For those who don't know, which must be all or most of you, I have been a full time student for the past three years financed graciously by the taxpayers through veterans benefits.

I did struggle to decide what I would study. When I still lived in Kansas I was in a small town with a major state university. Really nice campus and many programs that interested me. The reality of the financial situation was that it made little sense to stay in our house there. We sold it and moved back to our previous residence in Tennessee. Another realization was that I would probably be a poor university student. The sorts of things I was interested in were very technical and would have required a commitment that I'm not sure I could manage.

In Tennessee I was less interested in the local state school but was interested in a near private technical school. I've since completed automotive with high performance training and a diesel truck and heavy equipment program with excellent attendance and GPA as well as earned a commercial driver's license. I'm currently enrolled at a local state technical college in a welding program. I think it's obvious to see how all of that training is related and I could easily find employment now. However, I'm still looking to further my education. My GI Bill benefits seem to last much longer at the state technical college obviously due to the lower cost. They have a machine tools program I am interested in but I have been thinking about the Digital Graphics course.

I am not the most artistic person around but I have had an interest in the field for some time. I am thinking that this might be a way for me to earn an income from home but also hone some skills that might be useful for designing things for fabrication.

Really why I'm bringing this up here is that I think many of you if not having experience in the specific field have dealt with those that do and I'm looking for ANY insight you have into the topic. I have sometime until I complete the welding program but I want to plan the next phase.

Your post didn't make this 100% clear, but from my understanding you intend to take a graphic design technical program with the ultimate goal of becoming a professional graphic designer. I am not a graphic designer, but I am a different sort of highly-skilled creative professional[sup]1[/sup], so I can probably be somewhat helpful. Most of what I post will be generally useful regardless of your intended profession.

The first and most important thing is a reality check.

Graphic design (or composing or pure mathematics or software development or ...) is not your usual job skill. The words don't exist to precisely explain the difference. It is like going from fixing a car, to inventing a totally new kind of engine; in either case, you must know how engines work, but invention requires a huge and inexplicable cognitive leap in how that knowledge is applied, with no guarantee of eventual success. Mastering these kinds of skills is a lifelong mission, requiring devotion and constant maintenance. What this means is that you will not learn how to design in school, regardless of where or how long you attend classes. School can help in other ways, but you are responsible for achieving expertise, and this must happen outside of class.

Given the above, you can probably also guess that these are not your usual jobs. Unlike many other professions, credentials and a firm handshake are not enough to secure consideration for a position. Employers/clients might use your degree or certificate as a resume filter if they have too many applicants, but past that point it's your job to make a convincing argument that you will solve a business need, supported by your reputation and concrete examples of professional successes. If you're going for freelancing or consulting, as it sounds, you'll need to spend the vast majority of your time finding clients. I mean, forever, until you die. This is the schlep; professional consultants make mad bank exactly because building a pipeline is hard. If that scares you, and you'd rather go for a firm, you'll need to create a good narrative which portrays your late career change and eclectic background as a strength (i.e. "he knows the problems our customers face"), rather than a weakness (i.e. "not a 22 year old we can bully into working 90 hours a week for free"). What this means is that you are responsible for your own career, and ipso facto your school isn't. Your school can help in other ways, but taking a course is not by itself going to help you land a job.

I don't want to discourage you, but you do need to think really hard about this. Becoming a creative professional is difficult, and gittin gud always takes a lot more time than you ever think it will. It's gonna mean a lot of neglecting your wife and kids long evenings and weekends. And then you'll be competing for work against kids/foreigners with no sense of self worth and nothing else to live for beyond the job. If you can't honestly tell yourself that you're willing and able to put in the (DISTRESSINGLY FIGURATIVE) back-breaking work of becoming successful in a creative profession, do yourself a huge favor and pick something else.

If you're still with me tomorrow, maybe I'll post something about schools? lol idk

Bonus round. I'll expound on one point:



You actually won't.

There's a technical component to creative work, which is basically how to use the tools right. This can take a lot of practice to learn, so a course still isn't enough to get you all the way there professionally, but at least it can get you started. The other part of creative work is invention, and nobody has any god damn clue how to teach that.

