Visual Editors
Visual Editors, NFP was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2004.
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Lori Marie Todd
Tiki Lounger
Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 5
Location: Austin, Tx, USA
Posted:
Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:27 am
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This rookie needs some advice... Scroll to the end of my rambling to get to the actual question.
When got my bachelor's, I decided I had had enough of school. I decided to head straight into the biz without thinking about getting a masters degree. Ultimately, I knew I would want to teach design at a college level, but that was way down the line. Now, all of a short year later, I am starting to see how this business can get to you and that I might want to make sure I have something to fall back on.
Honestly, I would love to be a design director way down the line, but I'd also love to teach. Both are things I got a taste of while being the editor of my college yearbook. I never worked so hard in my life as I did in that role, but I really handled the job well and enjoyed it. I also taught weekend software workshops for at least six semesters and TA'd for a few design classes and really enjoyed working with students.
I graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelors of science degree in print journalism (newspaper design track) and fine arts (graphic design). During my 5 years there, I interned abroad at a weekly English paper for expats in Prague (not much experience gained there... though it sure looks good on paper) and at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution working on weekly zones. I also worked part time for three of those years in the graphics department at the Miami Herald. I got a feel for both specialties and had a hard time choosing. I ended up taking a six month temporary spot on the news design desk at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel right out of school. I had applied for the full time position and then got called down to the Austin American Statesman, where I have been for the past six months on the design desk. I've been good handling the pressure, and have already gotten on a twice-a-week A1 rotation, but nothing has really been portfolio worthy.
A lot of my current situation has me thinking that I could burn out quickly. I've basically come to the conclusion that I want to get my masters but I don't know when and where. At this point, I've done so much jumping around from internship to internship to part time here and there to where I am now. My instincts tell me to stay where I am for the next two to five years and then pursue my masters.
Q: What are some outstanding masters programs for VisCom/Newspaper Design? Would you advise me to stay in the business for a while longer or seek my masters as soon as possible?
Thanks for reading this and offering any advice. I appreciate it!
Lori |
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Denise Covert
Maestro
Joined: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 399
Location: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal
Posted:
Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:32 am
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Hello fellow UM grad!
Man, I'm starting to think I'm the only person who DIDN'T do a tour at the Prague Post. . .
Anyways, on to your question.
Go to grad school when your employer will PAY FOR IT. (Hence, why I currently am not, lol.)
Mizzou has an awesome online-only masters program in media management -- sort of like a bunch of theory and ethics mixed with MBA courses. Definitely front-office preparation. And you won't have to move somewhere cold, though you'd be paying out-of-state tuition.
Personally, if you want to teach, I think you just need SOME sort of j-related piece of paper. This way, the masters actually prepares you for REAL WORLD mgmt, but yet it's also a masters from Mizzou, so that plus your newsroom and teaching experience should make you an attractive professor candidate.
Just my $0.02. And good luck!
_________________
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
-- Kahlil Gibran |
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Nicole Neuman
Contributing editor
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 205
Location: Wilmington, NC
Posted:
Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:22 pm
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Something important you should think about: online & multimedia coursework!!
I know the print product isn't going away, but I'd say you'd be wayyyy more marketable as a design director if you know about designing for online audiences too. My paper doesn't hire anyone without online skills anymore... I think that if you're going to spend the money on schooling, get something that makes you even more marketable.
I recommend checking out the visual communication sequence at UNC-Chapel Hill's journalism school. There's a decent design & graphics program and a kick-ass multimedia program. Even if you want to stick with design, you should at least take some multimedia/online classes. Here are just a few professors you'd get to work with:
- Alberto Cairo, former Director of Online Graphics at elmundo.es
He teaches design, graphics & multimedia workshops around the world. Take a look at his site for his work, syllabi, etc.: www.albertocairo.com
- Laura Ruel, eyetracker extraordinaire & usability expert
Go to www.lauraruel.com & click on teaching for syllabi
- Don Wittekind, graphics & multimedia guru, former Graphics Director at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Along with Scott Horner, he started the multimedia push at the Sun-Sentinel and he leads SND's New Media Quick Courses around the nation
.... and there are several more.
I'm a little biased since I got my undergrad there... but that's my 3 cents.  |
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charles apple
Superhero
Joined: 09 Mar 2004
Posts: 3734
Location: Norfolk, Virginia
Posted:
Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:22 am
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I'll add my too centz...
I don't have a masters degree. Never needed one.
But I wish I had one. Why? Because as my career as progressed, I'm finding myself attracted to teaching positions at j-schools. And it's very, very difficult to get a good job teaching journalism unless you have a masters degree.
Other than that, I've never seen much use in 'em. Some of the worst editors I've known have masters degree. I once worked with a truly pathetic editor who was incapable of basic communications skills. She had a doctorate in journalism. Meanwhile, the best boss I ever had, had only a two-year associate's degree from a small art college in Pittsburgh.
Now, let me double-back on myself.
Three years ago, I hosted a grad student from the University of Missouri, one of the finest j-schools out there. This student really knocked my socks off. We hired her full-time, but she stayed only a year before she got married and moved away.
Then, we hosted a SECOND grad student from Missouri. Again, she was incredibly fabulous. She went on to work an internship with the also-fabulous Steve Dorsey in Detroit. Now, she's working for the Associated Press.
Last fall, I hired an artist who recently earned a masters degree. I'm sure she was a very fine visual journalist coming out of the University of Miami, but the skills she picked up at Ball State pushed her over the top. Just about every day, I thank the Great Gods of Weird-Ass Karma that she came to work at the Pilot. I sit back and watch her go. And she makes me look like a freakin' genius. What more could a boss want?
So I'm kind of sold on graduate degrees. Not enough to rewrite our job descriptions to require them. But enough to give them extra consideration when job candidates come calling.
Does this help?
Best wishes!
-C
_________________
-Charles |
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Denise Covert
Maestro
Joined: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 399
Location: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal
Posted:
Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:22 am
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| Andria Krewson wrote:: | | One more thought: here's an inspiring, hopeful link about where the industry is going, depending on how you define it. It challenges each designer to teach themselves. Don't wait for an employer to pay for it (though I think much of Denise C.'s advice here is very wise, I disagree with her on that point). |
Not to quibble, but it sounds like the "teach yourself" part of that link seems to refer to actually teaching YOURSELF, not going to school, because it references people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropping out of school, Darwin being "self-taught" and Edison reading a lot.
I apologize for the reflexive "make your boss pay for it" answer. Though I don't have any student loans, I have a family, and therefore can't really see picking up the tab for more education at this point in my life. If I were single, or scholarships were available, I might be thinking differently.
_________________
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
-- Kahlil Gibran |
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