We went to the graphic design studios last friday. It was what I expected, lots of computers. I was kinda sad that we didn't get to see all the studios. We ran out of time because of the talks by Linked by Air and Common Name. I think our trip could have been more organized, we did a lot of waiting and getting lost a lot. It was a good experience seeing the different studios but I thought we were going to see gallery works related to graphic design. But it was still good, the weather was good, got some good advice, good day.
Linked by Air is a very small company, there's two people who do everything. So by having such a small company there's more one-on-one time with the client. You basically start from the beginning to the end with each client and really get to know them. Bigger companies don't necessary do that because they have so many people with an area of expertise so the project gets divided between a bunch of people. It is more efficient but you lose information and concept in a way when so many people divide up the project. I guess it depends on the people you work with. I think that working in a small group but for a big company is the smartest thing to do. With a big company, you get a steady income and you have so many resources and connections to work with. Especially when you don't have any experience in an area or any connections. It's nice to have your own company and all but I feel it's way too much stress and work because you're doing everything and there's more pressure on you to find clients. When you don't have a client waiting for you, you're losing money. With a company, it's not totally your loss.
Common Name suggested that we should take more risks while we're still young because we have less to lose. But in my opinion, after you get out of school, you have a degree so what are you going to do with that degree? Work for yourself? lol I think that if you show people what you can do-and they like it, you wouldn't need a degree in the first place. We get a degree to get experience on paper and show the world that we can do a job. If we use so much money to get an education, why are we taking more money out to start a whole new process we're not familiar with? I think it's smart to use that degree and get an experience and learn from that and if we really feel like we want to open up a company of our own that's great. We dipped our toes in and now we have the tools to start a company because you have worked for different clients and you do have connections and experience.
It definitely depends on the person though, if someone is confident enough to open up their own company thats amazing but not everyone have experience in starting their own company so they might need to start under someone to get a feel for it. I believe we should work our way up and gain experience doing small things to greater things and take risks in between that.