Poor programs will only teach the tools.

Good program will help you by teaching business communication and project management within the profession. They'll teach you the history and conventions of the profession, so you can concisely communicate with other professionals. They will teach relevant theories and sciences (for example, color theory and the physiology of human vision). They will also fill your head with whatever else they can find, in the hope that someday, if you do invent something, it will not be vapid.

Great programs will teach you how to accept and use critiques, and deliver good critiques to other people. They will give you supervised deliberate practice and teach you how to teach yourself.

But none of them will teach you how to be good at it.

Are you diving into those student MUFFS?

Unfortunately there are some downsides to being happily married so, no. It certainly is a target rich environment, though.

Jon, everything you've posted so far is relevant and insightful. Many of the points you've raised are things I've considered already and influenced decisions I've made so far. Despite the fact that I think every instructor I've had over the last three years would argue with me on this point I really don't consider myself a "good" student.

Now, great grades and attendance aside, I think a good college student should be very diligent with reading and studying outside of class. Now, I did do a lot of that at the diesel college but I think traditional university material and work is much different and I really think I might slip into my old high school self of putting everything off until the last minute. Then again, university is supposedly so much easier than it used to be so maybe I'm wrong on this.

Also, I steered away from various engineering programs and others because I did not want to be the 50ish year old guy that's less flexible having to compete in a newly entered field with kids at least twenty years younger than me. I'm 45 right now.

Everything that I've studied post military are things that I can do as an employee or on my own. I do have greater flexibility due to being retired military, a luxury many don't have. I am thinking about this program to gain proficiency with the tools but then I started to wonder about opportunities to specifically use it to work in the field mostly from home.

I guess that's what I need to figure out more about. What can I do from home that makes sense, what can I expect to make in a reasonable time, and what kind of work and time do I need to put in to get to a point where it produces sustainable income?

I can make great money tomorrow signing on with a transportation company and drive a truck for awhile without any of the headaches that might be associated with starting an uncertain venture. I would go on but I wanted to get some of this out there. I have two missing dogs and a boy that has Cub Scouts in a half hour.

As someone who enrolled and dropped out of a Digital Graphics Design program, I can tell you that there is nothing artistic taught in the classes. It's teaching you to use software, nothing else. My teachers routinely turned student questions over to me, not because they were testing my knowledge, but because I legitimately had more real world experience. Once I was told that in Photoshop, eyeballing using the rulers along the top and left of the document was more precise than using the measuring tool and info panel. A DGD program will not teach you anything that reading photoshop and illustrator tutorials on the internet will not. But you have a degree. A degree that says it took you two years to learn how to use a piece of software at an acceptable (if your goal is to make business cards for your family members and friends) level. You're better off taking art classes while dicking around with the software.

^---- +1

Great grades and attendance don't matter, not at all. We also aren't talking about studying up or starting homework early, we are talking about deliberate practice to acquire and refine a creative skill.

Technical school will teach you how to begin learning the software you use.

Liberal Arts school will teach you the language and history.

Fine Arts school will teach you how to judge your work and take advantage of criticism.

None of these programs will make you a skilled, employable designer. That is up to you. It will probably be a very long time before you are good enough to get contracts worth talking about (if ever).

School can be a huge help if you are serious about design. It can get you past a resume screen, it can give you networking opportunities in other students and alumni, it can get you started if you really are lost. If you aren't actually serious about it, like Zully said, you'd be better off fiddling with it BEFORE school.

I think that you'll find these two books helpful, regardless of the path you decide to follow.

• So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Reminds me of the time after 7 years of having worked at the same place, I thought I'd actually try to advance in my career for a change (and there was an actual at-the-time-interesting opportunity for it).

Sure, 7 years of immediate hands-on-work, honing my skills, getting those 10,000 hours of experience etc. would put me ahead of those who spent those 7 years in school - occasionally flipping burgers in between classes - right?

...

Moral of the story: If you're not Nikumubeki, you're capable of anything. Stay in school and if it doesn't work out, go to another.

