Career or Hobby?

[Martee]

Do you see graphics as a potential career (Or maybe it is your career) or just a simple hobby which you do in your spare time?

For myself, it is currently a hobby but I hope that after taking a graphic qualification next year (Academic year, September - June) I am able to say that I could potentially go into freelancing or possibly even a mini-career somewhere local, you never know!

 

[xpl0iter]

Graphics was never my thing really.
I am not even good at finding 3 matching colors!

 

[Martee]

Graphics was never my thing really.
I am not even good at finding 3 matching colors!

Haha, colours are my problem as well. I can never find a decent matching combination!

 

[Sam1]

No- I'm never going to be a graphics genius, I know it's not something I am naturally good at.... So it's really a hobby if/when I learn- I'm looking to improve my skill set...

 

[Sylar]

I'm alright at graphics, but I'm really too much of a perfectionist, and I really don't have a ton of skill. It's more of a hobby than anything

 

[Allan]

It's always been a hobby for me, even though I have made a couple dollars never wanted it as a career.

 

[dojo]

Started as a hobby 10 years ago. I still love doing it, even if it's my career and even business right now. I took my design more seriously in the past years and I am now a successful web designer who still loves what she does.

 

[CHT]

I do it as a hobby, never really went into it.

 

[razelia]

It -used- to be a hobby... Wait, actually, it was more of something "part time" i.e. I only do it when I feel like it, or when I'm not doing anything. Recently though, I've been making designs for POD (print on demand) T-shirt sites, and I have to say, steady money has been rolling in every month! Despite that, it's still a hobby for me - so I guess it can be both?

 

[Southern Comfort]

I'm taking my steps into making it a career. I don't plan on going to college for it as hopefully, once I improve more, my portfolio will speak for itself. That and I've heard that the colleges in my area for it are generally a waste of time and money. So yeah, hopefully one day it'll be my career/business but it'll take me quite a bit of time.

 

[Gytix]

I use to be quite handy on Photoshop, and very active on GFX forums, now I've just got bored of it.. I might go into sports journalism or something with computing; but I've barely finished my GCSEs so I've got plenty of time.

 

[lowrider.STi]

I like to call it a hobby with benefits.

 

[steve12]

Well, to be very honest. It is my hobby not my career.

 

[JLogan]

I do it as a hobby, because my graphics/designs aren't that good to be sold as an actual service.

 

[Hippie]

Hobby

 

[Rihtar]

Designing started as a hobby for me as well, but it grew into something more and hopefully it'll be my profession soon enough.

 

[Shortie]

Graphics are something I started as a hobby and continue to do as a hobby. I don't mind doing graphics for friends for their websites or forums however I don't feel like I could take it up as a career, I feel I would lose interest if I did make it into a career.

 

[AresBlade]

Completely a hobby for me. I've never made a dime from it, but I do it a fair bit for family and friends. Like most of this stuff I've just taught myself from the web, but I'd like to take some more structured courses to learn the best practices behind it.

 

[Kleineganz]

For me it's neither my career (I'm a web analyst), nor a hobby. I do my own graphic design for my various websites, including my business site, because it's cheaper than for me to hire someone to do it. I've been creating my own graphics in PhotoShop since 1996 or so, and I even minored in graphic design for my master's degree.

 

[Goat of Departure]

If you're good at designing and graphics it's a big plus. I used to work as both a graphic designer and a web developer and I can tell you that it's a big plus if you know both. It's got the best of both worlds. You can just do it as a hobby and if you got really good at it you can set up a portfolio and show off your talents and maybe get hired or you can sell your work and services.

When I first started out graphic design I was playing around Photoshop and I thought I'd do some wacky vector graphics and out of sheer boredom I tried to upload it to Threadless as a T-shirt design and by some crazy luck it got printed out and from day I accepted design as one of my assets.