Tell me something about the career of graphic design...

[butterfly77]

I am trying to find out some more about it because my daughter has been taking classes and is about to graduate, what is the job outlook?

[Auggie]

1. I'm a freelancer

I specialize in advertising and am technically an art director, but design constitutes a lot of what I do.

It's a competitive business. The nature of what designers do and how they do it has changed dramatically with the rise of the internet. There is increasing competition from overseas, particularly India. Yes -- designers in India are bidding on projects in the U.S. and Europe.

Graphic Design is really about commerce. If your daughter has a good understanding of how to clearly communicate selling propositions in an interesting way she will be in demand. People with good ideas always are.

Her portfolio or website samples needs to show this, and she needs to know how to communicate this on her resume and in job interviews and/or bids. A thorough knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite in both print and web realms is necessary. InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator. The more hats she can wear (especially if she's a good writer and idea generator) the better off she will be.

Although she is about to graduate, her training will never end. My design prof told me 29 years ago to always keep learning or I'd be dead. She was 100% right.

Good luck to your daughter. It's a fun occupation.