Daughter wants to do art and design, what's best route after GCSE

[amandakm]

3rd daughter is doing her GCSEs this year, she's academically strong, but her passion and talents lie in art/creative/design areas. None of the the family have ever worked or studied in this area so we're a bit lost as to where she should go next to develop/train. Like most 16 year olds she's vague about what she eventually wants to do, so want to look at as many options as possible, not neccessarily university. Their doesn't seem to be much official advise through school, so forummers any advice/ideas?

[Debk]

Maybe a graphic design course at Sheffield College would be worth looking at. You can do BTEC then on to a degree if it proves to be the right route for her. If she looks at something that covers learning the packages Indesign, CS3, Photoshop & Illustrator then she should always be able to find work in a Marketing department.One of the key things for her finding work afterwards would be to have a good portfolio of work- if this is "real" work that she has done for genuine companies (even if unpaid) then she will have a better chance of securing a permanent position.

 

If it is not exactly what she wants to do long term, the skills she learns will be a bonus to most future employers.

[moke]

in the same position, i did a Advanced GNVQ in art and design, with an a-level in media studies and general studies.

 

because it was a 'bigger' qualification than a levels, it allowed me to skip doing a foundation year art an art college, and go straight to uni. it was also very broard - as much sculpture and painting as graphics, product design, woodworking etc. There's loads of routes to take though, and i'm not even sure if GNVQ's are still available as an alternative to a levels!

 

as far as longer term, she might want to try and think if their is more unusual area of art and design that she has an interest in - and develop her talents in that direction. loads and loads of people study graphic design, only to find that the vast numbers of graduates are scrabbling round for very few, poorly paid jobs - and it takes years of experience for that situation to improve.

 

i ended up studying packaging as a speciality, and it has served me well, and indeed there are loads of areas to look at, like civic design, landscaping, town planning, automotive engineering design etc... whatever sort of design she has an interest in, look at all the different areas within that you can study / find work.

 

and if uni isn't the solution, then the same can still apply - work out what area you'd like to work in, and try and use what you do at college relevant. at the end, approach firms for a placement / see if they will take you on to learn on the job. half the design team i work with went to work straight from college, and they are no worse off for it.

 

hope some of that makes sense!

[sedith]

I work in the Design industry and would discourage going down this route. These days everyone who uses a Mac considers themselves a graphic designer, so the pay is related to this.

[flavafun]

i didnt study art till i was a mother and put my self through the levels and got my qualifications, then found to find a job with my passion was hard, but got given a chance by a group called yassi, who deal with children that need help in many ways and i became a art therepist, just helping children realise there feelings and emotions into art, and also a way of communicating if they find it difficult to talk, i also then went and extended my qualifications by doing a playworkers course which then allowed me to open art to all children on a weekly bases.

 

Then taking time out from work due to health, i then came back to looking for work in my passion to which i found hard then decided to rebuild my portfolio and now found my perfect job in Tattooing, which opens art to a completely new level but is not to be taken on just because of artistic talent as there is so much red tape and health guidence to take on and is getting stricter which i agree with so much.

 

but i also use my art to customise clothing and also glass etching which i sell, and customise design for people

 

good luck to her, hope she does well and a portfolio is essential within any artistic job or course, from the first ever pieces to the most recent as shows progression and how her talent is evolving

[wotsits]

I work in the Design industry and would discourage going down this route. These days everyone who uses a Mac considers themselves a graphic designer, so the pay is related to this.

 

Very very true. It's shocking. I did Graphic design. I now work in an office doin Admin. I am earning considerably more than my mates that went into the art and design world. People think it's easy and to coin a phrase there are so many Mac monkeys out there. If you want to be creative in that industry you got to hit the big time. Otherwise it's generic business card design or putting car adverts in local papers which is like paint by numbers, no design in it. Not that I am bitter :P

[wotsits]

She could think about doing a fine art degree, you can go on to qualify as an art therapist this is something I really wanted to do. Working with children and helping them, and still using the field of Art. I would have to do a three Fine art degree, I am unable to top HND graphics for this. Well as far as I am aware.

[amandakm]

thanks everyone for your ideas. It's difficult as she has always been an 'eccentric' sort, she comes at things from odd angles which makes her interesting but i don't know about employable. She loves cartoons, especially old black and white stuff, studio Ghibli, she draws the weirdest stuff. She's academically bright and i suspect she could be a good writer. Her science teacher has suggested she look at something in the bio-chemistry fields, so she has lots of different options. However trying to talk to her has always been like trying to put moonbeams in a jar.

[Rushup]

Think very carefully before going down the route of graphic design. Entry-level wages in Sheffield for a graphic designer are between £12,000 and £15,000 unless you specialise in digital. And that's with a degree...

 

Universities are pumping out far, far too many graduate designers to fill very few vacancies. Sheffield Hallam have around 100 graduates from their graphic design course every year, and I can assure you there isn't anything like 100 vacancies waiting for them.

 

Graduates are often expected to work several months unpaid before being offered a job.

[Flying Duck]

Most schools are about to have/have just had a post 16 options evening for yr 11 pupils. 6th forms & colleges will have open evenings coming up in the next month. Make sure she (and you if possible) attends as many as she can, and talks to different staff/current students. I would expect that careers staff would be present at these (I know the one I went to at Sheffield College last year had one available) and would be able to talk through the options in more detail.

 

If Bio-chemistry is a serious consideration, and she really doesn't know what she wants to do, then A-levels will keep her options open longer. It would be an unusual combination, but possibly doing Chemistry, Biology and Graphics/Art/Media would cover all angles.

 

If she is confident that she wants to go into a creative field, then an Extended Diploma would still give her the option of university after 2 years, but would be coursework based rather than exam based, and would be more targeted towards a particular area.