Quote:
Originally Posted by Jen
I think that you are taking it a bit too far here Brian. Certainly, I am generally in favor of a well-rounded liberal education, but I believe that your 4-year university has a strong program in design, doesn't it? You are certainly not going to develop the practical skills that you need to succeed as a designer with a degree in philosophy (or mathematics for that matter). What's more, many of my friends who finished art degrees at four-year universities did choose to take an MFA (often with several years spent developing their portfolio in the interim). From what I can tell, they didn't do this just to waste time and money, but to gain contacts and credibility in a very difficult industry.
Well, the path I chose (4-year university with reputable and large design program) is going to bias my perspective in the matter. I didn't mean to advocate getting a degree in philosophy or another unrelated major and then going into design. In fact I agree with everything I quoted, I just worded my post horribly.
What I meant to say I am against is being a non-student who works or lives at home and does nothing, and going straight to art school with no background except the stuff you've messed around with in your sketchbook. It's a huge investment to go to a school with a big name, and unless you have a solid foundation and knowledge of design to work from, you're not going to get much out of that $15k / year tuition.
There are specific choices out there that are much better for someone wanting to learn skills - for example, Pasedena City College's design classes are taught by some of the same teachers at Art Center, which is the top design school in the country (or world). The people who produce really great work are the people who grind their asses on their projects, emailing the teacher in their off time for extra critiquing, and their work is just as great coming out of a city college than it would be coming out of RISD.
Graduate school is a bit different. I'm not there yet. I'd love to go to grad school at Pasedena or RISD (who knows if I'll ever be good enough). Getting an MFA maybe the only way to get you into a firm like Pentagram./
I guess I'm saying that, instead of paying the huge tuition to go to FIT, start with a city college or 4-year in a good area and save the fancy school till after graduation.
There is plenty of technical instruction at FIT and Parsons and other schools across the country. Some schools are better than others. The schools will teach you how to sew, sketch, make patterns for clothing, market, choose fabrics, design on the computer (illustrator / photoshop) and many other things. A liberal arts education (if you are going to college regardless) might be good as one can minor in fashion and get a small amount of education while pursuing other interests. I am not sure what you mean when you say you aren't interested in "traditional clothing"? Almost everyone has 2 legs, 2 arms, 1 head, 1 ass. Unless you are going to design for handicapped people or people with deformaties (sp?), the basics of clothing construction are the basics, period. If you don't know them, you'll be lost. A guitar solo by someone who can't play the guitar is much different from someone's guitar solo with many years experience. Although, the players can tell you otherwise, the audience can usually can tell. I have a BA in Apparel Merchandising and Design and I realized (a little late) I wasn't into sewing, patternmaking, hours in front of a computer designing shirts/pants and whatnot but there were things I was very good at and really enjoyed. I went to a liberal arts school and was exposed to many different fields and that helped me to get more focused on (and pick) the things I really liked and head in that direction. There are so many areas of specialty in clothing that it's rediculous. There are endless opportunities. There are designers who can't sew, can't make a pattern, can't use a computer and whatnot, but that makes things much more difficult and these designers are the exceptions to the rule. (Yes I know a couple) Learning the basics of clothing construction (pants, shirts, blouses) is imperative if you are going off to create your new, fabulous designs that no one else has seen before. T-shirts may be a different story. The shirts can be bought and the designs put on, ironed on, silk screened, tie died, or however, and then sold. By the way, all of this takes $. (starting your own biz) Why not go to a fabric store and pic up a pattern on how to make a pair of jeans? There are plenty of books about all aspects of the craft on Amazon.com or elsewhere. I am not trying to be negative, just opening up suggestions and options to look at.
