Creative Writing about my Dream Job

This is a very long (7 pages main body) and well-written essay about my dream job (graphic designer)and includes Outline, main body (Introduction, search, results, conclusion, personal statement) Works Cited (7 works), and correct quotations. The following paper will introduce you to one of the most difficult assignments I ever had to complete: finding myself.

This paper is not only about finding the right career for me and evaluating my interests and skills. It's also about finding out who I really am and how I can use my experience and knowledge in a job that is perfect for my personality. It's about planning my future.

In the beginning of the project I didn't know what I wanted to do. Did I want to become a chemistry teacher? Or maybe work in a research lab? But what about being an actress and becoming famous? My mind was unsorted and I couldn't figure out what I really wanted. After excluding the chemistry teacher because I didn't want to go to school for the rest of my life, the research lab because of the uncertainty of job opportunities and the actress because of to small chances of really making it, decided that I wanted to have a job that dealt with art. After a little bit of browsing through the mncis homepage, my career choice was clear; I want to become a graphic designer.

But what kind of education do I need for it? And how is the Job situation? Where can I apply for a job? And what is expected from me? Well, that is exactly what I tried to find out with this project. And here are the results of my research:

I started my research with taking the "IDEAS Assessment" Test on the mncis homepage, in order to find out which careers suit my character and abilities. My outcomes were high in almost all areas, but the artistic field had the most points, which confirmed my idea of myself as an artist.

After checking out the jobs in that region, comparing them and considering requiered studies and recommended intrest fields, I decided that a graphic designer would be the best job for me. My search progress was very slow. In the beginning I found a lot of information, but most of it was very general and repetitive. The internet sides that consulted were very uncertain and described more the colleges and educational facilities, than the job itself.

Finally, after browsing some books in the school library, I found a book all about graphic design and the job opportunities with a art-oriented education.

I also googled graphic design on the internet and found a few interesting sites. My personal interview, with an aspiering graphic designer in the last year was slightly dissappointing, not because the information wasn't valueable, but because it was exactly what I expected and I didn't learn anything that was really new to me. Kirsty was a big help for me, because her career was in the artistic field also and I found some information on the internetsides she found as well. Over all I can't really use most of the information in this paper, but it helped me to see the whole search progress in an other perspective. But what is graphic design?

About.com defines it this way:

"Graphic design is the process and art of combining text and graphics and communicating an effective message in the design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any other type of visual communication. Today's graphic designers often use desktop publishing software and techniques to achieve their goals."

Dictionary.com says this:

"The practice or profession of designing print or electronic forms of visual information, as for an advertisement, publication, or website." A graphic designer "create designs using print, electronic, and film media" (mncis). That means, that the term graphic designer is very broad. A graphic designer can be hired by a company, to design a firm logo, or be working for an agency, designing advertisements and arranging pages for a magazine, or developing a new outfit for the official website of a fanclub.

McDonald's famous golden arches, Nike's "Swooch", and Arby's oven mitt are all results of a (obviously succesful) graphic designer, who came up with a "unique and striking idea that characterizes" (Ferguson) the chain and is since its invention directly associated with this and only this association. But not only the logos and representative pictures, but also all the advertisements and broshures are designed and composed by one or a group of creative heads, that can think up and design a unique, new and fitting image, that will help companies, to sell their products.

In other words: "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." (Aristotle) To become a graphic designer, you don't only have to be a creative and productive artist, that "likes challenge and individuality" (Lum), but you also have to go through a lot of studies.

After taking art classes in highschool (especially those with emphasis on design and illustration), one has to go to and art-oriented school and get a bachelor's degree in art or (even better) design. Good schools to do that are Carlton College, the University of Minnesota and the New York University.

Afterward, you either have to find an employer or try to make yourself a big name by doing a lot of jobs and doing them good, even if they seem insignificant. 32% of all graphic designers are selfemployed (mncis), so every work in your portfolio counts and gives you a better chance to be hired for bigger jobs (digital dreamer).

Because of the big differences in employers and dimensions of jobs, the payment varies a lot, when you are a freelancer. The national average is $36,000 for the U.S. (music), but it can be much more or much less, depending on the size and importance of a job.

For me, this job will be the perfect job, because I get to do a lot of different things and experiment with different media, while still doing, what I love most: art. I will be able to work with and for people, but also have the security of being free to express my sense of style and appearance in my work, or as Scott Adams put it: "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

I can stay independent, but help others at the same time. But the greatest part will be when I first see a sign, advertisement, or logo and I can say "Hey! I designed that!" I guess this project helped me to realize who I really am and where my talents lie. I re-discovered, that there are also books that can be used as research reference and that sometimes, you just have to be a little creative to put all your ideas into one essay that still makes sense.

I think that I can handle quotes a lot better now and that my writing style improved through that a lot. This whole project means a lot to me, because I finally realized, that art is my way to go and that There is really a perfect job for me, that will be fun AND challenging, pays good money, but still leaves me free to do my thing.

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