A Career as an Artist... Are you Kidding?

If your current thinking is there are enough starving artists out there already, stop and take a good look around you. Artists and designers have an impact on just about every aspect of our lives. The clothes we wear, the automobiles we drive, the household appliances we use, the toys we play with, and the packaging wrapped around most products were all created or influenced by artists and designers.

The layout and design of magazines, newspapers, posters, pamphlets and books that you see and read are influenced by graphic designers. Art directors and advertising designers are responsible for the layout, typography, and visual elements of the advertising in magazines and other print media. You also see their work in displays, exhibits, and the sets and graphics for television. With advances in computer technology, these folks are also involved in animation for films, video games, special effects, and the creation of interactive web sites.

Furniture designers are the creative forces behind home furnishings, accessories, and lighting fixtures that surround you. Industrial designers touch every consumable product that you can think of: transportation vehicles and accessories, office systems, major appliances, hospital and lab equipment, exhibit and showroom design, electronic and home entertainment systems, sporting goods…the list goes on and on. Interior designers designate the use and design of spaces for homes, retail establishments, offices, and medical facilities. If you have sent or received a greeting card, noticed a fashion ad, read a magazine or book, or seen a billboard, then you have come in contact with the work of illustrators.

The paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints that we enjoy are the work of fine artists. These creative individuals often use their art to reveal and reflect a personal or societal perception of the world. From abstract forms to landscapes, from vases to monumental statues, from news photos to picturesque scenes, fine artists enrich and inspire our lives. They often become the teachers who share their knowledge and talent with the next generation of artists or they might become gallery managers or art museum curators who share the work of others with us all.

Art historians teach, work in a variety of museum professions such as curatorial, exhibition installation, or administration. They may also work in publishing or as writers of criticism or art-related travel. Libraries hire art historians as visual resource materials or art librarians. Art galleries and auction houses, corporations, galleries, and individual artists all benefit from the broad base of knowledge inherent in an art history degree.

As you can see, career options abound for artists and designers. And, like most professions, a college degree improves your prospects for success. Through a structured, intensive, four-year degree program, guided by highly trained and professional faculty, art and design students acquire the practical knowledge and skill needed to turn a creative idea or plan into a reality.

At an art and design college, you will learn to solve problems and communicate solutions, not only visually, but verbally as well. You will learn to select the colors, forms, and materials best suited to creating your vision, while remaining vigilant to cost factors or manufacturing, production, and technological specifications.

As an art and design college graduate you will enter the professional field equipped with the visual proof of your talent, knowledge, skill, and ability – a personal portfolio. Like all careers, success will depend upon the energy, creativity, and vision you bring to it. Armed with a college diploma and portfolio, you can be assured you've received the education necessary to take advantage of a wide array of opportunities. Plato, in The Republic, says it best – "The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future."

Editorial provided by Amy Packard. She is Director of Admissions at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI. She holds a B.F.A and a M.F.A. in Painting.