The answer to whether an online degree is right for you depends on several questions only you can answer but research has demonstrated online distance education is as effective as traditional education.
Both forms of education require the use of technology and provide ample learning opportunities for students to participate in. Furthermore, studies have shown there are no significant differences in final course grades between distance education and traditional education. It was found many online education methods fit perfectly with students’s preferred learning style including the ability to work on course material in their own time frame.
Advantages of an Online Graphic Design Education
The main advantage of pursuing an online education is accessibility. As an adult, you often don’t have the time or ability to go a traditional school to earn a higher degree. It may be family; it may be a full time job. Either way, an online distant education program provides the flexibility needed to further your education.
With online education as long as you have access to the Internet, you can “make it to class”. And your classes are available 24/7.
Study Pace – for those of us who don’t learn at the same pace as others, an online degree program allows you to learn at a pace that fits your style.
Self Motivation – many employers will look at your online degree and appreciate your initiative and self motivation.
Flexibility – Web based degree programs allow you to learn when you have the time to learn not when you are told to learn.
Self Discipline – to be successful in life and career, you have to have self-discipline. To be successful in distant education programs, you have to have self-discipline. It’s not always easy to get work done if someone isn’t there reminding you all the time. What Should You Expect From An Online Education This tends to work in favor of students who are extremely shy and stay out of conversations in traditional settings.
Work – just because you are not attending a physical classroom setting doesn’t mean you don’t have to work. You will be involved in group projects, writing papers, posting responses to the class message board while taking practice quizzes and discussing topics with fellow students.
There are other online students with more experience available to answer your questions or help with a difficult assignment.
Requirements for Online Graphic Design Degree Programs
First of all, you need a computer with hardware and software that is compatible with the schools programs. Peripheral Equipment - most schools are going to require you have access to a CD burner or DVD burner, printer, scanner, digital camera and digital drawing tablet.
Conclusion
If you are interested in going back to school for a degree in graphic design but don’t have the flexibility to go to a traditional school setting, an online education is a great alternative.
The next step is to find distant learning programs in graphic design that fit your needs.
A. Business Opportunity for Graphic Designers
It doesn't matter whether you're a professional designers, or just a normal graphic application user, you can tap into a very lucrative graphic design business you can run from your home.
No, I'm not talking about creating a complicated design for big companies. What business am I talking about? Introducing...
How to start an online business in virtual product cover design.
1. Internet has enabled many people to start their own online businessess. And among the hottest products & the easiest to sell is information product.
2. Besides information product, software is among the hottest products to sell. As a graphic designer, you can provide your service to these business owners by creating virtual covers for their products. Examples for these covers are e-book cover, software box cover, CD covers, e-zine cover & newsletter cover. You can charge between $40 - $90 for 1 design. Imagine how much money can you make simply by designing these covers?
Besides designing product cover, you can also design matching website header, footer, background image, and order button.
A typical website selling ebook has the following graphics:
- matching header graphic
- product cover
- order button
- matching footer graphic
You can charge between $90 to $150 for a project. Every marketer who sell information product owners may become your clients. It doesn't matter whether the products they offer are for sale, or just to give away, they'll need virtual covers for the products.
How & where to find the customers?
- Promote your service at classified site.
- Promote your product through your signature in email and forums.
You'll find many product owners there.
- Promote your service at Google via Google's pay-per-click advertising program, called Google AdWords. Here's an excellent resource how you can advertise properly on Google:
http://www.virtualcovercreator.com/adwords/
1. Introduce your service by giving away, let's say, 5 FREE cover designs.
2. Create a website for your service. List down your offer, put customers testimonial, and don't forget to have a page for your design showcase.
3. Offer a discount for members of an Internet Marketing forum that you visit.
How to save time and earn more. The easiest and fastest way to create product covers is by using Photoshop Actions. Some called them Action Scripts. Actions are some sort of plug-ins that automate the cover design process.
Basically, here's how they work:
- Run Adobe Photoshop
- Click on a button to run the Action
- Edit the template with relevant images & text to suit your need
- Click on another button, and your flat cover will be transformed into 3D cover, automatically. Here's a site where you can find Photoshop Actions for ebook cover & software box cover:
http://www.virtualcovergenerator.com
B. Tips For Freelance Graphic Design
Graphic design degrees are steadily growing in popularity, but very few college degrees give a good, practical background for running one's own business. Many art supplies are toxic to animals and small children, and distractions can be toxic to your creativity, so having a workspace set aside is an absolute necessity. Decent studio furniture is a must as well, nothing wrecks concentration quite like back pain from a bad stool or poorly designed drafting table. Keeping the studio separate from where you go to goof off is vital for many professional artists and graphic designers.
While it doesn't pay to be penny wise and pound foolish in business, as all business is an investment risk by its very nature, it's still a good idea to find creative ways to minimize costs. Finding economical work space, cheap supplies, and creative marketing are all absolutely essential to running a business of any kind in today's world. Choosing a good, inexpensive art supply store is key to making a living as a graphic designer.
Because your business is almost entirely built off of these supplies, finding the right company to partner with is essential to the long term growth and success of your business. If, however, your graphic design is more computer oriented, of course getting a hold of the latest in computer graphics programs and enough hardware to run them is also important. Getting a professional account on a website like DeviantArt, which provides an online gallery space and an account option allowing you to sell prints through them, is an integral strategy to many graphic design freelancers.
ETSY is another website that allows freelance artists to sell their original works in an environment tailored for hand made art appreciation. Most graphic designers don't place their works in brick and mortar galleries, as those are generally reserved for fine art, but offering subcontractor services to interior design companies can be another way to get your name and reputation known.
Everybody likes value added services, and your clients are no exception. By using these strategies, keeping an open and creative mind, and with a bit of business planning and luck, your graphic design career should take off like a rocket.
