Due weekly on Sundays*. Responses to others’ posts due Tuesdays. *Due in two weeks, Sunday.
Week 13–14 — Assignment “Field Research & Position”
Project 3: Portfolio Project—collecting, presenting your work, and telling the story. The first part over the next two weeks—work on the assignment below: identify three job positions that are of interest. We will be working from the specifics listed and crafting a visual portfolio tailored to these. Create any refinements and variations for your 16-second motion graphic (Project 2) with sound which extends your album art system. Come meet in an individual meeting this week or next for motion design discussions. Reflect on your own work and start documenting and gathering information.
1/
Discuss:
- Research design jobs and identify three job positions that are of interest.
- Make PDFs of each job description for us to review and work from in the weeks ahead, and upload these PDFs to the drive.
- In a 400-word comment below, describe your overarching plans and goals. Describe the field as you see it and wish to enter. Describe where you did the research, who and which companies you selected. Tell us about them and about the jobs you selected. Include a links to your folder so we can respond. Note the discussion is double in length (400 words minimum).
Reply to at least two others’ by Tuesday. * Due in 2 weeks
2/
Studio:
- Refine the motion graphic for your album. Create a variation or refine a direction you began last week. Be sure that your video has the sound clip. It is a 16-seconds .mp4, with sound, and use these dimensions: 891 pixels x 891 pixels. Upload to the drive.
- Reflect on your body of art/design work and select 5–7 (five to seven) projects. Make a list of these 5–7 project works in a word document in your folder. List title of project, dimensions and format, project brief (assignment), and describe your concept, approach/process, and final solution for each.
- Choose one that you wish to revise or extend, and describe the aspects you wish to work more deeply on in the weeks ahead.
- Share a link to your Word document and to your refined 16-second motion graphic with sound (.mp4).
Links:
LinkedIn
AIGA Design Jobs
AIGA
Folder Link:
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/nreastwood_uncg_edu/EmMkyyS7PqlFmOZyCzMXrwIBurR2uCNW1wjlUV54K8JNPA?e=DMXCAt
My overall goal is to do some type of work in game design whether that be doing graphic design for use in games or working on the actual mechanics and visuals of the game itself. I’m really passionate about the culture of games and the process of creating them and plan to look into an internship at a game design studio after graduation. I’m not sure that that 100% fits into exactly what we’re doing in this course so I made sure to only have a game design related job as one of the three I chose just in case. For me personally, although I do enjoy physical art and use sketching and other mediums in conjunction with a lot of my projects, I feel I’m a lot more passionate about the field of graphic design. First I looked at a bunch of general Graphic Designer jobs for various companies. The work you would do obviously varies from company to company, but overall revolved around producing designs (logos, marketing, and various other company related work) for use by the specific company. One of the specific companies I looked at and was most interested in was Nippon Design Center (NDC). Rather than making their own designs the NDC is an agency that produces simple graphic designs for other groups, events and more. I found the idea of producing a wide variety of designs for different things to be really interesting. The second job I looked at is a Creative Associate. The position is somewhat similar to a graphic designer, except that you would be producing 2D and 3D works for use in different live events (at least at the company I researched, this could definitely differ between companies as it’s sort of a broad term). From what I researched it could also include organizing and overseeing creative projects and helping to create the vision for different projects, but I’m personally much more interested in the first description which is what I found at GES. Global Experience Specialists, or GES, is a company that helps individuals or groups in creating different types of live events, whether that be a show or something else. In contrast to Graphic Design, this type of job seems to focus a lot more on creating designs and other elements that will be physically featured in events. The third and final job I researched is Gameplay Designer. I looked specifically at Epic Games as they had a large amount of job postings and seemed to be the most prevalent (at least on Indeed). The job itself primarily involves creating the mechanics and visuals of a video game. This can range from things like creating the movement systems and environment of the game to designing character models and many other things. It’s a pretty big field that doesn’t necessarily focus on a single aspect. I’ve had a bit of experience in game/ character design and have really enjoyed it so this would honestly be my dream job. I can’t say that I would want to work for Epic specifically but something in that field sounds really fun to me. I primarily did my research for these 3 jobs on Indeed, LinkedIn and AIGA, however there were some additional things that I just googled for my own personal interest about what each job entailed at other companies and things like salary and benefits.
Game design definitely has so many branches you could follow! I think that it is very useful to stay open minded when it comes to job searching, especially as an artist/designer. I feel as if design work can be adapted to whatever is needed, as long as you have the basic knowledge and skills behind what you do. The jobs you selected look super interesting! Thanks for sharing!
