Bedrich Rios

Every single person I have ever spoken with tends to believe that college is a place to experiment and find your calling in life. And while this may be true, what happens if you figure out your calling too late in your college career? Or worse yet, what happens if you decide that you want to do something your school is not capable of preparing you for? In many ways, this is the situation I found myself early last fall. I was an incoming junior at Carleton College, a liberal arts school in Minnesota, and I wanted to be a web designer. My initial plan was to become a Computer Science major. And although that lasted for a good two and a half years, it was not what I was looking for. I decided to make the switch to the Cinema and Media Studies Department and that has proven to be a bit of a disappointment as well. In fact, most wannabe web designers attending a liberal arts school are likely to be in the same situation. This is simply due to the nature of a liberal arts education, which the Britannica Online Encyclopedia describes as “[a] college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum.” So, what can you do to prepare for a web deign profession?

Tips from an aspiring web designer

Here are some things you (like me) can do to gain more web design experience while in college:

1. Enroll in fine art courses
   Observational drawing or beginning painting may not be your thing. But, they will prove plenty useful in your future web design career. Basic concepts from different subjects in the fine arts are also applicable to web design. For instance, many painting courses will teach you a thing or two about the basics of color. Still in doubt of the fine arts applicability to web design? Read 6 Web Design Tips From Leonardo da Vinci, an amazing article by Joshua Clanton.
2. Seek web related work-study opportunities
   Let’s face it, most work-study jobs in college are, other than financially, a waste of time. The only things they require from you is the ability to perform meaningless tasks (i.e. shelf a book, serve some food, etc.). Nevertheless, as always, there are exceptions to the rules. Seek for your school’s web department and see if there are any jobs available for you. Don’t expect to be the lead designer, but working for him can give you a lot of valuable experience.
3. Procrastination 101
   There is one thing college students are know for, their incredible ability to procrastinate. And while procrastination itself is not the greatest skills to posses, why not make use of it? Next time you find yourself watching YouTube videos or googling your name to see what comes up (sadly, I do both), increase your knowledge of the web and web design by reading about it. If you want a few reading suggestions, make sure to take a look at my previous post titled A “Guide” To Your Web Design Start.
4. Use the resources at your disposition
   The web is a great resource for learning about web design so, use it. There are a number of very educational and inspirational blogs about web design and related topics out in the vast world of the Internet. These are a few of the blogs that I visit frequently:
   • A List Apart
   • I Love Typography
   • Smashing Magazine
   • PSDTUTS
   • NETTUTS
   • Web Designer Wall
   • Vitamin

One last thing

I have always been told that having an internship during college is extremely beneficial for your career after graduation. Thus, I have managed to obtain a web design internship at a web development company in Minneapolis. Honestly, I could not have asked for a better job this summer. As a rising senior, it is very important to have real life experience written down somewhere on your resume. So, why am I telling you all this? Because knowledge and practice should always go hand in hand. As a student in a liberal arts college, your web design experience will not be extensive unless you seek for that experience yourself. Remember that at the end of the day you and a design school student will be competing for the same job. So, a little experience will most likely help.

I posted this article on Thursday, May 29th, 2008. Is filed under Personal, Web Design. If you liked what you read, please digg it by using the button on the left. Also, you can subscribe to my RSS feed and read more articles like this one.