Designer Work Environments

My Trajectory as a Designer

Overview of the Learned Materials and Concepts

Throughout this week I was able to gain an understanding of my options for work within my industry. I was able to learn about the work environments, the benefits, and downfalls of working as an in-house, agency, or freelance designer. When I developed my previous dynamic infographic I found myself committing some mistakes, like not timing the animation with the voice over and having long static moments. These mistakes resulted in the message not being communicated clearly, since the audience was not sure where to focus their attention. On this post I decided to challenge myself once again and give the dynamic infographic another try.

In order to avoid my previous mistakes I decided to plan ahead. The first problem was that the recording of the voiceover was not going to take place until the end of the project, since the talent was not going to be available until the end of the day. The solution taken to this problem was to first write the script, and then work on the animation according to it. This time I decided to leave long periods of static image within animations, that way I could have the flexibility to edit the video according to the timing of the voiceover at a later time. Unlike last time, I decided to utilize an online browser based animation software named Powtoon instead of Articulate Storyline for the animations. While Articulate storyline is a software mainly utilized for the development of interactive e-learning videos, Powtoon is utilized for the creation of fast and simple animation videos. Even though their functions are different, both Articulate and Powtoon ended up having very similar aspects within their animation process. For both you can apply enter and exit animation presets to elements, and both have a large library of useful elements. While After Effects would have been the ideal software to use for this project, Powtoon saved me a considerable amount of time by providing me with animation presets and a library of assets that would have taken a long time to search for and keyframe within After effects. After the animations were made I continued the process in Adobe Spark. Within Spark i was able to find royalty free music and I also recorded the voice over once the talent was available. Lastly, I did my final cut in Adobe Premiere. Here I cut the video in order to retime the animations according to the voiceover and the background music. Leaving static images within animations came in handy, since it provided me with room to edit, and time the video and audio perfectly.

The design of the timeline allowed me to see at my past experiences as a designer and to understand how these experiences shaped me into who I am as a professional. I came to see that I enjoy being an in-house designer mostly because of the job and income security. Johanna Björk states that in in-house “your paycheck is handled by people who actually know finance and arrives, on time, deposited right into your bank account” (Björk, 2010). This statement is very true, and being able to express myself as a designer and not having to worry about the competition or a loosing my job gives me a sense of security that allows me to focus on my work. As of now, apart from going in-house I am also open to being an agency-designer. This is because I believe that I would enjoy working alongside other designers and like minded individuals. An agency would also provide me with a wider portfolio and clients. In the future I think I could go full time freelance, since I would have a strong portfolio and many years of experience. Still, following Ram Castillo’s advice “there’s nothing stopping me from freelancing with clients after hours and on weekends” (Castillo). Therefore, I am always open for freelancing if the opportunity arises.

	Academic	Occupational
Technical	Adobe Creative Suite – A collection of desktop and mobile software utilized for design needs. It includes software for photo manipulation, vector art, video editing, motion graphics, web development, and UI development. Corel Graphics Suite – A collection of desktop software utilized for design needs. It includes software for the creation of graphics and illustration, photo editing, page layouts, and font management.	Pre-press files for print – The process of making print-ready artwork, designs, layouts, or any content that will be sent to a printing press. Concepts for clients – Design concepts to be shown to a client or put together in a presentation for a client. Usually the client is shown a wide variety of concepts to choose from. Asset design – The creation of assets and elements to be used for a brand. Asset design includes the constant development of a brand, marketing materials, and  stock art.
Conceptual	Mentors – Experienced designers that guide and help newer designers. Design agencies have plenty of mentorship opportunities. Human-centered design – A term introduce by David Kelley. It is design aimed to enrich the user experience and to solve human problems.	In-house designer – A designer that is hired by a company. He attends to the company’s design needs, and develops the company’s brand. The company is his only client and he is hired as an employee. Agency designer – A designer that works at a design agency or firm. He develops the brands of the agency’s clients. He works alongside other designers in order to meet the agency’s client needs. Freelance designer – A designer that works on his own. He chooses his work hours, location, and clients. A freelance designer creates looks for clients and creates relationships in order to keep getting work. Job security – The certainty of keeping a job and a salary. In-house designers have the most job security since they are hired by a company. Agency and freelancers have lower job security, since their employment rests on the amount of work coming in. Design or marketing agency – A company that is sought for design, branding or creative content. Usually composed of many designers that work as a team. Company art department– A department within a company that is in charge of design, creative content, and branding. I can be composed of a team or a single designer.

References:

Adobe . (n.d.). Adobe Creative Cloud. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html

Björk, J. (2010, March 12). The Ins and Outs of Working In-house. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://www.aiga.org/ins-and-outs-of-working-inhouse.

Castillo, R. (n.d.). In-house, agency, or freelance-what’s right for me? Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://www.aiga.org/aiga/content/inspiration/in-house-agency-or-freelancewhats-right-for-me/.

Corel Corporation. (n.d.). CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019: Try it Free. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://www.coreldraw.com/en/product/coreldraw/?x-clickref=1011l7uddfoE&utm_source=pz&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=111l748&x-vehicle=pz.

Flavin, B. (2017, July 24). Where Do Graphic Designers Work? In-House vs. Agency vs. Freelance. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/design/blog/where-do-graphic-designers-work/.

Winkler, M. (2015, January 16). So You Want to Be an In-House Graphic Designer? Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/so-you-want-to-be-an-in-house-graphic-designer–cms-22877.