CCAD-- Illustration or Industrial Design!!! HLP

[TencoKenco]

I would like to know what advantage one has over the other, and why i should choose which one.

I'm having a really hard time deciding, both seem to have excellent courses that would help me develope my skills. And i know alot of you on here attend or have attended this school so your thoughts would be appreciated.

[ConCrete]

WQHat are you trying to accomplish...jobs and what not, or what are you trying to learn...hell, double major if its that hard to decide...

[thesinfulsaint]

Like Concrete said, it mostly depends on what you want to do with your career. Both programs are very strong at CCAD, so whichever decision you make, you'll be at a great place to learn your trade. From what I've heard from upper classmen there, it's harder to get into Industrial Design than it is Illustration.

As far as the job market goes, Illustration, for the most part, is more freelance than anything else, so you might not have a steady income right out of college (or, possibly, ever). This could be bad if you have some student loans to pay off. I'm not sure exactly what Industrial Design entails, but from what I understand, you have a great possibility of having a steady salary. I could be wrong about that part, though.

[TencoKenco]

After looking into the two different majors ALL DAY yesterday i have come to the conclusion that i would like to do Illustration. The only thing is im very worried about having a stable career. Is it hard to get a job w/ an illustration major? Can i put the skills learned in an illustration major twards other jobs like web design/graphic design and take some side classes in thoes or am i limited?

[codenothing]

being an illustrator or industrial designer is the difference between being human and a robot.

Illustration is a very diverse creative job, Industrial is a very precise, 'dry' job. But some people realy love doing that sort of thing. more power to em.

anyway, no its not hard for the average Illustrator to find work. Illustration with a minor study in graphic design can make you a lot of money in the print world. If you think about it, every product that has picture derections hires an illustrator, every add that isnt pure photo, sticker companies, T-shirts, Labels, Logos, Books, DVD's, CD album art, editorial and magazine work....

theres a million illustrator jobs out there. Though if you are going to freelance, having a great personality helps a lot. Because you will be switching clients on a day to day basis.

If you realy serious about Illustration i recoment Art Center Passadena. (but im bias like that. ) :wink:

[Storyboard Dave]

Whoa whoa whoa...why are you pigeon holing yourself like this? Why can't you be an illustrator with great ID skills or vice versa. Heck, while you're at it take a boatload of Fine Art painting classes, take a figure sculpture class, get some Graphic Design & Photo under your belt as well.

It's not about the ONE degree, it's about the skill set that you're going to come out of school with. What's your portfolio going to look like? and THEN start looking for work with your skills.

As an artist, any creative endeavors you take up will just enhance your knowledge base. The artist you will become is going to be that much more than you are today just because you haven't experienced as much. So get out there and try it all and meld all of those skills together. That's the one charm about going into art is that it is to a certain degree self directed and self motivated.

Don't let titles like "Industrial Designer" or "Illustrator" narrow your focus. You can be that with many other learned skills and be that much more valuable in the job market.

[theincredibleandy]

Whoa whoa whoa...why are you pigeon holing yourself like this? Why can't you be an illustrator with great ID skills or vice versa. Heck, while you're at it take a boatload of Fine Art painting classes, take a figure sculpture class, get some Graphic Design & Photo under your belt as well.

It's not about the ONE degree, it's about the skill set that you're going to come out of school with. What's your portfolio going to look like? and THEN start looking for work with your skills.

As an artist, any creative endeavors you take up will just enhance your knowledge base. The artist you will become is going to be that much more than you are today just because you haven't experienced as much. So get out there and try it all and meld all of those skills together. That's the one charm about going into art is that it is to a certain degree self directed and self motivated.

Don't let titles like "Industrial Designer" or "Illustrator" narrow your focus. You can be that with many other learned skills and be that much more valuable in the job market.

Ther's a comic artist named Keron Grant who graduated from CCAD, and what was his major? Industrial Design. It's tough to choose since the ID classes at CCAD aren't really allowed for non-ID students. What you need to do is figure out all of the classes you want to take, and go with the major that best resembles it. Pay attention to how many required classes that you DON'T wanna take. I know plenty of people who had to spend a whole semester in the dark room developing photos when they wanted to be drawing.

If you're asking what you should be when you grow up, we have no clue. ID majors at CCAD are usually more prepared for the professional world than illustration, but then again you might think designing washers and dryers sucks and want the fredom to try a variety of stuff and have a wide base of knowledge. That, or you might have an artistic vision and you just want classes that let you do your thing. Depends on your goals.

[TencoKenco]

sigh.. im back to juggling the 2 majors because i dont want to rule out ID so quickly. I still have a lot of researching to do. illustration still has that jump on ID, I guess i just like how free and open illustration can be when compaired to ID but* they both seem enjoyable and in my ball park so.. : /
but at least i know what school i want to go to and narrowed it down to two majors. *Thinking positive*!

Thank you a bunch for commenting, you have no clue how much it helps me. I've been following Conceptart for a LONG time but havent interacted due to my 56ghay internet connection. You guys have always been helpful and just plain awesome.

THanks for the help

[invinciblewombat]

speaking as an ID student (although at university of cincinnati not ccad), I would say to go for illustration just becasue from what I've seen you get a much more well rounded instruction (uses of differnt medias, life drawing, ect) ID tends to focus on much more mechanichal side of drawing and lots and lots of grinding out the same thing. ID is still enjoyable but not as open ended imo.

[WhizBang]

It's tough to choose since the ID classes at CCAD aren't really allowed for non-ID students. What you need to do is figure out all of the classes you want to take, and go with the major that best resembles it. Pay attention to how many required classes that you DON'T wanna take. I know plenty of people who had to spend a whole semester in the dark room developing photos when they wanted to be drawing.

Why is it that departments within a school won't let you take a class without having to jump through all of the hoops? All of those pre-reqs seems mighty stupid. Schools should have at least a non-major version of some of their more popular classes. All of this isolationalism seems counter-productive to what it is the place is supposed to be doing!

Forgive my rant.

:xpld:

[TencoKenco]

Hey, thanks again for all your help. I have until spring to decide what i will do (doin the whole college thing a little late : / , better late than never!) so i guess ill just try to contact people that actually go to the school and see what they think of the programs they are/ have been in. Thank you VERY MUCH. i love this damn site.

[+ venture]

hey, do any of you guys know if there are any schools that offer a grad illustration program?

[Moccomouse]

Hey! I'm an ID major at CCAD and I resent that comment about the difference between ID and Illus being the difference between being human and being a robot. We're not robots, we only design them. :wink:

Anyway it's not all drafting and toasters and boring technical stuff (only some of it is). It's about aesthetics and intelligence in design, and no matter what major you end up in, the foundation year is basically destroy you, all to making sure you know how to draw and paint and everything else.

Tenco: In the end, if you wanna be a concept artist, than neither ID or Illustration is the best bet, cuz there is no major called "concept art". It all comes down to being as well rounded as possible. I'm in ID, but I'm going to be taking as many illustration electives as I can, so that when I get out of here I will know how to do everything when it comes to doing stuff for movies and games. Some fantastically awesome concept artists were ID majors: Feng Zhu, Ryan Church, Scott Robertson, to name a few.


So don't call me a robot, damnit.