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craig runyon

Action Figure

Joined: 20 May 2005

Posts: 27

Location: eugene, or

Posted:
Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:05 pm

I've got a few students in my newspaper design class at the U of Oregon who want to join the ranks of design folk. The Catch 22 is they've got only as much training as my 10-week class could offer and little to no experience.

Any words of wisdom from recent grads who found themselves in similar situations? Or are there any seasoned vets willing to share their two cents? I've advised them to look for internships and entry-level gigs and just apply like mad. Haven't sprung the "give up and go to law school" bit on them yet.
That's next week's topic.

Marcus Michelson

Visual Guru

Joined: 07 Jul 2004

Posts: 54

Location: Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.)

Posted:
Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:22 am

The campus newspaper would be my first recommendation.

When I was in school that was the only real option for experience. The news design class I took at Washington State was so bad, a classmate and I ended up teaching most of it (and only managed to get an A- for the effort). That was the last semester that professor taught the class, so it's much better now.

Aside from the Emerald, I guess the next idea would be checking in with community weeklies, etc.

I know in the Northwest there aren't exactly a plethora of design internship opportunities (or internships in anything besides news reporting).

-- Of course there is always law school.
_________________
"God's given me a gift. I shovel well. I shovel very well."

Ashley Dinges

Contributing editor

Joined: 03 Sep 2005

Posts: 109

Location: University of Michigan

Posted:
Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:55 pm

We don't have any design classes here, so I kind of scrambled to get any experience I could.

Definitely recommend the campus paper, but if there isn't one/aren't job openings, they could offer to design for independent publications on campus or new magazines - basically anything to get clips. Or, sometimes the University has its own publications and will hire designers, I have some friends who did that.

Also, I don't know if your campus has an AIGA (www.aiga.org) chapter but they offer a lot of good opportunities too.

Other than that, if there aren't any local internship opportunities, maybe have them try contacting local designers to see if they can shadow for a day or so?

Hope this helps!

Jim McBee

VizEds Moderator

Joined: 10 Mar 2004

Posts: 929

Location: Fayetteville, N.C.

Posted:
Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:55 pm

All of the above. Plus, tell 'em to get on Vizeds and stay on it. Point out the smart people who post here (not me, naturally, but you know). Get 'em into the chatbox late at night. Guide 'em throught the galleries. Make vizeds-related homework assignments, if necessary. Then spread the cheer to newspagedesigner.com and snd.org; fun for the whole family!

Linda DeRosa

Tiki Lounger

Joined: 12 Feb 2007

Posts: 5

Location: Northern Virginia Daily. Strasburg, Va.

Posted:
Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:49 pm

Obviously the college paper is the first step. Even if it's not as a designer. For most of my college paper time I worked as a copy editor and filled in when any design help was needed. I also worked as photo editor for a semester and I was a reporter. It's a good thing to walk into an interview with at least a working knowledge of every aspect of the newsroom.

However, I would also recommend looking at any local presses. My first gig was contracting for a weekly Air Force newspaper (part-time). The job was through the place that actually printed the paper. Part of the printing contract was to hire a designer when the Air Force needed one. Worked there for three months and it got me enough clips, experience and confidence (the biggest part) to face the world.

Melissa Angle

Juke Box Hero

Joined: 10 Apr 2005

Posts: 46

Location: Orlando, FL

Posted:
Thu Mar 08, 2007 12:35 am

I did just the opposite ... I gave up on law school and, in panic, sent resumes to anyone and everyone. I think I sent out 237 resume packets the summer after graduation.

I didn't have internships during college, but I did have some basic design experience from working at the campus paper (we only had one "design" class in the communication school, and it was not very in-depth). I'd definitely recommend doing that, I learned the most just from the other college students I worked with.

But I found I didn't have quite enough design experience to get on at a mid-size or large paper, so I didn't limit myself to design openings. I ended up starting off as a copy editor, and because it was a smaller newsroom, I was able to train in a lot of different areas.

I think having a strong copy editing background will make you a better designer in the long-term, too. AND the small newsroom gave me a lot of opportunities I wouldn't have found at a bigger paper. Just my two cents. Very Happy

Paul Wallen

Maestro

Joined: 27 Mar 2004

Posts: 292

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Posted:
Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:26 pm

I'll echo the points made by the lovely and talented Melissa Angle, for whom I enjoy holding drinks in my spare time.

My first job was at a 10,000 circ daily in East Texas. In three years there, I reported, edited copy, designed pages, created infographics, took photos, worked in the darkroom (remember those?) and pretty much whatever else it took to get the paper out. I ultimately chose to focus on design, but the experience in the other areas has been invaluable.

Sometimes I think folks want to start out at bigger papers, and that's great in some ways. But I think you can also miss out on the variety and educational aspects that you can only get at a small paper. And while none of my stuff from Texas is going to make a design annual, it's still some of the work I'm most proud of. There's nothing quite like reporting and writing your own story, taking and processing your own photos, laying out the page it goes on and writing your own headlines to give you a well-rounded perspective when you move to a bigger paper and start specializing.

Right Whitley? Very Happy

_________________
Just remember that it's a grand illusion.

Whitley

Michael Whitley

Joined: 10 Mar 2004

Posts: 86

Location: Venice Beach (Los Angeles)

Posted:
Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:50 pm

Paul Wallen wrote::

Right Whitley? Very Happy

Right for sure. Working in a smaller newsroom helps you to see the big picture of how a newspaper comes together. I worked at a 6-day a week 8,000 circulation paper in Indiana and did everything from taking photographs, creating graphics, designing pages and writing stories to bending plates for the press and updating the website. I even had a weekly column.

I didn't get paid very much but I learned a ton. One of the best lessons was how you can hustle and beat bigger publications. That hustle spirit has helped me at every step along the way. I never had a plan of how to go from the small paper to the big paper. I just learned as much as I could and worked as hard as I could to get better. The rest took care of itself.

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