Yeah, studying pure math is like a race to be the most knowledgeable. I spent at least half of my summer learning theorems and practicing calc, also wrote a paper and submitted it to be published, yet in retrospect I still probably didn't do enough. It's not easy to be competitive in this field esp. when the majority of research positions are given to people from just a few top schools.

I don't have much to add but I do have a question: If you have training/certification as a diesel mechanic, why not pursue that? My brother-in-law is the lead/head mechanic at a truck & RV shop (truck like giant diesel semi-truck, but they also work on smaller ones) and it seems pretty lucrative.

This time a billion. This is the sort of thing I wish someone had told me back in high school, no ****ing joke. I'd probably have gone into music instead.

This might be the first time in history Jon and Matty have agreed with me, so take from that what you will.

Okay so my posts in this thread are somewhat disjointed and incomplete because if I were to fully flesh out my situation it would appear to be a really long blog post and might dissuade people from giving as much insight as they are. As to this specific question something along those lines was pretty much the idea for at least sometime after finishing the welding program I am in. I was leaning towards truck/heavy equipment service so it easy to see how getting a commercial drivers license and welding training would be beneficial. I saved welding for last because it is at an inexpensive state school very close to my home (<10 mins). I had about 13 months GI Bill remaining and I figured if it was exhausted during the program I could easily cover the rest.

Well, for whatever reason, the amount of time I am in this school doesn't equal the time they're taking off my GI Bill. I started in January and as of August I still had 12 months remaining entitlement. Just being existing I receive about $34.5K per year. With additional money while enrolled full time in school I net about $50K per year. I'm satisfied enough with this income to remain a student until my education entitlements are exhausted so I started to consider what other programs I could take. Programs that I would consider include Industrial Maintenance, Mechatronics, Machine Tools, and Digital Graphics Design. There are also HVAC/Refrigeration and Computer Networking something or other that I might consider but really don't see using at a significant level in the future.

To get back to Brian's question, if I can avoid having to start in the beginning in a physically demanding career feeling the way I do, I will. But I will do so if I must. I have a bit of flexibility due to the benefits I already have and the compensation I receive.

Given some of my concerns I have actually thought about just using my CDL and making a great income where the most demanding physical task I might have is tarping and securing a load. Flatbed truck drivers can easily make $50K per year and much more after some time with the company. On the other hand, those guys you see in heavy duty pickup trucks hauling gooseneck trailers can hit 6 figures per year no problem. From a purely financial perspective this is a really good way to go.

Aside from all of the employment options, if I can just develop something that doesn't even require me to get a "real" job then I'd like to do that.

Getting back to my education, I started thinking about Machine Tools but it's not particularly realistic for me to imagine myself having much machine tool equipment myself any time soon. Perhaps in the future. I started to think about digital graphics because I assume that many of the skills there might translate to CAD designing for fabrication or perhaps CNC cutting. It was after those thoughts that I started to wonder what I might actually be able to do in that field that might provide a good income while affording me the time and/or money to invest in developing something else.

I'm sure this all sounds pretty convoluted and it feels convoluted. I've learned a lot about myself over the past several years but I'm still trying to navigate to an adequate port. I'm just not entirely sure where that port is yet. All of your comments have been helpful.

We spent the first week learning how to open/save files. In each class.

In the Photoshop class, the next three weeks went over use of the selection tools and reminding people how to open/save files.

In the Illustrator class, the next few weeks covered how to draw shapes over one another to appear like other shapes and, you guessed it, opening/saving files.

In the Intro to Digital Photography class the next few weeks covered setting up your library in Lightroom and, once again, opening/saving files (import/export really but it's basically the same thing).

That's 4 weeks of learning how to choose Open (or Save) from the File menu and navigating to a specific folder. Two classes a week. That's about a quarter of the entire semester and the same material is covered in every class.

Would not recommend.

Well, one useful piece of information is that many of the classes are open enrollment. The good side to that is that you're not held back by any sort of schedule. The bad side is that instructors have students all over the place in the program so they might have to jump around to help people that need it. Also, my school is full-time, six hours a day, five days a week. It's the Clarksville campus that falls under this school: https://tcatdickson.edu/

From purely aptitude, earning potential, and employment options I think I should probably continue with Industrial Maintenance/Electricity. I think I will try to get some time to talk to the instructors and get their insight.

