Do you have a degree? Asked nobody, ever, hiring for a graphic design position.

At a time when every school student is freaking out about exams, exam results and life in general, I just thought I'd share my experiences of the design world and getting that foot in the door... I went to a senior school where the arts were something for oddball people to do, something that would get you nowhere in life and something that we really shouldn't talk about. So of course, I was attracted to them. I was the kid that always had a colouring book to hand and remember when I was off school with chicken pox drew all of the Roger Hargreaves characters, I was that rock 'n' roll. In my heart I was always was going to be an artist. Skip on a few years back to senior school. It came to that time when we were all filling in our UCAS form. We had talks from previous students; doctors, lawyers, accountants and what not, but no artists. The UCAS form was a real dilemma; UCAS or Art Foundation or what? "Students simply must go out and get a degree in something meaningful, it's the only way" was the general vibe of what I was up against. I was clever enough to have done anything, but at this point I was digging my heels in. Art is what I want to do - why should I only have it as a hobby? Why should I do something with my life that is somebody else's decision. Grrr. And so I did an Art Foundation course and went on to do a degree in Illustration with Animation, and nobody cared. Luckily for me it wasn't £9000 a year or whatever the ridiculous fee is these days, but it was time ill spent. The only good thing I got from university are my friends. Oh, and the title of my website. I was described as having an Off The Wall approach. I took it as a compliment, I'm not wholly sure if it was.... I left university with a somewhat bizarre portfolio of experimental animation and a selection of drawings in red and black. I did enjoy my playing card project though, I will have to share that with you sometime. And so it came to finding a job. During my time at university I had sought out work experience of my own. I had done a few graphic design projects for friends, but on the whole was unable to achieve anything of note. I wrote to companies, rang up companies and even managed to speak to companies, but due to the university I was at and it's lack of connections, I was not allowed to go ahead with anything as I wasn't one of the 50 universities they worked with. That and some companies mentioned insurance policies which I don't know what they were expecting me to do? And so finding a real job, in the real world was really hard. I worked in a hospital, I worked in a bar and I applied for hundreds of jobs a week all with little success. I applied to work on a cruise ship (just one application this time!) and got the job as a cruise videographer. Did he ask if I had a degree? Did he look at my video portfolio? No on both counts. On the cruise job I dabbled in poster and flyer design, but predominantly worked on the video - this was the experience I needed to break it into Hollywood blockbuster direction or so I thought...! The boss saw my posters and sent it out across the ships as a template for DVD and photo advertising - see I told everyone I could design, but nobody had believed me! Back home in the UK I continued to apply for hundreds of jobs a week, and stumbled across a web design agency in Preston. First question; do you have any experience? No... But happily they liked me and although they didn't give me the job, they gave me work experience on live briefs doing live things. These folks were Curly Kale and I still think they're awesome. With this under my belt, I came to my next very few and far between interview, and felt I needed to impress. But I had a new weapon now, experience! My portfolio had real things in it now and I could speak as if I knew what the real world of work was like. I landed the job! Years later, I still work closely with the lady who saw my potential, the Marketing Director of The Cordant Group. To both of these folks I will be eternally grateful as they could see potential and helped me grow as a designer and without them I wouldn't be here.

So in brief, what was all of the above about?

Well, if I was to do it all again, yes I would do the ship again as that was a super awesome experience, but a degree? I'd really have to question that part. In this particular field, experience is what opens up the doors, not the whole cap and gown bit. If you are pursuing a degree - good luck and try to get some experience along the way. If you're not pursuing a degree it isn't the catastrophe that some paint the picture it will be. Whatever choice you make, dive in and get messy, because getting a foot in the door is tricky and competitive and sometimes soul destroying, but finding the experience you need will give you the confidence and something interesting to say should you get an interview. Being a graphic designer is the easy part, but getting others to believe you is the tricky bit.