Who Am I? WordPress Designer?
April 16th, 2008 in Articles by kailoonRecently, I had a gathering with my University’s friends. We graduated for about 2 years and also work for about 2 years for sure. We ask how are you and also tell each other what we are doing now. They all not my course mates actually but all from other courses like banking and finance. However, they all work in bank, so, I consider myself is in the bankers meeting that day … However, what I want to share is when they ask what I am working on now. I just don’t know how to answer … Web Designer? Graphic Designer? or simply Designer?
Not Competitive
I study multimedia Technology for my degree. I really don’t know which field I can go for after graduate. Come on, Multimedia Technology, what is in your mind when you heard this? Video Editor? Animator? Motion graphics? Flasher? Web Developer? Designer? Well, as I know. You need some decent skills in related field and also a strong portfolio before you go for an interview. This is what we need in the advertising or multimedia field. People will not interested into you even you got high grade in academic.
Our skills and knowledge are just too wide and too general. I come from local university and I have to admit this. The first interview I attend is in an advertising company. I interview for the animator. I just too shine to show my final project after I watch their previous works. For your information, the final year project is the only portfolio for us to bring into our job interview. We only have one and also the only one. We are not competitive enough compare to the student from private colleges. They got their portfolio(s) and also market value before they graduated. Some more, they know what the market want better than us.
Professionalisms
Right people for the right job. Most of the employer hire within this concept. Below is some example:
For Video Editor, you need to know about production, preproduction and post-production. For skills wise, you need to know Adobe Premier and After Effects. Well, I used that before and my final project is also a Video Animation. The most wanted students in this field are still from The One Academic (for local sources).
For Graphic Designer, you need to have the sense of art and good visual. You need to master 2 shoftwares – Photoshop and Illustrator. Further, you might need to have your very strong portfolio before you graduated. You can put your works in your personal website or upload to flickr. Basically, people will look for people who studied in art school for example MIA, Dasein and The One Academic.
What To Do?
So, it is no room for us who study Multimedia Technology which is too general and also can consider not professional. Before I graduate, I heard that there are few of our seniors doing well in 3D graphic and now working in Cyberjaya (MSC) company. However, I saw their works before in school. It is good but how many of us manage to do that? Only 2 – 3 people out of 200 ++ people mange to get such related job. So, what the rest are doing out there?
I contacted them before (those senior), some of them work as admin, some even work as customer service in bank or other company. The worst case I heard is they can’t get a job even after I graduated. Can you imagine that? no income for 1 year? I can’t get myself into such situation. Scared …
So, What Am I Now?
I work as graphic designer before and now as web designer. I like web design since I started this blog. I just can’t stop from blogging stuffs and addicted to those comments I got from my posts. It is interesting to let people know how we think and also anything we did wrong or right. However, I only learn HTML before in my course. I took about 1 week to master the tableless CSS structure. After practice and practice, I started to love it. I like simple and clean stuffs. I think CSS have all the attributes I like. simple and clean. Further, it is so easy to use and also more organized.
So, how can I start my freelance without any portfolio? Every time I get a job via this blog, they ask for my portfolio. After that I say I don’t have. Then they still want to ask price, I replied. Then … no reply anymore from them. Well, can you tell me why you still ask for price after you know I don’t have portfolio? You expect something FREE is it? OR you think I will accept something like a backlink from your website to produce your big project? I just don’t understand what they really thinking. I admit that I don’t have portfolio and I also not charge high. I calculate based on the hours consumed for the project and also the requirements.
This is even harder than those who already have their portfolio and also certain amount of clients. I am new and I need portfolio also, why not you help me on this while I will also put 200% effort to complete your stuffs because I need a good portfolio for the future. How people see your portfolio? I really not sure in this, they always say “I like your style, but can you create something like this for me” then put a link to a site that totally different from my style. Then I wonder what make him send this request to me?
Haha..looks like out of title already, ok, let back to our title. Well, I think I am not a web designer because I don’t know JavaScript, ASP, MySQL and so on. What I know is only CSS, PHP and WordPress. Now, I can’t even create a table. Haha… I am so shame of this, I can’t answer my friend when he ask me what is td and tr. Well, I think this is good thing as we no need table for the future web design … I think so…
Conclusion
So, since I know wordpress. I consider myself as a WordPress Designer. What do you think? Is this ok with you? A WordPress Designer – Kai Loon.
o i forgot! my gravatar is tibeti! he is a Tibet monk that likes to smile a lot and eat ice creams ^-^
thank you!
a young in design!
i´m 24,
when i was young i wanted to be a biologist and i went to university, but somehow my wings needed freedom i guess, thats when i found design ^-^
Hi shiido, haha..your gravatar is cute :) Very very young? means how young are you? 13? Hehe..
