To be honest, I’ve had my doubts about the value of a graphic design degree. But weighing the good with the bad, I’ve decided that going for a degree in graphic design is definitely worthwhile (if your heart is set on becoming a graphic designer). Here are some of the things I’ve felt were beneficial from having completed a three-year degree (B.A.) in graphic design:

1) Learning about stuff I just would never’ve learned about otherwise.

When else would I have learned about Italian handwriting and Venetian printers? The history of the book and the history of printing is fascinating, and really helpful to understand why the internet is so popular today. Even learning about papermaking machines was interesting (really!), especially when you tie it in with how difficult and expensive it actually was to produce books. We take accessibility to printed words for granted these days, and the internet is a real information machine. Information never used to be so easy to access, and the chance to know about my subject beyond the modern state of things really enhanced my appreciation of what I do, and also my appreciation of what I have. I love being able to access information so easily, and from so many different sources. It’s really fantastic!

Learning about the history of printing, and even theory of legibility, helped me to put graphic design in context and has given me unique skills. I gained far more as well; I learned about the industry of communication and business. In addition to this I gained research skills and had an opportunity to get involved with an AHRC research project in my final year, which not only gave me research skills, but I was paid for the work.

Writing a dissertation in my final year (12,000+ words on the history of the broadside ballad) was also a valuable experience, and I learned skills I would never otherwise learn. How to really concentrate, for one(!); and also how to skim stacks of books and make notes. Writing a long essay is far more challenging than a short piece of writing, as you are forced to learn how to fit and connect small ideas into the jigsaw puzzle of a large gestalt.

2) Meeting people of the same age who are facing the same challenges.

Most, if not all of my coursemates, have graphic design-related jobs now. It’s interesting to see their choices and learn from their experiences as well. Not only this, but I have a network of people to turn to in future.

Having a network of people I know, all with something in common, is really helpful to have. Some people abhor “networking” because it implies superficial interest in other people for selfish gain, but I think it depends entirely on how you look at it. Networking is something I’ve always done without thinking, before realising there’s a word for it: just by following up a genuine interest in other people and what they’re doing. (Being interested in people is a good career move!)

The industry of graphic design, as I’ve said before, is tied closely to business. I think it’s essential that graphic designers remember why their profession exists in the first place (it was born in its modern state, after all, during the industrial revolution). It’s necessary to keep on top of industry developments and trends, and also to meet other people working in the “industry”. The industry, a somewhat dehumanized word, actually means a vast international network of human beings.

3) Gaining knowledge about the industry (in the comfort of student-status).

Working with real human beings is always a difficult and delicate business, especially when they’re involved in critiquing your creative work. One client actually tried to design the work for me — and get my feedback on their work, true story! — when I failed to pull off their vision. Pulling off someone else’s vision is never easy to do, especially if they’re not clear what their vision actually is (and of course it’s no easier when they do have a specific vision).

In early 2007 I got to work on a “real-life” project as part of the course, along with coursemate Nathan Crawley. The design is here, and the live site, which I didn’t develop, is here. Working with a client on a project is a much more organic and iterative approach than frankly sterile studio projects.

Studio projects were helpful for one thing: the absence of client’s whims meant I could focus solely on designing. But the reality is that design exists in the area between the designer’s skills and the client’s desires, and the sensitive business of working with a client must slowly be mastered in the real world. This calls for empathy and great social skills.

5) Having a specialism.

Something to set you apart from the sea of other designers is always helpful. This depends where you study. I specialised in typography and information design. Since graduating, I decided to specialise even more, by working as a mobile designer. So: “typography” and “mobile” rather than a jack of all trades, and that suits me. It gives me an identity as a designer and an area I can really get to know well. I wanted to find a niche, which drew me to typography in the first place. Mobile is interesting for lots of reasons. The ironic thing is that mobile isn’t really specialised, as its possibilities are so vast.

That’s it. I could write a piece arguing why you shouldn’t do a graphic design degree, or the benefits of going straight into the working world. There are many, I’m sure. Having an income larger than a student loan is an obvious benefit, and having hands-on experience in a studio is really quite invaluable. But as I’ve argued, the benefit of focusing on design, rather than pleasing a client, is clear; and depending on your level of interest, the chance to learn about legibility theory (and even modernity and modernist literature of the fin-de-siècle) was enriching and enjoyable, and fed into everything else I was learning.