It has been found that Art Design Schools often lack the fundamental information that design students need to make a real career out of their art and be able to earn a reasonable living immediately.Often, the Art Design School philosophy is more bent towards preparing the student for a position in a design firm, and heavily focussed on just the design skills required for such a career move. However, in this age of diverse online opportunity, that approach seems woefully out of place, and design students are left high and dry if they decide to opt for the freedom of freelance instead of the traditional route working for another design firm.And it seems there are very few advocates for the traditional schooling system (particularly universities) when it comes to talking about matters of the cyber world. There is great concern about the fact that the formalised school system does not keep up with the rapid changes and opportunities occurring online. “Unfortunately, it may be years before the traditional art design schools fully catch up, and by then, it’s too late — the technologies have already moved on and morphed into something new” says Sydney-based expert educator Lance Brewster.Some of the key areas that seem to be passed over in design schools are:The key skills required to turn talent into income (without getting a “job”),
Some of the skills that are actually more important than talent, and
The major mistakes that many freelancers make which could be easily avoided.Schools such as the 7 Day Design Course do offer important supplementary education to fast-track the otherwise arduous task of learning “the business” of design though. And there are plenty of other resources online (if you know where to find them!) which can also offer support, inspiration and information to assist art/design students.