Becoming a Graphic and Digital Designer is a single source guide to the myriad of options available to those pursuing a graphic design career. With an emphasis on portfolio requirements and job opportunities, this guide helps both students and individuals interested in entering the design field prepare for successful careers. Coverage includes design inspiration, design genres, and design education, with discussion of the specific career options available in print, interactive, and motion design. Interviews with leading designers like Michael Bierut, Stefan Sagmeister, and Mirko Ilic give readers an insider's perspective on career trajectory and a glimpse into everyday operations and inspirations at a variety of companies and firms.

Design has become a multi-platform activity that involves aesthetic, creative, and technical expertise.Becoming a Graphic and Digital Designer shows readers that the field once known as "graphic design" is now richer and more inviting than ever before.

Graphic designers' work appears in magazines, advertisements, video games, movies, exhibits, computer programs, packaging, corporate materials, and more. Aspiring designers are sure to find their place in the industry, regardless of specific interests.Becoming a Graphic and Digital Designer provides a roadmap and compass for the journey, which begins today.

Steven Heller is co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA design program. He has written over 170 books on design and has been a contributor or contributing editor to nearly 25 magazines, includingPrint, Eye, andBaseline. Steven writes the "Visuals" column for theNew York Times Book Review.

Véronique Vienne writes books and conducts workshops on design criticism as a creative tool. She is a former magazine art director and has served as a faculty member and lecturer at art and design colleges in the United States and Europe.

Foreword viii

Glossary x

Job Opportunities xii

Job Seeking xii

The Optimum Portfolio xiii

First Impressions xiii

One: Graphic Design

1 Inspirations and Motivations

Michael Bierut: On Being a Graphic Designer 17

Stephen Doyle: Selfish-In a Good Way 23

Stefan Sagmeister: On Being Self-Motivated 27

Arnold Schwartzman: Still Designing after All These Years 30

Gail Anderson: The Joys of Print Design 33

2 Starting A Studio or Working for Someone Else

Lynda Decker: Mapping Out the Future 37

Fernando Music: From Boss to Employee 40

Allison Henry Aver: Working Holistically 43

Romain Raclin: Creative Space 46

Alexander Isley: Staying Independent 49

Agnieszka Gasparska: Small Is Sensible 54

Bobby Martin and Jennifer Kinon: Championing Design 58

Antonio Alcalá: What a Dream Client Looks Like 62

Mark Pernice: From Band Member to Design Leader 65

Tamara Gildengers Connolly: Balancing Studio and Home 68

Araba Simpson: One Person, All Alone 72

Matt Luckhurst: Designing for Design Firms 74

3 Partners on Partnering

Hjalti Karlsson and Jan Wilker: Not a Lot of Verbalizing 79

Stuart Rogers and Sam Eckersley: Sharing Responsibilities 82

Justin Colt and Jose Fresneda: How Partners Becomes Partners 86

Greg D'Onofrio and Patricia Belen: Two Partners, One Passion 90

Scott Buschkuhl: At Present We Are Three 93

Two: Design Genres

4 Letters and Type

Marian Bantjes: Lettering as Art and Business 98

Andy Cruz and Rich Roat: There's a Type Designer in the House 100

Pierre di Scuillo: Typography That Speaks Up 104

Ross MacDonald: An Illustrator's Passion for Type 108

Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich: For the Love of Type 112

How Many Typefaces Can You Love? (sidebar) 115

5 Making Logos and Marks

Mark Fox: The Mark Maker 117

6 Books and Book Jackets

Scott-Martin Kosofsky: Making a Living Doing Books 123

Michael Carabetta: Books and E-Books 127

Paul Buckley: The Bookkeeper 130

Jim Heimann: Making Visual Books 134

7 Editorial Design

Len Small: Print Is Bouncing Back 141

Susanna Shannon: Art Director Becomes Editor 144

8 Social Innovation

Mark Randall: Citizen Designer 149

Bob McKinnon: Socially Impactful Design 154

9 Branding and Packaging

Sharon Werner: Approachable Design 157

10 Illustration Design

Michel Bouvet: Poster Man 163

Mirko Ilic: Design Is Like Classical Ballet 166

Steve Brodner: Graphic Commentary and Design 170

Steven Guarnaccia: The Old New Illustration 174

Neil Gower: Fraudulent Graphic Designer 178

Craig Frazier: Designing Pictures 182

Three: Transitional Design

11 Understanding Change

Richard Saul Wurman: The Architect of Understanding 189

Crossing Disciplines (sidebar) 191

Petrula Vrontikis: Creating Interactions 193

Erik Adigard: The Experience of the Information 196

Véronique Marrier: Graphic Design as a Cause 200

Making Transitions: Returning to School with Barbara DeWilde (sidebar) 203

12 Eccentrics and Design Quirkiness

Charles S. Anderson: Celebrating Commercial Art 205

Antoine Audiau and Manuel Varosz: Over-the-top Digita D.I.Y. 208

Ludovic Houplain/H5: Getting an Oscar for Graphic Design 210

Cary Murnion: Designing Cooties 214

Nick Ace: Speaking Frankly 217

13 What Comes Next

Timothy Goodman: Disposable Ideas 221

Ryan Feerer: Making Design Meals 224

Design Entrepreneurship (sidebar) 227

Franco Cervi: "I Am Reckless!" 228

Four: Digital Design

14 Interactive Multimedia Installations and Interfaces

Debugging the Language of Digital Job Titles (sidebar) 233

Jeroen Barendse: Subverting the Mental Map 234

Julien Gachadoat: Demomaking for a Living 237

Ada Whitney: The New Motion 240

Defining the New Animation: Popularity, by J.J. Sedelmeir (sidebar) 241

Defining the New Animation: Technology's Perks, by J.J. Sedelmeir (sidebar) 242

Jean-Louis Fréchin: Asking the Right Questions 243

Alexander Chen: Working for Google (sidebar) 245

15 Designing Apps for Mobile Devices

Sean Bumgarner: Between Text and Images 247

Michel Chanaud: Always Learning 250

John Kilpatrick: Designer as Accelerator 255

Nicolas Ledoux and Pascal Bejean: Digital Books and Magazines by Contemporary Artists 256

Typography on the Web, by Jason Santa Maria (sidebar) 258

Frédérique Krupa: Games as Powerful Motivators 260

Girls and Games (sidebar) 262

16 E-Commerce with a Soul

Randy J. Hunt: Growing into a Job 265

Lucy Sisman: Online Editorial Ventures 269

Nancy Kruger Cohen: Addicted to Startups 272

17 User Experience Specialists

Bruce Charonnat: Understanding Human-Computer Interaction 277

Michael Aidan: Using the Audience as Media 279

Hugh Dubberly: Mapping the Relationship between Ideas 282

Matthew Stadler: To Publish: To Create a Public for Books 288

18 Geeks, Programmers, Developers, Tinkerers

Frieder Nake: Controlling Computers with Our Thoughts 293

Mark Webster: Iterations and Algorithms 296

Five: Design Education

19 Making Choices

Andrea Marks: Old School, New School 308

Lita Talarico: Educating Design Entrepreneurs 311

Rudi Meyer: Developing the Righ Attitude 314

Lucille Tenazas: Idiosyncratic Contexts 317

Liz Danzico: Interfacing with UX 320

Allan Chochinov: The Maker Generation 322

David Carroll: Students and Surveillance 325

APPS That Track, by David Carroll (sidebar) 327

Appendix 1 College Directory 328

Appendix 2 Additional Reading 330

Index 332