I wish I could tell my twenty year old self to go to a real* University and abandon the entire notion of art school.
When I had yet lived for only two decades, I was still convinced that I could be a commercial artist. I suppose it would help to remind you that this was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “Commercial artists” existed in a weird niche between fine arts and industrial arts. Sure, there was a certain amount of innate talent required. We were expected to be proficient in many artistic mediums like pen and ink, oil paints, pastels, and even photography. We were also expected to be skilled at things like typesetting, operating a printing press, developing film, and bookbinding.
Well, the advent of the personal computer and creative software like Adobe Photoshop and Aldus Pagemaker pretty much eliminated the need for people with my skill set. Indeed, trading physical mediums for digital design tools introduced the need for an entirely different aptitude.
I was unprepared for this new digital paradigm but I did my best to adapt. I’ve had some jobs in the graphic design space but the role of the professional commercial artist working in the company’s in house art department has been supplanted by the freelance “creative” (whatever that means).
Maybe it’s mean-spirited of me to say so, but what goes around comes around. Now, the role of the creative freelancer will be eliminated by AI-powered design tools. I hate to say it, but for most businesses, Canva really can replace your 24-year-old college dropout Photoshop girl the same way she replaced me.
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