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Neil Tortorella is a veteran graphic designer with over 25 years' experience in developing identities, collateral and web solutions for both large and small companies. Based in Northeast Ohio, Tortorella Design has received numerous awards for design excellence.

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Landing a design job without a design-specific education
by Neil Tortorella

Here's another ditty that passed through the 'ole inbox:

I'm currently a doctoral student in media studies. I had wanted to go to grad school to study design, but I have very little formal fine arts training, and I'd rather not pay for more school while I still have outstanding debts from my BA. My solution was to find a PhD program that would give me a tuition waiver, pay me a high enough stipend so I wouldn't need a second job, and allow me to take the occasional art class. I figured I could work on building up a portfolio and cut out early with an MA as a consolation prize.

As it turns out, though, I'm actually enjoying the research side of my academic work, and I feel it really complements my design work. (I've had a couple small freelance projects spread over a couple years since I got here.) For now, I'm happy to just be a "professional student" and see where things go -- I'm not entirely sold on an academic career just yet.
What worries me is whether I'm shooting myself in the foot should I decide that I'd rather pursue a design career over an academic career in the long run. Will it look bad if I'm eventually trying to apply for design-related jobs and my only work experience for the last several years is "teaching assistant" and the occasional freelance job?

Thanks,
KV
KV,
In a word, "yes," but, I wouldn't fret too much. It sounds as though you have a lot of skills and experience to bring to the table that most designer don't have up their sleeves. The trick is to package those skills and experiences into something that marketable to potential design employers.

Design firms look for a strong portfolio and problem solving skills. They typically like to see "real" work and not just student projects. So, I'd advise you step up the freelance projects as your time allows to build a viable portfolio. I'd also advise you structure your portfolio to show how you solved a particular problem, rather than just showing the finished piece(s). Think "case study" rather than "ain't this pretty?"

Also, I think it's important to note that several well-known and very successful designers don't have a design degree.

You have a unique advantage to incorporate your media studies and research abilities into your design project problem-solving. If it were me, I'd play that up. It could easily be the main factor that separates you from everybody else trying for a design job, should you choose that path later down the road.
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