My overarching plans and goals after graduating at the end of this year is to eventually move on to find a full-time job working in graphic design. However, I still have not been able to narrow down what I want to do specifically in the field of graphic design quite yet. I know that I have taken multiple classes over my tenure at UNCG that gave me the skills to fulfill multiple different roles that are possibilities in the job landscape. I have taken classes that focused on drawing, online apps like Adobe Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign and Photoshop, website design and I even took a class that focused on the ins and outs of digital photography. I did this so that when the time comes to look for a full-time job after college that I have multiple different options and many avenues to go down so that I will not be trapped in one certain position or direction. I still want to be based out of North Carolina, so I went on Google and researched graphic design type jobs that are full time and based out of North Carolina; whether it be still in Greensboro or in somewhere like Raleigh or Charlotte. After that, I tried to look for full-time jobs that are entry level since I will most likely will be looking for these jobs right after graduating college. There were not many entry level job positions that I could find, especially in just one area; this is when I started searching outside of Greensboro and into different cities in the surrounding area. The opening job positions were at Advanced Personnel Resources Inc as a full-time associate, an entry level graphic designer at Environmental Resources Management Inc and a graphic designer at Compass Group. Compass Group is a food and facilities service out of Charlotte, Advanced Personnel Resources Inc is a temp agency based out of Greensboro and Environmental Resources Management Inc is an environmental consultant firm based out of Raleigh. All of them do seem to pay between $18 and $20 for their salary. Out of those 3 job positions that I found, I feel like the position at Advanced Personnel Resources Inc would be the best position to possibly accept. Not only is it based in Greensboro so it would alleviate the struggling to a new city but also I feel like a temp agency would yield more of an ability to find different areas to work instead of only being based in the environmental field or a food services job.
I do think it will be tricky to find entry level jobs, as I had the same struggle you seemed to have when searching. As long as you have a solid portfolio geared towards what the job needs, I feel like even a beginner can score a great gig. Thank you for sharing!
Hey Anthony,
We share similar interests, as I also aspire to a career in Graphic Design. I’m not entirely sure about the specifics either. I like that you’re expanding your cities in North Carolina, that’s a good idea! I wish you the best of luck in this competitive job field.
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/r/personal/r_riley_uncg_edu/Documents/_Rachele%20Riley/teaching/S25/ART%20448/Kayla%20Stiles/Week%2013-14?csf=1&web=1&e=71bBCO
My biggest goal as I enter the field is to get as much design experience as possible, with companies and/or freelancing. I’d like to have a solid professional portfolio and applicable experience by 2-3 years (or so). Once comfortable with my experience level, I want to try for a higher level, more free and individual work. I would love to be able to go to Graduate school so I can perfect my artistic practice. For now, I would like to focus on illustration full time, but I will also gladly accept any graphic design, video, or animation/motion graphic jobs if available. I have grown comfortable with most industry standard software, so I am confident that I can land at least a solid job. My strongest areas in the field so far are digital illustration, typography, photo and video based design. The jobs I selected follow these skills, and seem to build upon what I already know how to do. I selected a junior graphic design position for Denny’s, concept design for The Childhood Cancer Society, and logo illustration for Simply Southern; as it seemed these jobs match up the closest with my experience so far. The junior graphic design position seems like the most realistic for me, as I am leaving right out of college to enter the field for the first time. It is under the guidance of an art director, and the tasks seem achievable as a new designer. The concept design position for The Childhood Cancer Society seems to be the most in line with what I’m personally interested in, as it is based solely on illustration. I find the organization to be open-minded, positive, and kind, which adds to the appeal of the job. The Simply Southern brand design position seems to require adequate knowledge and skills that I believe I do have. It would provide good experience with retail merchandising and marketing design, which tends to be most of the jobs that are out in the field right now. I began my research through AIGA and Indeed, but many of the offers were for mid-senior level and required over 5 years of experience. I then googled local job offers in illustration to see what I could find, and found the offers I wanted to work with for this assignment. The biggest worry I have with entering the field is having a lack of experience. However, there seems to be plenty of opportunities in design, and I just need to work to filter through them when applying.
Overall, my goals are not necessarily related to the design/art field at all. For the last year I have been taking coding classes on my own for Javascript/SQL to better my chances of getting a job at a bank in Charlotte. I researched which bank had the best opportunities for recent college graduates and I ended up applying for several of the College Programs from Bank of America in October. I looked at the employee satisfaction scores, looked online to see what others thought of the programs and figured out which areas I was the most interested in. The different banks all had very different experiences from what I had read online. Bank of America seemed to have better reviews than Chase Bank and Wells Fargo as well as better pay. I applied for Global Risk, Operations, and Strategy/Management. They ended up giving me offers for Risk and Operations, and I picked Risk since it seemed to have more of a difference in day-to-day tasks which I enjoy in a job.