Both forms of education require the use of technology and provide ample learning opportunities for students to participate in. Furthermore, studies have shown there are no significant differences in final course grades between distance education and traditional education. It was found many online education methods fit perfectly with students’s preferred learning style including the ability to work on course material in their own time frame.
Advantages of an Online Graphic Design Education
The main advantage of pursuing an online education is accessibility. As an adult, you often don’t have the time or ability to go a traditional school to earn a higher degree. It may be family; it may be a full time job. Either way, an online distant education program provides the flexibility needed to further your education.
With online education as long as you have access to the Internet, you can “make it to class”. And your classes are available 24/7.
Study Pace – for those of us who don’t learn at the same pace as others, an online degree program allows you to learn at a pace that fits your style.
Self Motivation – many employers will look at your online degree and appreciate your initiative and self motivation.
Flexibility – Web based degree programs allow you to learn when you have the time to learn not when you are told to learn.
Self Discipline – to be successful in life and career, you have to have self-discipline. To be successful in distant education programs, you have to have self-discipline. It’s not always easy to get work done if someone isn’t there reminding you all the time. What Should You Expect From An Online Education This tends to work in favor of students who are extremely shy and stay out of conversations in traditional settings.
Work – just because you are not attending a physical classroom setting doesn’t mean you don’t have to work. You will be involved in group projects, writing papers, posting responses to the class message board while taking practice quizzes and discussing topics with fellow students.
There are other online students with more experience available to answer your questions or help with a difficult assignment.
Requirements for Online Graphic Design Degree Programs
First of all, you need a computer with hardware and software that is compatible with the schools programs. Peripheral Equipment - most schools are going to require you have access to a CD burner or DVD burner, printer, scanner, digital camera and digital drawing tablet.
Conclusion
If you are interested in going back to school for a degree in graphic design but don’t have the flexibility to go to a traditional school setting, an online education is a great alternative.
The next step is to find distant learning programs in graphic design that fit your needs.
A. Business Opportunity for Graphic Designers
It doesn't matter whether you're a professional designers, or just a normal graphic application user, you can tap into a very lucrative graphic design business you can run from your home.
No, I'm not talking about creating a complicated design for big companies. What business am I talking about? Introducing...
How to start an online business in virtual product cover design.
1. Internet has enabled many people to start their own online businessess. And among the hottest products & the easiest to sell is information product.
2. Besides information product, software is among the hottest products to sell. As a graphic designer, you can provide your service to these business owners by creating virtual covers for their products. Examples for these covers are e-book cover, software box cover, CD covers, e-zine cover & newsletter cover. You can charge between $40 - $90 for 1 design. Imagine how much money can you make simply by designing these covers?
Besides designing product cover, you can also design matching website header, footer, background image, and order button.
A typical website selling ebook has the following graphics:
- matching header graphic
- product cover
- order button
- matching footer graphic
You can charge between $90 to $150 for a project. Every marketer who sell information product owners may become your clients. It doesn't matter whether the products they offer are for sale, or just to give away, they'll need virtual covers for the products.
How & where to find the customers?
- Promote your service at classified site.
- Promote your product through your signature in email and forums.
You'll find many product owners there.
- Promote your service at Google via Google's pay-per-click advertising program, called Google AdWords. Here's an excellent resource how you can advertise properly on Google:
http://www.virtualcovercreator.com/adwords/
1. Introduce your service by giving away, let's say, 5 FREE cover designs.
2. Create a website for your service. List down your offer, put customers testimonial, and don't forget to have a page for your design showcase.
3. Offer a discount for members of an Internet Marketing forum that you visit.
How to save time and earn more. The easiest and fastest way to create product covers is by using Photoshop Actions. Some called them Action Scripts. Actions are some sort of plug-ins that automate the cover design process.
Basically, here's how they work:
- Run Adobe Photoshop
- Click on a button to run the Action
- Edit the template with relevant images & text to suit your need
- Click on another button, and your flat cover will be transformed into 3D cover, automatically. Here's a site where you can find Photoshop Actions for ebook cover & software box cover:
http://www.virtualcovergenerator.com
B. Tips For Freelance Graphic Design
Graphic design degrees are steadily growing in popularity, but very few college degrees give a good, practical background for running one's own business. Many art supplies are toxic to animals and small children, and distractions can be toxic to your creativity, so having a workspace set aside is an absolute necessity. Decent studio furniture is a must as well, nothing wrecks concentration quite like back pain from a bad stool or poorly designed drafting table. Keeping the studio separate from where you go to goof off is vital for many professional artists and graphic designers.
While it doesn't pay to be penny wise and pound foolish in business, as all business is an investment risk by its very nature, it's still a good idea to find creative ways to minimize costs. Finding economical work space, cheap supplies, and creative marketing are all absolutely essential to running a business of any kind in today's world. Choosing a good, inexpensive art supply store is key to making a living as a graphic designer.
Because your business is almost entirely built off of these supplies, finding the right company to partner with is essential to the long term growth and success of your business. If, however, your graphic design is more computer oriented, of course getting a hold of the latest in computer graphics programs and enough hardware to run them is also important. Getting a professional account on a website like DeviantArt, which provides an online gallery space and an account option allowing you to sell prints through them, is an integral strategy to many graphic design freelancers.
ETSY is another website that allows freelance artists to sell their original works in an environment tailored for hand made art appreciation. Most graphic designers don't place their works in brick and mortar galleries, as those are generally reserved for fine art, but offering subcontractor services to interior design companies can be another way to get your name and reputation known.
Everybody likes value added services, and your clients are no exception. By using these strategies, keeping an open and creative mind, and with a bit of business planning and luck, your graphic design career should take off like a rocket.
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