I have had some fights with a few students about the direction of their futures in regards to graphic design and the opinions of others. One student was learning how to use Dreamweaver and told me that he had a friend who said one should only use html coding and never “design it as you see it”. (For those unfamiliar, code is a way to make a website in many places, not just Dreamweaver. But that program has the option of not needing to know code in order to design a website.) I disagreed and a debate ensued. After it was over, I got the distinct feeling that he probably wouldn’t be going to college because he seemed fairly certain that anything you can learn for graphic design, you can learn on your own.

I will do my best to present an unbiased view of my overall opinion of the matter. There have been many designers in art history who never had any formal training whatsoever and began groundbreaking processes and rule breaking that created new facets of design that are still used today. Others studied in various art colleges around the country for many, many years before making it big. It all seems to depend on the student. While I won’t pretend to know what is best for you, I do know that schools can help immensly. I knew what looked good and what didn’t, but sometimes I didn’t always know why. I was annoyed with people who could analyze art and spit out what seemed like inane nonsense. Now that I’ve gone through college to experience design programs, I can actually see the logistics behind why people do what they do. Graphic design is logic and cleverness mixed with creativity. I was given tools to discover new ways of thinking creatively while having someone there to guide me in times of difficulty (ideas, homework, learning programs, etc). It was also a great experience to be in the presence of other designers and become friends and coworkers of like-minded people.

While I can’t tell you what is best for you, I do recommend college as a backbone for your designing education! So please, tour schools, ask questions, and think hard about the path you’d like to take.