The field of banking is interesting to me because I want to have a job where I can go in, do my work and then go home and not think about it or feel pressured to do what a “client” wants. I have always loved art and it is fun for me but I do not think pursuing it as a career is worth it because I wouldn’t want to do it for other people. Going to school for it has taught me that I only do my best work when it is not pressured to be one way or another, and to work on it when I am feeling inspired. The 9-5 job seems to suit me much better since it pays better, has opportunity for growth and I can go home and work on art for myself.
For the jobs I chose in the drive, I picked ones that were as similar to the program I applied for as possible (the programs are all closed now so I can’t find the page with information for them anymore). I found the Financial Crimes Specialist which is a job possibility after the two year program I am in, a UX Designer role which was the only design-related job I could find on the website, and then a Credit Risk Officer which is what my current title. The only difference is mine is a training program with other college students which makes it more of a learning experience and having less expectations on prior knowledge. Once the two years is over with the program, they allow people to figure out what area they were the best in/what they preferred and give them a permanent position along with a pay raise.
With the job I picked, there were a lot of steps for applying and interviewing, since so many people apply to the program every year they are selective and even sometimes use AI to sort through resumes and the video interview process.
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/r/personal/r_riley_uncg_edu/Documents/_Rachele%20Riley/teaching/S25/ART%20448/Aniston%20Spradley/Wweek%2013%20and%2014?csf=1&web=1&e=SapChy
Hey Aniston, I am really happy that you got the offer for the job that you want, since I know you have been working towards this for a while. I also really like your explanation of why a bank job would interest you, it makes a lot of sense. I am excited for you opportunities after we graduate this semester!!
Understanding how the creative industry works has been my focus in the last couple weeks, alongside looking at activities and opportunities regarding my professional growth. My career blueprint focuses on building in the visual design. I want to learn more about all parts of design but more specifically motion graphics and product design. I want to learn how to develop brands and to help organizations make connect with their customers by using storytelling and design. I also want to be able to make animations for logos similar to what I see in advertising or doing illustration motion design that’s like a short commercial.
I decided to look into different it more, and in doing so, I came across three positions that I was interested in. The first opportunity I saw was a 2D Illustrator / Graphic Designer position at Epic Games in Cary, NC. I liked the role’s creative emphasis and collaborative environment at Epic Games. The illustration-heavy role required working on the gameplay, cinematics, and marketing materials for known games like Fortnite. Epic’s collaboration and thinking centered on the actual user, while the illustration, style, and versatility is important to them.
The second one I checked was the vacancy of Video Editor & Motion Graphics Designer with Wine To Water, which is a non-profit dedicating to providing waters around the world. The mission of this organization resonates with one of my reasons to work on mission-driven environments because this position is using creating visual pieces to aid in the work done by the organization. I also want to get into more video editing and I think this level of work is perfect for me. Working with Adobe Creative Suite. The position is remote with a flexible schedule, which to me is a bonus. Also I think this company shows great values and being able to be apart of it would be great.
Finally, I checked other openings such as BAS Graphics Designer at Hoffmann & Hoffmann Inc in Greensboro, NC. This one is more technical towards the engineering side of things, focusing on the creation of graphical windows for the control of building automation systems. Even if it is less creative (in a graphic design sense), I find the position appealing due to the high level of attention to detail regarding various components of software and system engineering design. I think it’s a perfect example that graphic design can be applied in the engineering design fields.
At the moment, I am making my portfolio to show my strategic and visual thinking skills in every possible medium of illustration, motion design, and user interface graphics.
the jobs:
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/personal/r_riley_uncg_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fr_riley_uncg_edu%2FDocuments%2F_Rachele%20Riley%2Fteaching%2FS25%2FART%20448%2FJayla%20Miles%2Fweek%2013-14&noAuthRedirect=1
Hi Jayla, those jobs do seem like a good fit for what you have described as wanting something in motion graphic or product design. Ive seen your work with motion graphics and I think you are very skilled and def have items for your portfolio and I think all of these jobs relate well to them.
Hey Jayla!
I can totally see you getting a job as a graphic designer or in a motion graphics role. I think it’s good that you’re keeping your options open. For example, having an engineering job is always great, as it allows you to utilize multiple options and talents, which you do have! I am excited for your future.
