Movin' from prepress to Graphic design

[Trimmer]

Hi out there?
I used to work in prepress area for almost two years?and now im up to university of graphic design.
what i'm trying to say is that now everything is about creativity making designs(web,&graphic,logo) and not prepare(imaging,imposition) and accept costumers files like i did before.

In my opinion design is much more profitable than any other part of art media.

What do you think, did i made the right choice?

 

[Jackie]

I think you've made the right choice. With so much of what we do automated by Workflow software and the general downturn in the industry there are less and less positions available.

Designers (especially ones with print knowledge) have a lot more options. You can offer your clients Web design, digital printing, Variable Data, offset . . .whatevers going really.

I have the technical tools but I know that I'm not creative. If you can go out there and create a look that's marketable more the power to you.

 

[Fritz]

More power to you if you can be successful at design Trimmer . . . As a former designer that wound up in Prepress, I decided I lacked the artistic gift to be an exceptional designer. Many other designers also had formal training in the arts, as well as great proficiency with Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. in addition to having raw artistic talent. If that sounds like you, maybe you should go in the direction of design . . . I'm more in my element in Prepress.

The competition among designers seems to be pretty intense with many of them working from home offices. Those folks also need to be selling their services in an aggressive way and acquire a portfolio of printed jobs that will wow any prospective customers. If you can work as a designer for a company it's a great gig but you'll need to consistently come up with new concepts and creative expressions of your client's business.

 

[DCurry]

The knowledge you have gained in prepress will help you for the rest of your design career because not only will you be able to make it "look pretty" but you will be able to build printable files that need no prepress work when you submit them (assuming, of course, that you are halfway decent at prepress!)

Not so sure about the "more profitable" comment, though. I don't know very many rich designers. Actually, I don't know any. (I don't know any rich prepressers, either.)

Good luck!

 

[mattbeals]

You might stay busier as a designer but I don't know if you'll make any more money at it than people in prepress. As Dan said knowing what you do about prepress will help you build better constructed files for print. That same basic skill set, knowing how to do it right the first time, will help with web projects too. As you've seen in prepress, just because it looks pretty doesn't mean I can print it...". Same thing applies for anything else. Just because you can design it doesn't mean it can be made to work correctly. Learn the fundamentals and learn "web production skills" so you understand how to make things work correctly.

 

[oxburger]

I was always told, when I was in school for printing, that it was more profitable to work for a printer because design firms spend a lot of money to make their website, offices, etc. "pretty" so that there isn't much $ left over to pay employees. Not sure if it's true or not, but it lead me to work for a printer and not a design firm.

 

[Mark]

I have a design degree and i'm in printing because they only designers making money are on their own (minus some big firms of course) and i don't want that pressure. I suggest keeping the steady prepress paycheck and start out with freelance work to see if you can build up a client base. Or see if you even like it!

 

[Colorworx]

I think this is more a facebook question....why? cos' you probably need some opinion outside this circle. My 2 cents are... find what you're talented and interested in...go for this direction.

If you really have to choose between design or prepress, possibly design has broader scope and prospect; again it depends the kind of design you are after, I guess my chronology based on prospect are product design, fashion, interior, archi, multimedia, and the last one is graphics; and this sequence is purely based on market demand and competition; technology changes everyday... not only the impact is profound but it also affecting many industries; and design is rank #1 to me., amongst the many design discipline, graphic design is impacted most; due to the ease of use of software, everyone think they can design and talented; even the client is talking terms like a pro....resolution, scanning, scripting...everything!

As for prepress, the prospect are even narrower to me, also largely impacted by technology....unless you tell your boss "hey! I'm gonna fully responsible for the dept, and keep up w/ the ever changing technology and standard compliance, offer me 2% share and I'll get all these headache out of your head" but saying is easy, it take tremendous of time, patience, strategy and technique to gain all these necessary skillsets and resources....with that time and effort? You better off do something else, for e.g. a boss....a B2C web owner, a eBayer... whatever. Try think out of this square, design/prepress is not the whole world.

 

[maynardsayswhat]

As a designer who started as a floor help in a large commercial printer and worked his way up through production to art directorships I can honestly say that real, hands on pre-press experience is an excellent selling point for you when seeking design positions. Not so much for freelance. But when interviewing for junior design or higher positions, be sure to make prominent mention of your practical production experience.

But I would be remiss if I didn't mention that being a designer is NOT an "art" field as much as it is a problem solving one. Design is not about what we "like" or our personal artistic vision. Design is solving communication problems. Don't get caught in the trap that so many hacks out there fall into and start thinking that each project is a chance to just do something that you think looks cool. Think of design less in terms of fine art and more in terms of architecture.

Study your client. Understand their communication needs. Plan an effective strategy. Execute it flawlessly...

... then call your printer 5 times every hour to "check" on the job. =)

But congrats on pursuing a new turn in your career and good luck!

 

[Luc St-Pierre]

Lots of folks mentioned that your prepress background will help you in your new carreer choice. As long as you are not too much concerned about it. What I mean is that as a prepress operator, I have often sweared at designers for beeing dreamers, off-the-ground and that sort of things. Beeing in the packaging (flexo), I have to confess that those dreamers have put serious challenges in the prepress guy in me, and made me a better prepress operator. So don't focus too much on prepress (feasability). Create, and let the prepress people be as good as needed to be. I did design for a while as a freelance artist. If this is the way you want to go, remember this little advice: Freelance designer schedule is made of 25% of his time looking for jobs-customers, 25% actually doing the work and 50% trying to get paid for it.
Good luck.

 

[gordo]

Freelance designer schedule is made of 25% of his time looking for jobs-customers, 25% actually doing the work and 50% trying to get paid for it.

Luc is being over optimistic with his numbers. Having been a freelance designer myself I can assure you that 50% of your time you're looking for jobs-customers, 25% actually doing the work, 50% trying to explain why they shouldn't make changes to your design, and 80% trying to get paid for it.

Unless you already have prospective customers, it would be best if you could start by working in an established design agency, perhaps in a production management capacity - using your prepress skills - until you learn the ropes and go out on your own.

Most of the business I got was through word of mouth references. I did very well in that space between ad agencies (who have a hard time with projects that don't include a media buy) and graphic designers who were more interested in expressing their individuality than in the effective communication of their customer's story.

One caveat, if you are freelancing and working out of your home - as I did. It is very, very, hard not to become a workaholic. So you need to be very disciplined with your time.

I had a downtown office for a year. That's how long it took me to realize that I didn't need one because I went to my customers - they never came to me. For a while I also operated as a virtual agency using Skype and a network of creatives to expand my capabilities so that I could take on larger projects. Skype is a godsend for freelancers, especially if clients are also Skype-savvy.

Also, keep all your receipts. The profits come not just from what you earn but what you can legitimately turn from personal expense into business expense.

best, gordon p