I graduated from architecture school two years ago (in my country you just study for 5 years and there are no license tests) and ever since then I did a couple of short-term jobs because of my depression and anxiety (that lasted for almost 9 years), now that these are mostly treated I want to have a well-established career. Problem is when I was in the final year of college I got introduced to graphic design... I like it yet I don't feel that it is as useful to society as architecture is. I can't remember most of the things I studied in college so if I wanted to return to architecture I would have to get an internship or whatever, but I really am torn between the two choices... I'm better at graphic design, I like it more yet I can't feel that it is important at all, on the other hand, I have a degree in architecture, I feel its importance and I think it's more prestigious yet I'm not good at it and I don't like it as much.
Please tell me what to do? As you can notice my thoughts are not as organized as I might wish so if anything is not clear please ask me. Thanks in advance.
randomised
Jul 8, 18 3:06 pm
architecture isn't important, relax, just do what you feel like
eeayeeayo
Jul 8, 18 6:35 pm
I'd suggest trying to get an internship in graphic design, or at least shadowing at a graphic design firm for a few days or weeks, to get a feel for it before you jump into a new educational path.
I studied graphic design originally, before architecture, and worked in the field for a short time - that was nearly 30 years ago so before computers were extensively involved, so I can't tell you much about the day-to-day tasks of a graphic designer today. What I can say is that it was faster-paced and more deadline-oriented than architecture. The employers' expectations about hours were worse than even the "starchitect" firms I've worked for. One of the issues is that clients expect to be shown endless ideas and iterations. While an architect often goes into a client meeting with schematic plans "A", "B", and "C", in graphic design the expectation is that you'll originally come with schemes 1 through 20-something, and from there go back to the drawing board with 12 variations each on options 14 and 23 or whatever, plus come up with a few new ones, all for a few days later. And there was tremendous age bias: everybody wanted the new, energetic talent coming out of design schools with the trendy ideas and techniques. If you didn't own the company you were considered over the hill by your early 30s. Graphic design skills do translate well into architecture, and come in handy, especially in your earlier years in the field.
It's not clear whether your few short-term jobs were in architecture. If not, I'd suggest the same thing: try to get your foot in the door somewhere with a short-term internship, to get a feel for things in the working world of architecture, and then re-assess which would be a better fit.
I graduated from architecture school two years ago (in my country you just study for 5 years and there are no license tests) and ever since then I did a couple of short-term jobs because of my depression and anxiety (that lasted for almost 9 years), now that these are mostly treated I want to have a well-established career. Problem is when I was in the final year of college I got introduced to graphic design... I like it yet I don't feel that it is as useful to society as architecture is. I can't remember most of the things I studied in college so if I wanted to return to architecture I would have to get an internship or whatever, but I really am torn between the two choices... I'm better at graphic design, I like it more yet I can't feel that it is important at all, on the other hand, I have a degree in architecture, I feel its importance and I think it's more prestigious yet I'm not good at it and I don't like it as much.
Please tell me what to do? As you can notice my thoughts are not as organized as I might wish so if anything is not clear please ask me. Thanks in advance.
architecture isn't important, relax, just do what you feel like
I'd suggest trying to get an internship in graphic design, or at least shadowing at a graphic design firm for a few days or weeks, to get a feel for it before you jump into a new educational path.
I studied graphic design originally, before architecture, and worked in the field for a short time - that was nearly 30 years ago so before computers were extensively involved, so I can't tell you much about the day-to-day tasks of a graphic designer today. What I can say is that it was faster-paced and more deadline-oriented than architecture. The employers' expectations about hours were worse than even the "starchitect" firms I've worked for. One of the issues is that clients expect to be shown endless ideas and iterations. While an architect often goes into a client meeting with schematic plans "A", "B", and "C", in graphic design the expectation is that you'll originally come with schemes 1 through 20-something, and from there go back to the drawing board with 12 variations each on options 14 and 23 or whatever, plus come up with a few new ones, all for a few days later. And there was tremendous age bias: everybody wanted the new, energetic talent coming out of design schools with the trendy ideas and techniques. If you didn't own the company you were considered over the hill by your early 30s. Graphic design skills do translate well into architecture, and come in handy, especially in your earlier years in the field.
It's not clear whether your few short-term jobs were in architecture. If not, I'd suggest the same thing: try to get your foot in the door somewhere with a short-term internship, to get a feel for things in the working world of architecture, and then re-assess which would be a better fit.