Let me be frank:

Without an incredibly robust knowledge of the elements of design, including composition, color theory, typography, etc... you are going to work as a graphic designer on the 7th of never.

It is a visual art. Like all visual art, it requires extensive training and practice to actually be good at it. Without any kind of foundation of art education or ability, you are wasting your time. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Here's what you do if you want to do graphic design for a living.

1. Go get your BFA and be one of the top ten students in your program. You will spend the vast majority of this time doing things that are not graphic design.

2. Go get your MFA and be one of the top ten students in your program.

3. Accept that you're going to spend 5 years retouching photos that an actual designer will use in their work.

4. Be better than all of the other people getting paid 20k a year to retouch photos.

5. Never open your mouth about anything other than work because every artist on earth will hate you.

6. Fast forward 10 years or so: Maybe you will get to choose typefaces for someone who has spent their entire life studying design, but probably not, because all of your peers are 30 years younger and have been artists since they could smear ketchup on the tray of their high chair.

Do something else. This is like asking if taking a records class means you could do some small time legal work.

I don't blame anyone for thinking I was talking about a career in Digital Graphic Design but I kind of thought I implied it by omission. Regardless, it should be very clear at this point. However, I am open to ideas about how I could use such an education to make money on my own but not necessarily as a career professional. Having said that, your post includes a lot of insight so, thanks.

Honestly, man, the class you're talking about probably teaches you the basics of the Adobe Creative Suite or whatever it's called these days, and that alone just isn't a marketable thing. It's very uncommon for people to realize this, but pretty much anything visual is an incredibly specialized field.

What I mentioned before about picking typefaces for a designer wasn't just me making up some absurd ****. Typography alone is so ridiculously in depth that it's not even funny.

Think of it like the Airborne Rangers or something. Everyone knows they exist, and normal people become them all the time. But it's still a tiny segment of the population that focuses on practically nothing else to accomplish it. I know actual designers that work for fortune 500 companies on wordmarks and so on, and they're insane people. They will flip out on you if you print anything typed in Verdana, not because it's a bad font (it isn't), but because it's a screen font.

You can make a hell of a lot more money working on diesel engines on the side, unless World Net Daily wants someone to haphazardly Photoshop a crescent moon onto Air Force One or some ****.

By any chance do you (or anyone here) have any starting tips on typography? I've Googled this but I feel like this is the sort of stuff I should know at least more about on a basic level, given that my work involves presenting information

Find a good antipsychotic.

Everything I know about design I learned from the Non-Designers Design Book.

But I already jerk off furiously.

Apparently not enough!

Oh my God. I had no idea he was also into digital design. What a talent. Anyway, one of the top search results was a PDF for the second edition. It looks like the most recent release is the forth edition. Thanks for the suggestion.

I really don't know anything, I suck at it. I just read the book and enjoyed it.

Not you. Robin Williams wrote the book!

and got a sex change, and is still alive

I completely missed what you were trying to say, Wookie06. Jon is right though, it was not written by the actor.

I know, I was just playing.

Lol right

I'm so confused.

I didn't want to give away that I knew it wasn't the comedian so I ran the risk of any of you thinking I didn't notice the second sentence in the book description on Amazon started with, "Through her straightforward and light-hearted style..." Clearly this is a backpedal on my part.

Clearly, you're not the only one.

Clearly.

I don't have much to add except that any "Digital Graphics" or "Digital Media" class is likely to be worthless, regardless of what field you want to apply it to. I'm majoring in Illustration at a state school and the "Digital Media Arts" majors graduate knowing stuff we were pretty much expected to know (or pick up) on the first day. It's a path-of-least-resistance major. You'd be better off learning stuff from the internet.

After reading all of the opinions in this thread if I take it it will be in lieu of learning on my own. My original "plan" was to finish school with my current program, welding, and then look for a job in heavy equipment or truck repair. I thought my education benefits would be exhausted then but they last significantly longer at this school. I'm thinking now that my final program will be Industrial Maintenance and if I can squeeze another full program in before then, then I might go for DGD or Machine Tools.

Do a course in business finance.