Now that I some information about Australian work culture, I decided to conduct some primary research by doing some one-on-one interviews with local designers.
Because I needed to get a considerable amount of information in the least amount of time I decided to employ a research method called convenience sampling. I learned about this term about a week ago from another class I was currently taking called Experience Design. Convenience sampling "selects a sample on the basis of how easy it is to access" (Cheung, 2019). For my interview participants I selected five current MDes students and two non-QCA students who were referred to be by one of the participants and by a classmate of mine. Five of the interviews were done in person while the other two were through email correspondence. Due to the fact that I did not have ethics approval from Griffith, I will not mention their actual names of post any of their photos or recordings in this entry.
Interview Questions
What do you design?
How long have you been a graphic designer?
What got you into graphic design?
How did you land your first graphic design job? How was that experience?
How you would you describe yourself or your practice as a graphic designer?
What are your thoughts on self-branding?
Do you currently have a personal brand identity system? If yes, can you tell me more about how you came to design it? If no, do you plan to create one in the future?
Where is the best place (can be an online or offline platform or app) to look for a graphic design job?
Where do you showcase your portfolio?
What would you say is the best way clients can find and contact you?
What challenges did you face when you first entered the industry?
What piece of advice would you like to share with graphic designers who are entering the industry?
Interview Summary Points:
Designer 01 (Senior Graphic Designer)
Treat your application like a design project.
Think about the WHY and HOW you want to represent yourself through visuals.
Think about how you want to position yourself, not just about the logo.
Think of your USP (Unique Service Proposition). This of your core but you can adjust in response to your environment.
Think of WHO you are and how you can appeal to your target market, find out what makes you unique and how it is relevant to what people need and do.
It’s about WHERE you fit in even if sometimes you don’t have the experience yet.
Make your application memorable, tailor your application to the position.
Join and participate in meet-up groups and online groups and communities.
Use online platforms like LinkedIn Behance and theloop.com.au (because it’s localized) but be consistent all throughout.
Build your networkGo straight to the source (creatives) and not the HR.
Be tenacious but don’t get too caught up in technical details like software skills (Photoshop, etc).
Keep an eye on design conferences, websites and blogs.
Designer 02 (Product Designer/Junior UX Designer)
Customise your website and make it represent who you are as a designer.
Self-brand will come after more experience.
Use LinkedIn but it’s not really great for showcasing your portfolio (UX is a bit more complex to be presented via a simple portfolio because its focus is more on the process and not the outcome).
Do an internship, the work experience is completely invaluable
Designer 03 (Senior Graphic Designer)
Have a target market or industry in mind.
Look for like-minded employers so you can easily make yourself a valuable asset to them and you can easily emulate their style.
Internships are a good start.
Be patient in regard to responses from employers.
Be open to different sorts of opportunities even if they’re not exactly what you’re looking for.
Set a goal for yourself and keep charging towards it no matter how many attempts it takes. If attempt number one fails, take a different approach but keep charging on.
Focus on self-marketing and making people know you through you work than your brand
Designer 04 (Senior Graphic Designer)
Experience is key. Volunteer work can open doors to full time work opportunities
Self-branding is beyond just the logo, it can extend to other things like photography, fashion and clothing, and others.
Everything about a designer should be complementary.
Sometimes trust and good client relationships can be more valuable than personal branding
Getting referrals is a great way to land jobs or projects
Be flexible and adaptable especially in terms of the industry technologies and software.
Don’t be disheartened. Keep on applying for advertised jobs. If you spot a company you like (but hasn’t advertised), contact them and make an actual phone call.
Ask if you can get feedback on your folio.
Designer 05 (Junior Graphic Designer)
Lack of experience is the biggest challenge for new graphic designers entering the industry
Be open to keep on changing your personal brand, get feedback.
Face to face networking is important, get yourself out there, meet people in the industry.
Keep evolving your portfolio, keep refining and taking feedback constructively
Designer 06 (Junior Graphic Designer)
Lack of industry experience made it difficult to land a design job.
Be honest and willing to learn, this will make up for your lack of experience.
Self-branding matters because it’s the first impression anyone gets from you, it matters more for design studios.
Keep updating your brand from time to time.
Don’t give up, you just need one company or person to give you a shot and once you have your foot in the door, you can prove your worth
Designer 06 (Junior Graphic Designer)
University job portals are very helpful as well as the usual online job platforms like Seek. It also helps to join online groups like The Design Kids.
There don't seem to be much “great” design jobs available online, it seems that most of the better opportunities might be achieved through word or mouth or through connections.
I think design job hunting is also a very long process sometimes you need to undergo a trial with the company and wait for them to give you an answer and that can take some time.
It's good to incorporate and play up your other non-design skills like in my instance, I have a business and marketing degree.
I think it is very important for designers to know how to self-brand because you have to be able to present your work and differentiate yourself from the millions of designers out there.
Self-branding doesn’t only mean talking about the "serious" design work you do but also talk about the fun stuff you do in your free time, it might not be relevant but I have been asked during an interview about non-design related interests and hobbies.
It's good to show your personality because sometimes that's what studios are looking for in the long run.
Don’t be precious with your work, apply for whatever’s out there and try it out! And also, be nice!
References:
Cheung, M 2019 Week 04 Lecture, 7522QCA Experience Design, slide 47, viewed 01 August 2019.
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