Becoming a Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Web, Video, Broadcast, Game and Animation Design - Softcover

Not that long ago, graphic design happened mostly on paper. With an X-acto knife, glue, a light table, and a measure of talent, you'd produce beautiful and effective design for publication. Today, a well-rounded graphic designer can find a career in a huge range of media—Web, video, broadcast, computer games, animations, and yes, even print—blurring the boundaries between disciplines and exploring new creative possibilities.

Authors Steven Heller and David Womack give you a comprehensive guide to the individuals, tools, and trends that are shaping digital design, and so provide an essential resource for anyone considering a career in the field. They look at the many areas of the digital design market, covering everything from the education and training you'll need, design specialties to consider, and the different work settings that may influence your choices. They tell you how to prepare an effective portfolio; how to find a job in your chosen specialty; and what you'll need to advance in your career.

In addition to expert guidance, you'll find behind-the-scenes looks at groundbreaking projects and personal interviews with cutting-edge professionals that are included in each chapter. You'll read how Drexel University Professor Chaomei Chen uses graphics to visualize information; how ESI Design creates monumental eye-catching signs for Times Square; what Khoi Vin, design director for New York Times Digital, looks for in hiring an entry-level designer; how Beatriz Helena Ramos, founder/creative director of Dancing Diablo, evolved from illustrator to leading animator; and how Flash "grand master" Hillman Curtis makes movies for the Web.

You'll also hear from pioneering game designers Rodney Alan Greenblat and Eric Zimmerman, well-known bloggers such as Jim Coudal and Nick Currie, and other thinkers on the present and future of digital design.

With a wealth of information on every major design discipline—editorial, corporate, book, information, advertising, branding, environmental, and type— Becoming a Digital Designer is your portal to a dream career in digital media.

Here is a complete guide to the evolving digital design disciplines in which you'll find some of today's most sought-after job opportunities in digital media. Filled with interviews and advice from leading digital designers, this book covers all you need to know to launch your own career in digital design—from understanding the different types of media; to the skills and education required to get your foot in the door; to how real professionals succeeded in Web, video, broadcast, game design, and animation; and more.

• Web Design

• Motion Design

• Game Design

• Digital Entrepreneurs

• Blogs and Podcasts

• Handhelds

• Public Displays

• Illustration

• Typography and Graphic Design

• Digital Education