It seems that architects' biggest gripe is their meager incomes... Does anyone have any suggestions as to what careers would allow me to stay in the field of architecture and design, yet generate more income than the average architect? thank you!
Charles and Ray Eames are proof architects do not have to Architecture only. As a Graphic Designer, Photographer, Motion Graphics artist, I don't plan on stopping those endeavors because I am studying Architecture. If anything I have seen many architects an architecture students weak in overal design because they are so hyper focused in one dialogue, instead of broadening their creative understanding.
As a web designer in Austin texas I was making more than any associate I have ran into in the architecture world. Don't limit your skills or opportunities, that is the key.
Just look at the Eames' world. Film, Furniture, Toys, and yes - Architecture. It does not have to be a small hole through which you view the world. I love design as a whole.
Anything will pay more than architecture - web design, graphic design, etc., etc. So if you want to do architecture, you'll have to accept the pay that comes with it.
jason - the problem is that it's difficult to do everything. You won't get paid more being an architect because you know motion graphics. You can subsidize your income as an architect, if you can find time to do other things.
For me, I am doing it the other way. When I find time, I do architecture, so I make a much better living doing 3D/motion graphics/web design.
i kinda of agree with trace's point of it being difficult to do everything, but would like to add to that point. first off, i think it is difficult for most people to do everything. obviously, it depends on the individual. secondly, i would not try doing it all at the same time. follow your interests/passions and then focus on them and them only [or at least mostly]. and i don't mean a couple of weeks or months. truly focus on them.
the eames' did some beautiful and varied things, but i think there is a reason you don't see people like them all of the time. they are unique and they were dedicated.
I am a Cancer survivor and currently defined as also having epilepsy. I know the value of dedication.
Team up with others who share your vision, its completely possible. I still do web design, do workshops at UNM, design and print screen printed posters and also am working on an architecture degree.
And actually, being able to program in flash, print, do 3D work actually did get me paid more in both the architecture job I had at a strchitect firm and at the school where I am working now, don't sell yourself short.
nice dood. i am being sincere and wish him all the best and do apologize if he took it differently than i intended. and i totally get where he is coning from. i am a diabetic of 30 years with all of the complications that come with the disease. i have worked in many types of design offices from architecture, industrial design, application design, branding, web, and print, and i now own my own business. so why don't you go back to posting links that don't work and that spawn half a million pop-ups.
Personally, I would like to spend the next 5 years completeley focused on MANY different things, but it is just not possible. I say do what you want, wether it pays well or not. Sooner or later, it will either pay well enough, or you will find something thet you like well enough to do it for the good pay.
Theoretically, in the meantime you will happily be living your life.
wow, a lot of hating going on in this thread.. to get back on topic, it is difficult to do everything, and it seems like the design world is becoming increasingly more specialized. The Eames designed a lot of things, but to be fair, their architecture practice was limited.
I would say nowadays, if you want to design and produce a building, the time needed for licensure, practice, review, etc. excludes doing a lot of other things. Sure you can do graphic design, motion graphics, and 3d stuff in your "spare" time, or vice versa, but I think you will be hard pressed to gain work doing those other disciplines competing against professionals who dedicate the majority of their time and effort to that field. Not impossible, just unlikely.
To address the original question, I think most other design fields will pay you better sooner in your career and give you more design freedom at a young age than architecture will. I say this because I think for many young architects, after salary, lack of a meaningful contribution to the design process, is probably the second biggest gripe. I'm not faulting the profession, I'm just saying most other design fields give you more design opportunity sooner.
I need a nap...narcolepsy, you know ;-) At least I looked normal falling asleep all the time in arch school!
e - I think you can do it all, but it requires patience and selectively focusing on what you want to get done. I know Flash, but my scripting sucks, so I hire a friend for that. Same goes for architecture and 3D, I do what I know how to do and learn what I think is realistic.
It's all possible, and I wish I could script perfectly, but it just ain't going to happen, so instead of making bad sites, I'll pay someone a little to do it.
Also starting moving into furniture, jewelry, and other home accessories and will have it all manufactured by others (until we can afford the laser cutters). It's tough to juggle it all, especially when one thing is making money and another's barely begun.
