Graphic Design By: Mika Havens
What Is Graphic Design? Graphic Design is the art of using design
elements to represent an idea.
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What careers are available in Graphic Design? vWeb Designer – vcreate web pages
vFlash Designer vcreate interactive “movies” online.
vCover Art Designer – vfocus on music related projects. 12-3-08 Slide 3
oveerr A rt De si gn e r CCov A rt D e si g ne rA job a Cover Art Designer can do is create the artwork for album covers, create posters for a band, or design a band t-shirt.
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How to Become a Cover Art Designer (as a UC Ø You are encouraged to commit to a full-time course load and be prepared to complete graduation requirements in 2 years, attending fall, winter and spring quarters. This program is career specific and does not generally transition into a bachelor’s degree.
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Things to Know: 1. You need familiarity with graphic design software programs and the basics of design. 3. You'll also need to learn how to communicate properly with printers about colors, paper, and other facets of your final design so that the printing comes out as everyone envisioned it. 5. You should be able to listen to music and come up with a design that compliments it. 12-3-08 Slide 6
What To Do After School. Many designers who work on album cover, work on a freelance basis and are hired on a per-project basis. You may find you have to start out designing a few album covers for free to build up a portfolio of work.
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What To Do After School. Not all designers are freelancers, however, and some record labels have graphic designers on staff to handle these responsibilities in-house.
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How much money can a Cover Art Designer make?
The exact pay varies wildly depending on the
kinds of labels and artist you work with, and as you work, you'll get a feel for the going rate in your sphere. You can charge different rates depending on the amount of work involved.
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How to get your work out to the public.
You can meet a lot of people online (MySpace)
who may need you to make graphics/album cover for them. Or you may meet people at school. You need to be a polite and social person. You must sound serious and social enough to listen to their needs.
There are a lot of bands online who are willing
to pay people to make them artwork. Just ask! Be Social!
Learn Your Tools. You need to learn the tools of Photoshop and
other computer programs that will help you creating graphics. The more you learn what the tools do, the better off you are.
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What has helped me get started. To get some practice, I made a MySpace profile where I
promote local bands by making banners for them to put on their site and to post on my site.
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Be Creative!
In order to succeed at this career, you need to
be creative and able to understand what the musician wants. You need to be able to listen to others, while creating something that is yours.
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