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1. Explore the creative design industries and identify where you think are the five best places in the world to become a graphic designer. You must analyze the commonalities and differences between the professional design and creative environments of each city or country.

Living in a major design hub may provide more inspiration and offer additional opportunities to connect with fellow designers. Population hubs are also a good place to find people who need designers against the diverse cultural backdrop so many of us dream about.

I chose these cities because besides being a design hub, they are also hubs of music and entertainment. Since I want to work as a designer with something related to music and entertainment, I think they are good choice

SAO PAULO 

Sao Paulo is the biggest capital of design in South America, life in São Paulo is chaotic, there are so many things happening at the same time. A 24-hour city made up of people from around the world, different cultures, styles, stories...I love the diversity and the way this ‘jungle’ works. Everything is constantly in motion. There’s a mixing of cultures that runs deep in São Paulo, which gives it a vivid personality, and there’s a constant exchange of ideas, traditions, and aspirations that makes anything feel possible. The city has a huge variety of artists; from erudite paintings to street graffiti, and from indie bands to great techno DJs. Every aspect of the city has culture and history, and it’s easy to find good places to work as a graphic designer whether you’re going freelance or seeking an in-house position.

AMSTERDAM

One of the world’s most beautiful and creative cities, dominated by its pretty canals and liberal, laid-back attitude, creative hubs. Amsterdam offers everything you need to work and play. Packed with first-class galleries and museums, along with a thriving music festival scene, Amsterdam is also renowned for being home to some of the best creative agencies in the world. There’s Superhero Cheesecake, an award-winning digital production studio; the much-respected MediaMonks and global heavyweight W+K Amsterdam. But that’s only scratching the surface, as many design, animation, marketing and advertising agencies enjoy being based in the Netherlands.

BERLIN

You’ll find absolutely no shortage in both freelance and full-time design opportunities in Berlin. Not only that, but Berlin makes a huge effort to foster its creative community through its world-renowned museums, a plethora of co-working spaces, cultivation of startups, and more

Berlin has a reputation worldwide for being the hub of avant-garde art, techno music, gourmet street food, and innovative design. Amidst its artistic flair, Berlin is together, industrial and charming, crafts a calm and comfortable feel amongst Berliners, continuously deceiving tourists of its hidden splendor.

This city has a lot to offer in terms of career opportunities, As it’s a major magnet for artists from all over the world, it has also become a thriving hub for creative agencies like VerbalVisual, die Taikonauten, Hort, Colours and the Kids, State, BASICS09 and Ufomammoot. 

NEW YORK CITY

Definitely, New York City is a  spot for graphic designers. With a bustling art scene and inspiration around every corner, NYC is home to some of the biggest design agencies, digital agencies, brands, blogs and more. Since the Big Apple is the most densely populated U.S. city, it shouldn’t be much diffucult to find a job or an internship as a graphic designer

Besides that, there are the many design workshops cropping up all over the city, in which they teach real skills at a much more affordable price point than other countries. Also, NYC is home to several prestigious design programs. Traditional schools include the Shillington Graphic Design School, Parsons Design School, The Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts and others.

BARCELONA

Barcelona has a warm and sunny climate, beautiful jaw-dropping architecture, a thriving creative scene, famous artworks at every turn.

Barcelona is full to the brim with talented design and illustration studios, with Hey (lovers of colour, geometry and direct typography), Brosmind (aka The Mingarro brothers, Juan and Alejandro), Solo (independent, award-winning design studio), Forma (founded by Joel Lozano and Dani Navarro in 2012), Folch (founded by Albert Folch in 2004) and Toormix (brainchild of Ferran Mitjans and Oriol Armengou) among others.

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2. Identify the graphic design and/or creative agencies you would most like to work for (a minimum of three, and at least one international). Research and analyze their design values, client work, and creative processes, before demonstrating an informed opinion on what attributes you think they might look for in future employees, what you could offer them they don’t already have and why they should believe you.

STUDIO MARGEM - SÃO PAULO

Studio Margem was created by Alexandre Lindenberg and Nathalia Cury. Both are graduated in Design by University of São Paulo. They started the studio to work with printed and digital graphic design, developing visual identities, books, signage, and websites. As a studio, they work with cultural institutes, collectives and large companies such as Sesc, Tomie Ohtake, Galeria Superfície, Instituto Sagres Brasil, ICArabe, 15 Salones Regionales de Cali, Monchu, Carambaia, Cia. Das Letras, Mamba Negra, Museu da Casa Brasileira and SMDU.

Through the posters made for the Black Mamba party, they find a way to develop an underground scene by occupying forgotten venues with a manifestation of electronic music, scenography, graphic art, fashion, and performance. Besides that, the projects of the studio won several competitions. It was the winner of the 27th Design Award of the Brazilian Design Museum, thus developing the identity for the event. Developed one of the posters selected for the 2nd Rio on Poster Contest, developed by Unesco. Received Honorable Mention for the poster design of the 30th Design Award of the Brazilian Design Museum.