It is all possible, you just have to prioritize and strategize. Plan, plan, plan and get very good at at least one thing, that way you can make a living while working on the others.
Did I just contradict myself? Guess the coffee's kickin' in!
i agree trace. focus is key. spend your days doing the things you are passionate about, and then find other passionate ppl to do what they love. i also higher ppl to do the things that i don't want to spend my days doing. for instance, all html sites are programmed by someone else. just like in architecture, you hire people to do the things you can't or don't want to do. it is a collaborative effort. most things that get made are not the result of one individual but a team.
I have a couple friends that work for Pepsi stocking displays 4 days a week that make more than I do. not a crapload more, but enough where I'm envious.
I'm just going to put a tip jar at my workstation.
You want what plotted out right now ASAP do ya? (shake tip jar)
You need those redlines picked up by when? (point at tip jar)
I need to come in for 10 minutes on Saturday to change that rendering view and rerun it so we can have it for Monday? (gee, with that whole dollar I'd earn in that 10 minutes of overtime that ruined my whole weekend I can almost get an ice cream cone!)
Many people are doing a plethora of different work all the time. Now more than ever it is possible to do video, photography, graphic design, screenprinting, interactive media, sculpture, ID, and yes, architecture. No one mentioned to what scale of archectecture they even want to do.
Define your own box and sit in it if you want, but everything I am able to do to this point is mostly self taught, and I will continue to learn and do as I want. Your words do nothing to phase me.
My wife is a doctor and does sculpture too, but how...oh my how could she?
Your limitations are only defined by you.
William S. Burroughs worked with Bryon Gysin to do some of the earliest studies in non-linear editing and interactive media. Thomas Jefferson, etc. etc....I can keep naming people who did many things and did not pidgeon hole themselves. And, yes, I see these people as inspiration, even the Eamses'. Don't like it? Go back to your box then and whine about it.
i don't think its about defining limitations.... its about focus, as mentioned above. of course you can do lots of different things, but when you spread yourself across multiple endeavors each one suffers and is devalued because of the 'polygamy'.
what if the eames only did architecture? they would have a body of work to contribute to architecture instead just a house.
good point. but no one has said to what extent they wanted to do architecture, just was there other things the could do as well as doing architecture, and there are.
I have been published in Print, multiple books for both graphic design, screenprinting, and web design...doing all three did not stop me from doing all three well. I believe its more about allowing what you learn in one, to transition to another. Skill and craft can extend to everything you do, if you care enough about it.
Focus does not have to be solely on one thing at every moment, but a focus on your life as a whole. For instance, I go out for drinks and party hardly at all. I find much more joy from finding new challenges and extending my own personal capabilities.
So, I see it as just the opposite. One avenue of design does not suffer to another, they actually support each other and give a greater meaning to each as a whole. I see so many architects with all there theory who can't do a simple graphic board layout for crap. Maybe if they invested a little more time in trying to see the relationships between the two, they would become better at both.
hate to interrupt this lovely tea party, but does anyone know if there is decent money in fabrication (ie hypearc and work in the same vein)?
and to get my 2 cents in, I personally side with jasoncross's statement:
"One avenue of design does not suffer to another, they actually support each other and give a greater meaning to each as a whole."
profitable career alternatives to architecture
It seems that architects' biggest gripe is their meager incomes... Does anyone have any suggestions as to what careers would allow me to stay in the field of architecture and design, yet generate more income than the average architect? thank you!
Charles and Ray Eames are proof architects do not have to Architecture only. As a Graphic Designer, Photographer, Motion Graphics artist, I don't plan on stopping those endeavors because I am studying Architecture. If anything I have seen many architects an architecture students weak in overal design because they are so hyper focused in one dialogue, instead of broadening their creative understanding.
As a web designer in Austin texas I was making more than any associate I have ran into in the architecture world. Don't limit your skills or opportunities, that is the key.
Just look at the Eames' world. Film, Furniture, Toys, and yes - Architecture. It does not have to be a small hole through which you view the world. I love design as a whole.
Anything will pay more than architecture - web design, graphic design, etc., etc. So if you want to do architecture, you'll have to accept the pay that comes with it.
jason - the problem is that it's difficult to do everything. You won't get paid more being an architect because you know motion graphics. You can subsidize your income as an architect, if you can find time to do other things.
