set the course for job interviews. This can also be said of scholarship applications. If your scholarship form is messy, incomplete or fails to include necessary documents, this can put your application in the discard pile.

Graphic design school and scholarships
If you are contemplating a career in graphic design or are already working in the industry, scholarship money for your graphic design school education can be of great benefit.

Scholarship funds range from $100 to $10,000 or more, so be sure to apply to as many as you are able for better chances of landing a few of them.