In my socializing this past halloween weekend I was asked to answer the same questions we've all had to answer dozens of times before, what's your name? who do you know here? how do you know them? Where are you from? What do you do? Do you like it? Do you think that's what you do forever? I particularly like the latter three questions here because it gives you the chance to reevaluate your situation. It forces you to think about what you spend most of your waking hours doing.
The question that I personally have received several times when I reveal that I work as a graphic designer for an architecture firm is "So do you want to be an architect?" More often than not the answer is most definitely not, though there was some point where I thought that it would make a good subject to study for a master's program, but in retrospect I feel as though that was merely an overall desire to go back and acquire a masters degree in general. But I do not desire to be a career architect for two main reasons.
The first reason being the fact that it takes too long. If learned that architects entire working career may only produce one major project from start to finish that the architect can shoe off with pride. Sometimes an architect might have an entire career with no finial product to show for their countless hours of effort. So say if an architect does get that one dream job with a committed major client it will be a matter of years before they see what they've designed manifest itself in a tangible space.
The second reason I do not want to be an architect is that there are way too many restrictions involved in the process. If you generate the best concept known to man kind and make a sketch of a form that when created has an aesthetic that would instantly cause world peace. It has to be approved by the client, which is usually a committee that includes every single person that will ever or ever has the potential of going through the building, this may include but not limited to the management staff, the workers, the janitors, secretaries, the spouses of all the staff members and their offspring, security, and a group of randomly selected individuals that may never even be in the same country as the building but were consulted by the client. After that the building has to go through various engineers and has to be redesigned due to violations of safety codes and energy efficiency. After all of that the client will "value engineer" the project due to lack of funds cutting out most of the artistic aspects.
Nope the architecture field is not for me. But what I do respect and enjoy is the concept behind the physical space as being part of one big story / brand. A brand that extends from graphic design, architectural design, product design, interior design, staffing, and everything in-between is a beautiful thing.
Ok. That's the end of my rant. Try explaining that to a person you've just met while dresses as a character from the movie The Big Lebowski at a noisy Halloween party and see how quickly they finish the drink in their hand and insist they'll be right back after they get a refill.
Below is a project that illustrates these differences between graphic design and architecture. This was a project that was completed in a matter of a few days and practically unlimited in the means of artistic creativity ( aside from reflecting the brand ). There was no real brief aside from the fact that it had to be engaging enough so that people would read and interpret the information. The graphic art was unfiltered and went straight from my computer out to it's audience.
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