For me, I am doing it the other way. When I find time, I do architecture, so I make a much better living doing 3D/motion graphics/web design.
It's just about priorities.
i kinda of agree with trace's point of it being difficult to do everything, but would like to add to that point. first off, i think it is difficult for most people to do everything. obviously, it depends on the individual. secondly, i would not try doing it all at the same time. follow your interests/passions and then focus on them and them only [or at least mostly]. and i don't mean a couple of weeks or months. truly focus on them.
the eames' did some beautiful and varied things, but i think there is a reason you don't see people like them all of the time. they are unique and they were dedicated.
who says I am not unique and dedicated?
I am a Cancer survivor and currently defined as also having epilepsy. I know the value of dedication.
Team up with others who share your vision, its completely possible. I still do web design, do workshops at UNM, design and print screen printed posters and also am working on an architecture degree.
Party less, drink less, do more.
And actually, being able to program in flash, print, do 3D work actually did get me paid more in both the architecture job I had at a strchitect firm and at the school where I am working now, don't sell yourself short.
by no means am i saying you aren't jason. sorry you might have taken that the wrong way. but you must admit that you are rare?
i don't think he is rare, i think you are just an asshole
nice dood. i am being sincere and wish him all the best and do apologize if he took it differently than i intended. and i totally get where he is coning from. i am a diabetic of 30 years with all of the complications that come with the disease. i have worked in many types of design offices from architecture, industrial design, application design, branding, web, and print, and i now own my own business. so why don't you go back to posting links that don't work and that spawn half a million pop-ups.
I see the rare dedication, but not the asshole?
Personally, I would like to spend the next 5 years completeley focused on MANY different things, but it is just not possible. I say do what you want, wether it pays well or not. Sooner or later, it will either pay well enough, or you will find something thet you like well enough to do it for the good pay.
Theoretically, in the meantime you will happily be living your life.
wow, a lot of hating going on in this thread.. to get back on topic, it is difficult to do everything, and it seems like the design world is becoming increasingly more specialized. The Eames designed a lot of things, but to be fair, their architecture practice was limited.
I would say nowadays, if you want to design and produce a building, the time needed for licensure, practice, review, etc. excludes doing a lot of other things. Sure you can do graphic design, motion graphics, and 3d stuff in your "spare" time, or vice versa, but I think you will be hard pressed to gain work doing those other disciplines competing against professionals who dedicate the majority of their time and effort to that field. Not impossible, just unlikely.
To address the original question, I think most other design fields will pay you better sooner in your career and give you more design freedom at a young age than architecture will. I say this because I think for many young architects, after salary, lack of a meaningful contribution to the design process, is probably the second biggest gripe. I'm not faulting the profession, I'm just saying most other design fields give you more design opportunity sooner.
what the hell does you being a diabetic have to do with anything? i really feel sorry for you.
about as much as being a cancer survivor and and an epileptic, I would suppose..
raji- do you have something to offer, or do you just need your nap?
a buddy of mine runs a real estate brokerage and an architecture studio. the two feed each other in a symbiotic way that would make hollywood envious.
Peeps is frustrated cuz theis broke.....is no joke
The Eames open another interesting debate: working with your spouse, good or bad?
whatever raji. i'll ignore you until you have something constructive to offer.
one last thing raji, why the hell are you peddling porn on your members page?
jason is nutritionally fortified by frontier huevos and cinnamon rolls.
wow, i didn't realize my question would get people so riled up... but thanks for the input...
I need a nap...narcolepsy, you know ;-) At least I looked normal falling asleep all the time in arch school!
e - I think you can do it all, but it requires patience and selectively focusing on what you want to get done. I know Flash, but my scripting sucks, so I hire a friend for that. Same goes for architecture and 3D, I do what I know how to do and learn what I think is realistic.
It's all possible, and I wish I could script perfectly, but it just ain't going to happen, so instead of making bad sites, I'll pay someone a little to do it.
Also starting moving into furniture, jewelry, and other home accessories and will have it all manufactured by others (until we can afford the laser cutters). It's tough to juggle it all, especially when one thing is making money and another's barely begun.
