[limitlesslaughter]

Hello
I'm looking for all you animation people that are actually in the field, i know some of you aren't and thats ok too
If you can please answer the questions below, its part of an interview and i've looked everywhere, but i'm having no luck. So i figured the people here could help me
Thanks very much in advance for any help

What software/hardware do you mainly use?

What are your job responsibilities?

What background is necessary or helpful for this position?

What are the most important skills for this field?

What do you do in a typical day?

What do you like best about your job?

What is the typical salary range?

What benefits do you get with this job?

Are there other insights you have that would give me a greater understanding of this type of job?

If i work in this field, what are the big mistakes to avoid?

What are the current trends, changes, or controversies in the field?

Can you suggest other people I could talk to? May I use your name as a referal?

What are the typical career paths for this field?

What personal characteristics are employers looking for in this position?

Is there anything else you wish to add?

[bluedog]

Hi, from MN!

What software/hardware do you mainly use?
AdobePhotoshop, Illustrator
QuarkXPress, Cinema4D

What are your job responsibilities?
currently unemployed. I do freelance, and do graphic design, layout of brochures, and other printed materials


What background is necessary or helpful for this position?
Creativity, good eye for design and visual balance. Technical skill in software, and a keen desire to be persistent in making everything come together. Its imperitive to be thorough and notice any minor errors and/or alignment and sizing issues.

What are the most important skills for this field?
Adobe Photoshop use, must be able to produce flawless compositing and not overuse generic filters to achieve effects.

What do you do in a typical day?
Scan, edit, composite, set type, some 3d illustration

What do you like best about your job?
Variety and flexibility, the general relaxed atmosphere of a creative field. Sometime there are deadlines that increase stress levels at work, but there is usually other balances to this.

What is the typical salary range?
$30k-$75k for most positions from entry level to art director/senior design positions in MN.

What benefits do you get with this job?
Often a relaxed atmosphere with stress relieving benefits like a pool table, foosball, darts or other things to help clear your mind when under a deadline.


Are there other insights you have that would give me a greater understanding of this type of job?

If i work in this field, what are the big mistakes to avoid?
If you get a weird feeling about a place when looking for employment, pass it up. The attitudes of a place are usually pervasive. If you are not immediately comfortable with it, you won't find it easy in the long run. Demonstrate creativity and willingness to work hard. Promote yourself without being overly critical. In my opinion, those who want 'killer designers, or bigshots' will work you do death and don't work to balance creativity and work. Many prestigious places don't value your work without overworking you. Find some place that will appreciate the value you bring without taking your life with you.

What are the current trends, changes, or controversies in the field?
InDesign/Quark, do you update, switch? InDesign is a newer and modern layout application, many people are looking to it as an update to QuarkXpress which has had incredible upgrade costs for little in updated features. The debate is often over tried and true QuarkXPress versus the newer and flashier (but more resource hungry InDesign). When it comes down to it, InDesign is an app that will be popular in the future, and is taking its time to take much market from the entrenched QuarkXPress workflow.

OS9 and how to transisiton to OSX. Fonts are an issue, and running apps in the classic environment when not available in a native OSX version.

Can you suggest other people I could talk to? May I use your name as a referal?
I'd be happy to answer additional questions if you like. I have a 3d gaming artist with 5-6 years in the industry who I may refer, but I'll find out if they are interested first.

What are the typical career paths for this field?
For Design and print, its like saying "I'm in medicine." There are nurses, doctors, med.tech's, and reception or customer service.

For design, you can be a production artist, junior designer, senior designer, art director and principle of a studio. These positions can be in a marketing agency, a design agency and positioned with emphasis in any field such as consumer products, direct mailing, business-to-business, industrial or other. In marketing you may have account representatives, traffic coordinators (keeping things on schedule) and senior account managers. There are infinite positions and possibilities based on the position and market these businesses are emphasizing.

Design can be used in print, multimedia, video, new media (interactive, online and for broadcast). 3D has its own set of industries including 3D illustration and pre-visualization, visualization and video composition and special effects. There are 3D artists, modelers, animators, painters, special effects. Gaming is a different industry from video and print 3D such as architectural visualization in the software they use and the methods to achieve the end results.

What personal characteristics are employers looking for in this position?
Someone who is willing to take criticism, independently creative and willing to work within parameters of a client's needs (no specific prima donnas). Hard working, with an ethic for initiative and crazy sense of perfection and precision. Design is a creative field for people who are able to work with guidlelines (and not be the obtusely abstract or insanely irrational).

Is there anything else you wish to add?

[bluedog]

Isn't there anyone else who's a professional in this forum? I guess I *thought* there was. Musta been wrong.

[andi*pandi]

I thought he was asking about 3-d and animation, not really graphic design. Don't do that, so...

Also, the long form=tedious.

[godzookie2k]

Originally posted by andi*pandi:
<STRONG>I thought he was asking about 3-d and animation, not really graphic design. Don't do that, so...

Also, the long form=tedious.</STRONG>

Yeah, I *would* have worked my way through that form weeks ago, but it read like it was geared for 3D types so I didn't bother. So, what's the dilly? Can us humble non 3D weenies apply? (please note, 3D effects/modeling and design are two completely different ballgames so questions like "if I were to work in this field..." will likely be completely different. What's this for? what's the information going to be used for, background, etc etc would be nice too.


Nick

[msc1974]

What software/hardware do you mainly use?
Quark 4, Illustrator 10/9, Photoshop 6 and Infini-D 4.5

What are your job responsibilities?
Senior Creative Mac Operator, Hi -res Photoshop, general IT management, Training staff,

What background is necessary or helpful for this position?
**** loads of experince

What are the most important skills for this field?
Experince

What do you do in a typical day?
Hi-res photoshop retouching, brochure design and layout and general Mac creation (eg illustrator diagrams, charts and logos)

What do you like best about your job?
THE MAC

What is the typical salary range?
£35,000 (UK) $65,000 (NewZealand)

What benefits do you get with this job?
Dual G4 Qicksilver Mac with 1Gb Ram
Health insurance discounts

If i work in this field, what are the big mistakes to avoid?
Becoming to comfortable in one job...try to challenge yoursefl in all software (Mac based)

What are the current trends, changes, or controversies in the field?
OSX, Illustrator 10 instablities

Can you suggest other people I could talk to? May I use your name as a referal?
Yes

What are the typical career paths for this field?
Find a company that will give you a lucky break, wage is not importent at the begining...learn, learn, learn and copy software for training at home, buy a Mac and read website, mags and any other stuff you can find...You can never have to much info inside your head.
Experince is the key to a good Mac operator/photoshop retoucher.
ALWAYS go to interviews with the idea the job is yours...without being arrogant. Never be full of your self and never say you can do things you can't...you will be found out.

What personal characteristics are employers looking for in this position?
When I interview poeple at work I always ask can you do X,Y,Z
I want to hear the answer "YES I CAN DO THAT" no matter what it is eg. Cutter guides, layout, paste-up, photoshop montage, web graphics (gifs, jpegs), brochure layout, bill boards...anything!


Hope this is helpful and why do you need the info?