Colors and the Kids - CATK - BERLIN

They are a creative company specializing in the fields of design, motion, and music. They help their clients to think about new perspectives and lead them through a wholesome and thoughtful process for every project. From the studio in Berlin, they work closely with leading brands worldwide, creating meaningful and forward-thinking content together. Every project they do is about real connections between people, driven by the innovation of the information age. The company name helps us to reaffirm their core beliefs every day again, trust our intuition and stay open-minded without any prejudice.

Pentagram

With countless big names in design, Pentagram is the world’s largest independently-owned design studio.

Their work encompasses graphics and identity, architecture and interiors, products and packaging, exhibitions and installations, websites and digital experiences, advertising and communications. Their 24 partners are all practicing designers, and whether they are working collaboratively or independently, they always do so in friendship.

Their structure is unique. We are the only major design studio where the owners of the business are the creators of the work and serve as the primary contact for every client. This reflects their conviction that great design cannot happen without passion, intelligence and above all personal commitment, and is demonstrated by a  brand portfolio that spans five decades and all industries.

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3. Analyze the differences between the roles of a Graphic Designer, Creative, and Art Director, and evaluate the pros and cons of each.

Creative Director

It works with customers generating the conceptual idea of ​​the campaign, meeting the needs of brand strategy.

Prepare and transfer the content of the proposal to the Art Director.

Has the power to “veto” or “not” the project before presentation to the client.

Art director

Responsible for managing and designing the proposal together with the project team.

Designer, Copywriter, Illustrator, among others.

It accompanies the team correcting and altering but does not create the pieces. Supports

for all staff and take care that the concept does not escape the goal.

It moves between the means of creation and execution all the time and for this it is necessary

That has full integration with people. Ability to direct and transfer concepts.

Graphic Designer

It is the creator of the piece itself. Executor and finisher of every project.

With identification, information, innovation, and clarity, he presents his finalized ideas to the art director who in turn leads to the creative director and the latter to the client.

P: Creativity, subtlety, skill, good taste.

C: Doesn't appear to be your deed!

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4. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your design practice  — Support this with visual analysis of your own work, create an action plan that will help to develop your strengths and address your weaknesses. Your action plan must take the form of a well-designed table, and include personal targets with dates.

Weakness

I can be too critical of myself. A pattern I have noticed throughout my career is that I often feel I could have done more, even if objectively, I have done well. Earlier in my career, this led to burnout and negative self-talk. One solution I have implemented over the last years is to actively pause and celebrate my achievements. Not only has this helped my own self-esteem, but it has also helped me genuinely appreciate and recognize my work

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5. Using the provided class seminar as your starting point, demonstrate informed opinion on some of the key challenges currently facing graphic design/designers in Sao Paulo. Reflect on how you think these challenges might impact on your future role in the creative industry and what you think you can bring to the world of design that will help to address some of these challenges.

The sharp increase in graphic designers and the decrease in employment opportunity points oversaturation in the industry, this oversaturation leads to high competition in the job market. Moreover, a majority of individuals are ready to take up projects and work at a low price which is affecting the value of the work. However, oversaturation is not the only challenge we face. Staying updated is another big challenge faced, to survive in this cut-throat competition, we need to stay updated with current market trends. It is not only the designer who faces difficulties, but organizations also have a tough time updating their system and work culture to provide graphic designers with a state of art environment with the latest tool and technologies. Time-management, the creative imagination of a graphic designer makes him stand out in a crowd. While being creative is essential, designers need to ensure that they balance the time spent on the project with the quoted price. Often we come across clients who want to do a project very tightly deadline for the size of the project, this often requires flawless time management or then trying to explain to the client that more time is needed to complete the project but that can lead to customer loss. Perhaps one of the biggest problems good graphic designers face is that they’re undervalued, which means they’re underpaid. One of the biggest pitfalls many designers make is to charge what everyone else charges. I think this makes them appear average. It is very difficult to be a designer since many people believe that a designer's work is easy, and in many cases can be replaced by ready-made templates for a small amount rather than paying a designer to do the work, which often causes a crappy design. Freelancers on the rise, in this digital world, organizations have also become more practical to hire a designer on a project basis instead of full time. The increase of freelancing is shrinking the opportunities for new designers in traditional full-time employment. Companies businesses are now hiring freelancers to get their work done. freelancing is becoming the new normals in todays's world and most of the companies are looking in the direction of this.

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6. Investigate some of the established design blogs and find an in-depth interview with a leading graphic designer or creative, and tell us why they are WRONG. Delve-deep for this question to find an opinion you strongly and genuinely disagree with.