The future is coming sooner than I’d thought and hoped. I am proud of my accomplishments while being at UNCG, but I do have to face the fact that I graduate in the Fall. Reviewing the job application, I found this assignment helpful and necessary, but it also made me anxious about the future because nothing is yet guaranteed. All we can do is try our best to get the job we want, and if we don’t get the job we want, we find another one we want. Being flexible and adaptable is essential for navigating life’s challenges and transitions. In the future, I have goals to complete college and earn my degree in Studio Art, with a concentration in New Media and Design, and a minor in Art Administration. Completed in 3.5 years. I plan to start job hunting during my final semester and possibly even during the summer, in hopes of securing a remote position with a museum, an art company, preferably a non-profit, but being adaptable to whatever opportunities I can find to launch my New Media and Design career. Nowadays, people often require extensive experience to secure a job, which I unfortunately do not have, considering how difficult it is to obtain multiple internships. I am completing a year-long internship with the GreenHill Center for NC Art, and I hope this will be sufficient, along with my future job plans for the Fall of 2025. The field, as I now see it, is specifically for the arts and is both overwhelming and exciting to be a part of. I dearly want to be involved and follow companies’ visions and missions, as well as my own dreams. I want to help people recognize the arts and learn how to be a part of this community.
The website I primarily focused on for my research regarding this assignment was LinkedIn Learning, where I searched for jobs. I found some pretty interesting jobs through there, such as Gapingvoid Culture Design Group – Graphic Designer/Illustrator, Allone Health – Graphic Designer, and Insight Global – Brand Designer. I was mainly looking for graphic design jobs because I want to create art for a living, and I am primarily working with physical mediums like paint, charcoal, and ink. Still, I know that doing freelance painting is hard to make a living off of unless you’re well-known with a heavy social media following and good promotion. I also spent 3.5 years at UNCG learning New Media and Design, and I want to utilize my skills in a professional setting shortly. I think the Insight Global job would be an excellent start for me in the Graphic Design world because it’s a one-year contract, and I believe I would learn a great deal during that time. It’s also something I can become passionate about. Regarding gaming, I grew up with extensive exposure, and I would be interested in learning the stories behind each game and incorporating this into my design, layouts, campaigns, and audits.
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Link to OneDrive: https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/shared?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fr%5Friley%5Funcg%5Fedu%2FDocuments%2F%5FRachele%20Riley%2Fteaching%2FS25%2FART%20448%2FHannah%20Belk%2FWeek%5F13%5F%26%5F14&listurl=%2Fpersonal%2Fr%5Friley%5Funcg%5Fedu%2FDocuments&login_hint=HMBELK%40uncg%2Eedu&source=waffle
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Link to Gapingvoid Culture Design Group- Graphic Designer / Illustrator —> https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4209802399/?refId=1661c489-a41f-4174-bac5-5460896a92be&trackingId=69yMAKooSQ%2BBxW89OnoVkQ%3D%3D
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Link to Allone Health – Graphic Designer —>
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4210671195/?refId=c791def2-3891-4b9a-806f-a88c5a79c4a2&trackingId=AhDEDqU4QHKpaHyMnZvn5w%3D%3D
Forgot this one:
Link to Insight Global- Brand Designer —>
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4210885577/?refId=94a65e01-1200-4cb9-9e78-c50f0a1601a4&trackingId=dHnmF14fSWSj13hyL37jyw%3D%3D
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Sadly, I don’t really have any plans or goals for after college or getting a job related to my degree. I don’t really know what I want to do. So I don’t know a field I would want to see and enter. I don’t have any interests or care I just want to make enough money and I will take anything. I would say marketing would be the best choice since specifically graphic design is more creative while marketing is thinking about the consumer and since I would be a consumer I think I would be able to handle that. I usually look for jobs on Indeed or LinkedIn but in these searches, zip recruiter kept coming up. Earlier in the year I was interested in this summer position as a UI/UX interface intern in Raleigh, I tried to look for it but could not find it so I decided to see if there were any jobs relating to user interface and user experience and I found one on Indeed which was a similar position. It is for a Summer 2025 Intern – UX Research & Strategy position which is remote so I wouldn’t have to move anywhere and it was for 20 dollars an hour. From what I read I had a lot of the skills wanted but not all of them, of course, it wants years of experience which I don’t have from working my jobs though. The next one that came across my feed when I was looking into marketing was on ZipRecruiter for a Digital Marketing Manager. I am underqualified in my years of work experience but the skills and programs that I would need to know, I do know for the most part. I chose this one because it seemed very job based as in its about one section of product which in this case is furniture so it wasn’t for a huge selection of things that I would have to cater to. The last one I chose was kind of a surprise to me but I do like it, I found it on ZipRecruiter and it was a museum Archivist. It is for Bennett College in Greensboro so kind of close, I would be cataloging items and assisting in projects of the museum, both of which seem like I would enjoy doing. I love being able to keep to myself and keep track of items and put them where they belong almost like stocking so I think I would be interested in this. I don’t really have formal training in museum studies, however it mentions an art degree or similar would work for the museum and I would look into this more.