Err..my graduate is totally not related to what I am doing now …
Yeah, we need to do whatever we like (no crime) and when we are internet as a medium for us. We have to appreciate it :)
Portugal :) A nice country!
hi kai, i just found this blog, and i love it! i´m a very very young designer, i dont have a graduate like you, and i´m learning css of my own, its really nice to see people like you making what they love, so thanks for the post and thanks for the blog, i wish you the best luck!
congrats from Portugal ^-^
Hello, Malaysia boleh! hahah…ya, we need to educate clients sometimes. It benefits both sides and also make the process faster to produce high quality products. I know flash , adobe premier, affter effects, director and others. However, I long time didn’t “touch” them already :) I think it is important to make sure we are more specialist in a few software or fields. Go for other option only when you master the previous one.
Maybe you will say all rounded is good. But it just look same with our education system, all of us also all rounded. But how many of us can produce something that really good and can compete with other’s countries? – Just my 2 cents :)
Hi Kai Loon,
Just say that you are a WordPress Designer. Be very specific on what you do, to avoid people start asking you to tweak and create other PHP/MySql cms websites/blog. It will make your life easier.
I am proud of a Malaysian like you with WordPress design. Hopefully you can be as establish as Chris Pearson, Michael Pollock and Nathan Rice!!!
Malaysia Boleh?
Hello, ikram_zidane, nice to meet you.
I think you’re just a web designer, specialised in wp.
cheers.
Ya, Danny. Graphic Design and Web Design is totally different. And for web designer also more focus on interface, interactive and design. Means that the skills they need are CSS, XHTML, Photoshop, Illustrator and Some basic of PHP, ASP an Js.
Haha..okie okie….sure can meet one day :)
Some companies have used the term ‘Creative Designer’. In other words, they person may be responsible for all design work from print to web.
As for your studies, I was in a multimedia but I knew what I wanted to focus on; Web Design. However, the only thing they qualified as web design was called Interactive Design and this course was in Macromedia Director. Phbt!
Anyway, in Malaysia many companies misunderstand a graphic designer as a web designer or the other way around. In my company, I’ve drawn a line between the two. One specializes in print and the other is web. Both are designers but I have different expectations of web designers and they need not be programming skills or personal skills. ;)
Once you’ve got your portfolio, look me up and maybe we’ll talk about freelance work. *thumbs up*
Web Designer:
Thanks!
NI-Limits:
Well, Gravatar in good and useful because people can easily recognize you or your site :) Great! Wow …Wordpress Extraordinaire..
Since you have Gravatars installed, or can at least only assume you do, we went ahead and signed-up for one so that we could see the pretty picture… :-)
(Wrote this in order to test whether it would now show-up or not considering it thinks we may not already have one)
“WordPress Extraordinaire” sounds more like it! :-)
NI-Limits:
yeah ~ me too :) thanks.
Lim CS:
cool, good idea :) actually, I am working on something about this, will be announce soon.
Cometh:
Yeah, dude. I think it is good to be more specific in one field :)
WordPress Designer sounds good.
Most of the time a lot of people wants to be the master in every aspect/field.
But that would do more harm than good as you definitely will be jack of all trades but becomes master of none.
Hence, it is better for you to SPECIALIZE in one field, lets say Web Design/Wordpress Designer.
Work towards that to be the best in that area.
Then you will definitely reap the rewards. =p
Firstly, I thought your design sense and skill are fantastic (a combination of graphic design and web design is alway a winner).
Secondly, WordPress has a huge userbase, and it’s smart to call yourself a WordPress Designer. Build your portfolio by giving away free themes first. It’s a no-brainer: you get free linkback, publicity, buzz and credentials.
Lastly, stay true to your style. There can only be one Kai Loon ;)
p/s: hope to meet up with you and work together someday :]
It’s a damn good start = that’s for sure!
Hang tight, and hope to see you again some time…
:-)