I was just curious… How many Kirupas users make their living 100% from graphic/web design?
And, among those who do, what kind of jobs you come across most often?
I’m not asking how much you make or something like that. I’m honestly just trying to get an idea of what’s out there, to see if I’m heading in the right direction…
In case you’re wondering why I post this here, I was originally also gonna ask the same people to criticize my site, then I changed my mind but somehow still felt that those questions belong here… Hope it’s ok…
Hey Mr. X, I’m not a pro or anything, but I do work in the printing field and I do freelance web development on the side. Your question is pretty broad so I’ll try my best to answer your question.
As of right now, the printing company I’m with is doing fairly good. We’re not a large company so we service small to moderate size businesses. Most of the jobs that comes in are for stuff like stationaries (business cards, letterheads, envelopes…etc) I also do brochure and catalog designs as well so it’s basically small jobs here and there, but we survive by the amount of jobs that adds up.
As for the web development, last month was a slow month, I didn’t have any clients at all, but this month it’s picking up again. I haven’t had any contracts for full sites, but I’ve recieved a few for site updates so it’s not too bad.
If you’re planning on going into Graphic Design or Web Design then I suggest that you get your portfolio together and start out small. Take any job that is related to your field even if it doesn’t pay well at first. Just work and gain experience and then move on to a better job or work freelance if you choose.
I’m not sure if that is what you wanted to know so if you want to know something more specific then please ask. =)
make a 100% of living or use a 100% of living to do this?
Actually, I am a gelogist by day, college professor by night and flash wannabe by free nights and weekends. I’m also 40 and wanting to really change my career. As far as getting paid, I get maybe an average of one gig a month doing a bit of cleaning up on other people’s flash work (that’s scary, but then there are some really crappy flash people out there, I mean stuff like lining up their scroll bars, putting text on whole numbers, optimizing their stuff in their library) and simple actionscript work for already made e-learning apps (kids stuff, not corporate training).
So, last year I made 2.5% of my total income from this (gee, maybe that means I’m for ****!?!). But spent way more on programs (I hate piracy) and hardware (I hate hardware).
subquark-i spent more than three minutes waiting for your footer to load. it never loaded. but i did enjoy throwing that little thing around
lol i have stared at that for so long…
[SIZE=1][it never loads][/SIZE]
hmm, it’s only 969 bytes!?!? must be my economical hosting (read: cheap!!!)
//it never does load - hehe . . .
I have made my living at designing websites, logos, presentations, etc. for around 5 years…
The jobs vary from a simple logo to a year long website project. It all depends… Every gig is drastically different from the last. I just made a buttload of money for changing the text twice in 1 .fla… Also recently I ended up spending about 3 times the hours on a project than I ended up getting paid for… soooo…
I don’t know how to answer your question…
Rev
BTW - subquark: Phil & I are also in the 40 club…
I make my living by doing one of the following…
- Web Programming (asp, html, dhtml, javascript, vbscript, php, …)
- Computer Programming (c++, c, visual basic)
- Networking (low class… nothing extremely fancy)
- Odds and Ends… COmputer Repair and Computer Maintenance…
- Video Game Programming
But yeha… Every so often when the times are rough I help paint and do grunt work for a local company… I did them a favor by fixing their main database computers and so they let me work whenever I want with Masonry or Architectural Blue Print Reading. I typically do about 40 hours of work there every 2 months… Paid unde rthe table $20 / hr 
Anyways…
What!?! I thought I was the only one over 24 here! What a relief, I thought us old farts were elsewhere.
I love flash and it’s creativity. I see you went to culinary school! That’s a tough life! Lots of hours!
I’m turning 25 in a few days so I’ll be joining your ranks of old fartiness (not a real word)!!! 
Oh man he changed the footer just to make me look like a dumbass 
*Originally posted by subquark *
** I see you went to culinary school! That’s a tough life! Lots of hours! **
The school was an 18 month party with food & wine…:hangover:
The business sucked big time…
'tis why I design stuff now…
Rev
Oh yeah, well IM ONLY 14 HAHAHAAH!!!
HALF AND MAYBE EVEN A THRID OF YOUR AGES!!!
I like to make flash, but usually in my spare time, since im in high school ( which i have a 3.7 in), i play video games. Im getting more and more into flash every day :bad:
I’m 19, and I’ve been doing small contract work for the past 2 years. It began really small, and I hated it. Trust me, when you start out, you get clients that don’t know what they want, but they know what they don’t want, only after you’ve given it to them.
Lately though, things have been looking up. I didn’t have to work for the first time during winterbreak, because I got a job doing work for a Pharmaceutical company. With that I made a lot of good contacts, and this summer looks to be a very promising one…
Age: 20
occupation: vague web design at a community “school”…
Gonna start the 3d education soon… maybe… if I can scrape together the 25.000$ it costs…
eh, I havent started doing anything for money yet, but I’m going to get started sometime this week… I’m setting up a professional site, just got my domain name, etc… I’m planning to do a couple of sites for free, do some templates, put an ad on the paper, and study Miva Merchant and XML… I think if I figure out Miva I should get some business…
oh, and I’m 20, but I’ll only be doing this for a couple of months, cause I need to go back to school
*Originally posted by morse *
**Oh man he changed the footer just to make me look like a dumbass**
! :bad: 
!
subquark…wtf is that anyways, must be one of those vague scientific things i didn’t pay attention to in school
I’m 17 and got just started in this buisness. I did some pages for friends and now I’m planing to get a more serious website and work with some people together in a small team.
Interested ?
c!rYx ?
Could you say that for me out loud?
Ein seltener Deutscher, willkommen hier…
I did a seven months training for webdesign & multimedia between jobs (Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Director, Premiere, 3D S Max etc…), that was in 2000, then worked for a small start-up for a few months, then all the start-ups here in France, and most of’em in the rest of the world, became start-downs and disappeared, so now I’m doing something completely different ( this ) and only code at night and on weekends, when the kids give me a break…not 40 yet, but only 2 years left :-\
I am interested in Web/Graphic design, but just so you know, there aren’t many people fishing for them in my area (Philadelphia, PA) so no jobbies
And Eyez: Its not THAT rare to have a German here… it’s just a bit more rare to have a German speaking German. And as you know… my German sucks… so I just qualify as German, and not a German speaking German. Does that make ANY sense at all because I think I confused myself.?