Here is the link to my OneDrive with these sections assignments organized into folders.
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/r_riley_uncg_edu/Elwpvx3II9BPkHhAD6hi7Q4B8jE3obs35zZ70c7BRrM1fg?e=dpvSXa
My goal once I finish graduating is to become a full-time designer who is skilled in static and motion design. Throughout my college career I have been working on freelance projects and taking part-time jobs in the esports and content creation industry. With my familiarity in that area, I would like to continue pursuing a full-time job to begin my career outside of college. Also, I think the sports design industry has similar expectations so I’m also open to apply my skills there. Engaging designs that feature the stars of the show which in this case are the players who are loved by the fans and help bring attention to the games, the team, and the brand which boosts opportunities for fan investment through banners, jerseys, and other team brand merchandise. The jobs I selected range from these two industries and have different job titles. The first one is a summer internship at Flyquest which is an esports team operating from Los Angeles, CA. This is the only one I chose that is out of state as most esports jobs are either on the west coast or remote. I found this through LinkedIn. This is an internship I think I could have a great shot at taking as the responsibilities are similar to the ones I had done in the past which is collaborating with the rest of the design team along with working with other teams such as the marketing and partnership teams to reach a result on a campaign, event or social media branding and visual identity. The qualifications included being a recent graduate or pursuing a degree in graphic design which I am close to achieving my degree. The other two were picked specifically because they were in the state of North Carolina and the requirements were similar and are entry-level too. The first one is a full-time position at Charlotte FC which would require “1-2 years of experience” which I do have with the part-time, internships, and freelance projects I have done in the last four years. Lastly, the other position is a part-time graphic designer role with the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, NC which is the closest one to home. Their qualifications also state to have a minimum of one year of experience and that I am proficient in Creative Cloud & Microsoft Office which I am thanks to UNCG switching to Microsoft apps two years ago.
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/r/personal/r_riley_uncg_edu/Documents/_Rachele%20Riley/teaching/S25/ART%20448/Gerardo%20Gomez-San%20Juan/Week13-14?csf=1&web=1&e=FUg4Rn
Right now, I’m in my senior year of college. To be honest, I don’t fully know what I’m going to do after graduation. I had a general idea at first, but things feel kind of unclear lately. I chose to major in Studio Art with a concentration in New Media and Design, and I’ve stuck with it, even though this semester has been really creatively draining. I’ve felt kind of burnt out. But I’m still going. I chose this path for a reason. I want to see it through and give it everything I’ve got.
Even though I’ve felt stuck at times, I know I still want to work on building my skills and my portfolio. I want it to be strong by the time I graduate. That’s also why I added a Computer Science minor. I know art jobs can be hard to get sometimes, so I wanted to make sure I had another way forward just in case. I’ve been learning Java recently, and I already have skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, and a bit of Premiere and After Effects. I’m trying to grow from both sides…..creative/technical.
While researching possible jobs, I looked for roles that mix creativity with tech, especially ones that don’t start with low pay. I searched online using job boards like Indeed and company career pages. I focused on North Carolina jobs but also looked at a few in other states. Three roles stood out to me the most.
The first is a UX/UI Designer job at a company called ProCorps System in Charlotte, NC. This one feels like a great mix of what I’m studying. It uses both design and coding skills. The job pays well, is hybrid, and lets you do both creative layout work and a bit of programming.
The second one is a Motion Graphics Designer role at the NC Education Lottery in Raleigh. It’s a full-time job that works on videos, motion design, and animation. That’s right in line with what I’ve practiced using After Effects and Premiere. Plus, it’s a stable job with benefits, which gives me peace of mind.
The third one is a Front-End Developer role at Retirement Clearinghouse in Charlotte. It’s more on the tech side, using code to help build websites. Since I’m learning Java and interested in tech too, this one would help me break into that world. It also pays well and allows hybrid work.
All three of these jobs give me a clear starting point, whether I go more into design, video, or tech. I don’t know everything about the future, but I know I want to create, solve problems, and grow. These jobs give me hope that there are paths out there that fit me, even if I’m still figuring things out.
Link to my folder:
https://uncg-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/r_riley_uncg_edu/EoKllyl4dfpHtkScJDqlq34BqEFaKHHFL1ms-8hKhKsS7w?e=SFh2Pd