Seems like a number of people work in ad / design ? Maybe someone here can offer some advice then. I'm about to graduate undergrad from a liberal arts college that is somewhat name droppable but ultimately has no pull in these sorts of fields. Furthermore, I'm a double major in psychology and Japanese, so 0 relation to ad or design of any sort. I'm thinking I want to possibly go into ad or design as I've more or less tired of academia and research in cultural theory / language / social sciences. other than an internship I did recently with a friend's dad's ad firm in manhattan (on the account management and strategy end, but worked with creatives on some stuff since I'm effectively just as good if not better at ps / illustrator than some of them) though, I've got no formal experience and no portfolio to back me up which is, unfortunately, pretty damn important.
Would going into ad or design require me to go back to school? It sorta seems that way to me now but wondering if anyone here has advice.
It's going to be tough with no portfolio. But as someone said, do projects on your own to develop your own book or online portfolio. And make sure they're good. Don't produce them without feedback. Make some friends with a discerning eye, unless you have some already. Have them tear the projects apart. Criticism is an essential part of growing, so get used to it.
Unless you're willing to learn the basics of typography, grids, web design, and whatever else you're interested in on your own, I'd suggest going to school for it. Some people have the attention span and will to do so, but it's generally considered more difficult. School puts you in an environment where you're being goaded on by the fact that you're pouring shit tons of money into being there. It serves as a good incentive.
If you make the right connections, you could land some miracle job with no experience. But that is highly unlikely.
The design industry
in superculture
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It's going to be tough with no portfolio. But as someone said, do projects on your own to develop your own book or online portfolio. And make sure they're good. Don't produce them without feedback. Make some friends with a discerning eye, unless you have some already. Have them tear the projects apart. Criticism is an essential part of growing, so get used to it.
Unless you're willing to learn the basics of typography, grids, web design, and whatever else you're interested in on your own, I'd suggest going to school for it. Some people have the attention span and will to do so, but it's generally considered more difficult. School puts you in an environment where you're being goaded on by the fact that you're pouring shit tons of money into being there. It serves as a good incentive.
If you make the right connections, you could land some miracle job with no experience. But that is highly unlikely.