How I Became A Designer Without An Art Degree
Eight-and-a-half years ago I was scrolling through Instagram, feeling very jealous of all the cool designs that more creative acquaintances were posting. How dare they be more talented and capable than me! I thought. Pretty quickly I realized this envy was wasting my time and energy, so I started doing the work to join these folks in the design world. However, I had just graduated with a degree in Spanish from Loyola University New Orleans and I couldn’t afford to re-enroll pursuing a new major. I had to come up with another plan.
But before I get into that, let me address why I majored in Spanish: 1. I love studying languages and cultures, 2. I didn’t think I was good enough to succeed as an artist despite being a very creative kid since forever, 3. My guidance counselor told me Bachelor’s degrees don’t matter, you need a graduate degree to do anything meaningful with your career. Literally horrible advice. I cannot stress that enough.
Anyway, I pieced together an income with numerous part-time jobs and began drawing in my free time again as I embarked on this journey to find my creative calling. I eventually enrolled in a certificate of Digital Design program at the local continuing studies school, which taught the veeeeery basics of Adobe’s Creative Suite—with a little design theory sprinkled in there. It barely qualified as an arts education even on the certificate level, but it was enough to get my first design-adjacent job as a photo retoucher for local photographer, Jessica Bachmann.
Jessica let me, a very unexperienced student, do so much more than photo retouching. I made my first logos, business cards, magazine ads, and marketing pieces for her company—and she taught me the do’s and don’ts of owning a small business. She was my first mentor. At the time, I liked to think of this as a being-paid-to-learn kind of situation, but really it was so much more than that. Finding people who are willing to invest in us while we’re still learning is an incredible gift. She took a risk by hiring me so early on in my design education, and for that I am eternally grateful.
After working with Jessica for about a year, I was entering year two of my certificate program. I had a humble-yet-workable portfolio and I was itching to cut my teeth in the design world, so I interned at a local music and culture magazine for course credit. The office was in downtown New Orleans on Frenchmen Street — a mecca of creativity, with murals and music everywhere. It was the coolest shit 23-year-old me could possibly imagine. After a day’s work at the magazine, I’d walk into the French Quarter and tackle my homework at Envie Cafe for hours, listening to distant music and revelers partying outside. For such a chaotic and uncertain time in my life, being in New Orleans did have its perks.
A few months after the internship ended, I finished the Digital Design program and immediately got another internship—this time, with an actual PR / Marketing firm. I got to work on projects for local giants like Windsor Court Hotel and Bayou Rum, which boosted my confidence and my résumé. However, it paid a whopping $8.25 an hour, which somehow felt worse than just working for school credit. After finishing this internship in May of 2016, I kept working numerous part-time jobs until December, when I left the city. As much as I loved New Orleans, I couldn’t grow there anymore. I needed a bigger market and a new start, so I went to Dallas, Texas where I immediately found a stellar full-time job and never looked back! Hooray, the end.
…just kidding. Ok, so technically I found another internship, even though I worked on client projects alongside the full-time designer for 40 hours a week. They at least paid me $15/hour. But… I had some serious beef with the Creative Project Manager, who had a tendency to micromanage and call my capacity to design into question. She made me feel like complete shit, to the point where I actually considered driving myself into debt for a proper four-year art school degree. My contemporaries were all leaps and bounds ahead of me — and she made sure that I knew that. It was supposed to be a six month internship… I quit after four months.
For the rest of that year, I worked my ass off to improve my design skills. I needed to better think in terms of composition and I wanted to feel more comfortable drawing. So, I took a few freelance jobs, a part-time job, and mostly lived off savings as I completed four art foundations courses at a reputable, local community college. Oh, and during this time, the design studio that had made me feel so horrible about myself closed down. Vindication?
FINALLY, nearly five years after my Instagram hate-scrolling realization, I got an actual full-time job as a graphic designer! I worked in the creative marketing department at a manufacturing company for promotional goods, which owned a very cute retail subsidiary. But in the summer of 2019, I was taking on so much freelance work that I had to make a choice: stick with your full-time job or go full-time freelance. I went freelance, and the rest is history.
This path, however arduous and unglamorous, was so much more than career building for me. It was a process of soul-searching, of developing confidence in myself, and of discovering what I want for my life. For a long time I felt embarrassed by this journey because I didn’t graduate from a cool art school like SVA or RISD, and it took an exceedingly long time for me to get a full-time job. But there is so much value to my story because it is proof to others that yes, it is possible to break into the creative world without an art degree. It may require a little more time and trial-and-error (hopefully less than it did for me), but it is possible. The most important thing is that you believe in yourself, and that you persist. You can do it.
Bonus Encouragement!
Here are a few other creative powerhouses with non-linear career paths. Greatness takes time. :)
Hoodzpah founders Amy and Jen Hood. They never went to college and started working at an off-brand Clipper magazine.
Hello Big Idea founder, Ashley Mahoney. She taught herself design while working as a high school business teacher.
Bryan Cranston, of Breaking Bad fame. He worked in law enforcement before becoming an actor!