It is all possible, you just have to prioritize and strategize. Plan, plan, plan and get very good at at least one thing, that way you can make a living while working on the others.
Did I just contradict myself? Guess the coffee's kickin' in!
Life is a collection of contradictions... ;)
Oh and "e" said nothing wrong at all imo, in fact he (if e is a he) was the perfect gentleman, chill guys.
wow, this thread went WAY off topic.
developer/builder
developer/builder
developer/builder
who knows or cares more about producing a quality product than an architect? and it is VERY profitable if you are smart.
i agree trace. focus is key. spend your days doing the things you are passionate about, and then find other passionate ppl to do what they love. i also higher ppl to do the things that i don't want to spend my days doing. for instance, all html sites are programmed by someone else. just like in architecture, you hire people to do the things you can't or don't want to do. it is a collaborative effort. most things that get made are not the result of one individual but a team.
thanks sigmun.
I know a guy who drives a beer truck for $30 an hour.
are you kidding me? 30 an hour? sign me up please.
I know a wig dresser that makes that much.
I have a couple friends that work for Pepsi stocking displays 4 days a week that make more than I do. not a crapload more, but enough where I'm envious.
I'm just going to put a tip jar at my workstation.
You want what plotted out right now ASAP do ya? (shake tip jar)
You need those redlines picked up by when? (point at tip jar)
I need to come in for 10 minutes on Saturday to change that rendering view and rerun it so we can have it for Monday? (gee, with that whole dollar I'd earn in that 10 minutes of overtime that ruined my whole weekend I can almost get an ice cream cone!)
or you can correct prospective m.arch students' personal statements for $35/hour .....
or edit their m'arch portfolio for +$60/hour..
some idiots need to understand here that eames & co. were back in the days
now there are tons of more designers, architects etc etc and dabbling everywhere does not lead to shit
no need to call anyone an idiot herr doktor :-)
sorry man...
when i see the obvious not being taken into consideration, i get a bit ruffled
Many people are doing a plethora of different work all the time. Now more than ever it is possible to do video, photography, graphic design, screenprinting, interactive media, sculpture, ID, and yes, architecture. No one mentioned to what scale of archectecture they even want to do.
Define your own box and sit in it if you want, but everything I am able to do to this point is mostly self taught, and I will continue to learn and do as I want. Your words do nothing to phase me.
My wife is a doctor and does sculpture too, but how...oh my how could she?
Your limitations are only defined by you.
William S. Burroughs worked with Bryon Gysin to do some of the earliest studies in non-linear editing and interactive media. Thomas Jefferson, etc. etc....I can keep naming people who did many things and did not pidgeon hole themselves. And, yes, I see these people as inspiration, even the Eamses'. Don't like it? Go back to your box then and whine about it.
i don't think its about defining limitations.... its about focus, as mentioned above. of course you can do lots of different things, but when you spread yourself across multiple endeavors each one suffers and is devalued because of the 'polygamy'.
what if the eames only did architecture? they would have a body of work to contribute to architecture instead just a house.
good point. but no one has said to what extent they wanted to do architecture, just was there other things the could do as well as doing architecture, and there are.
I have been published in Print, multiple books for both graphic design, screenprinting, and web design...doing all three did not stop me from doing all three well. I believe its more about allowing what you learn in one, to transition to another. Skill and craft can extend to everything you do, if you care enough about it.
Focus does not have to be solely on one thing at every moment, but a focus on your life as a whole. For instance, I go out for drinks and party hardly at all. I find much more joy from finding new challenges and extending my own personal capabilities.
So, I see it as just the opposite. One avenue of design does not suffer to another, they actually support each other and give a greater meaning to each as a whole. I see so many architects with all there theory who can't do a simple graphic board layout for crap. Maybe if they invested a little more time in trying to see the relationships between the two, they would become better at both.
hate to interrupt this lovely tea party, but does anyone know if there is decent money in fabrication (ie hypearc and work in the same vein)?
and to get my 2 cents in, I personally side with jasoncross's statement:
"One avenue of design does not suffer to another, they actually support each other and give a greater meaning to each as a whole."
... nice !!!
what do wigs wear?
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