Web Design/Graphics Career or Stay Put? (San Francisco, Oakland: student loans, how much)

[DesertDweller79]

Hope someone with inside info can help me regarding creative job prospects in the Bay Area within the next year or two. I currently live in Palm Desert CA after having been in costa mesa for 14 years. Picked up a BA degree in Art History from UC Irvine in 2009. Have been attending a local community college ever since to build up my design portfolio.

Initially, my plan was to move to Oakland in 2012 and secure a job with a company like Yelp. However, now im having serious second thoughts mainly because (1) my skills are good but not great with web design and graphic work. (2) I am starting to wonder about this work being outsourced overseas at some point. (3) I spent more time doing research at UCI than actually doing any kind of design. (4) The cost of living is lower here in the desert and my wife just got a huge promotion in social services and we have only been here a year. Basically, at this point im very cautious about moving up to a place that could be a hazard to my livelihood. Im not scared, but it could be a huge mistake! The bottom line is that I want answers from people up north who are either employed/ unemployed in this field that can shed some light! Because if its too good to be true....then Im not going anywhere but right where Im at! The only reason i posted this is because I have a love for design work and was told at a job fair that the industry is in the bay area.

[zitsky]

Was that BA degree in history your first degree, or second? Would this be your first career or second career? As I think you know, San Francisco is a very expensive place to live. As you pointed out, a lot of what you do can be done online and remotely, so there is not necessarily a need to move there. I know a lot of online work has been outsourced. I don't know how much design work has been moved overseas. I would disagree with the person who said the industry is in SF. I know that SF has an art/design school, but not everyone can work in SF. The folks in NYC might argue with the idea that SF is the center of the universe. I've come across a lot of small web designers that take jobs that let them work remotely. A lot of people will work as freelancers doing one job at a time. Have you considered doing traditional design (designing logos) in addition to online design?

The job market in the SF area is very, very bad. Even folks with years of experience are having trouble finding work. However, since you'd probably be willing to take a lower salary, that could be a real advantage. Not to be discouraging, but there is so much talent in the San Francisco area that companies like Yelp, Facebook, etc will only hire the very best. I don't say that to discourage you but to give you a picture of what you are getting in to. SF is a great place to live not everyone likes living in the area. I don't mean to be a jerk, but a (web) designer who spells "I'm" as "Im" five times (!), is not someone in whom I'd have much confidence. Design is about attention to detail, whether that's in visual or printed form. If you're exchanging emails with a potential employer or client, I hope you wouldn't make that mistake.

I had a friend who went back to school in User Interface design. She found it very difficult to get work, but eventually landed a job with a financial services company. As a side project she started painting and began exhibiting her work in small private art shows made up mostly of friends and family. Maybe that's something you might want to think about, if you have that kind of interest.

My advice is to stay where you are until and unless you can get a really great job in SF that would make it worth your while to relocate. Don't give up your idea of moving to SF, just plan it carefully. You might want to stay in Palm Desert for another year or two until the job market gets better. Find ways to make contact with companies/people you admire. Find ways to get people to see your work that could eventually lead to a job. I assume you have your own blog/web page that you can use to show off your design skills. If you don't, you should. Put the address in your email signature or other places where it's appropriate. Print up a few business cards and take freelance jobs. Between Palm Desert, Palm Springs and the rest of the area, you potentially have a lot of customers. I know it's tough, but good luck!

[grapico]

I work for a web design company... pretty big one for a web design company around 50-60 employees...and develop/design for commercial businesses, private practices, universities, etc. we definitely outsource a lot of our web application development overseas and outsource a lot of the logo and designs and photography to local small companies or freelancers... We have some people who come in house but generally only part time. and only have a few people in house to monitor the servers/databases and what is going on, lots of people in sales/marketing though :I I think things are pushing towards that setup. Personally I am trying to get out of it, my salary in IT and web development has actually gone *down* comparatively over the years ... Honestly we make a lot more money marketing and selling more than we do making unique designs...
If we didn't do as stated above, would probably go out of business, remote freelancers will just do the work so cheap as well as H1B's, and all the bigger companies do the same **** so, that is your only way to stay in the game. Unless you are creme de la creme and have an MSCS PhD CS from MIT/UCB/Stanford/UI/CT/etc... the *good* money is really not there anymore. Personally I don't think it is worth it vs other aspects of business, it is usually viewed as a cost to be minimized now and is a stable industry. I see this as getting commoditized even more and not getting any better honestly. And this isn't really based on the economy so much as other industries, this has been a downward trend for about the last 5-6 years just like the auto industry. I also know a LOT of people out of work and a LOT of people going back to school for something else.

^^ note above, I ended up taking a lower salary(significant salary hit) b/c I had to... I am way overqualified for what I took but, there I haven't really seen any other good leads either so... :/ Other recent hires are similarly way overqualified...

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by DesertDweller79

Hope someone with inside info can help me regarding creative job prospects in the Bay Area within the next year or two. I currently live in Palm Desert CA after having been in costa mesa for 14 years. Picked up a BA degree in Art History from UC Irvine in 2009. Have been attending a local community college ever since to build up my design portfolio.

Initially, my plan was to move to Oakland in 2012 and secure a job with a company like Yelp. However, now im having serious second thoughts mainly because (1) my skills are good but not great with web design and graphic work. (2) I am starting to wonder about this work being outsourced overseas at some point. (3) I spent more time doing research at UCI than actually doing any kind of design. (4) The cost of living is lower here in the desert and my wife just got a huge promotion in social services and we have only been here a year. Basically, at this point im very cautious about moving up to a place that could be a hazard to my livelihood. Im not scared, but it could be a huge mistake! The bottom line is that I want answers from people up north who are either employed/ unemployed in this field that can shed some light! Because if its too good to be true....then Im not going anywhere but right where Im at! The only reason i posted this is because I have a love for design work and was told at a job fair that the industry is in the bay area.

Well Art History is more about studying the rings on an ancient Greek column or the arc on a Byzantine church more than building one right? It's not really about designing.

Shouldn't you be working in museums, galleries, appraising and curating?

Just curious.

[tanglenet]

There are a ton of graphic web designers right out of school who are working free lance but also have the luxury of a low cost of living (except perhaps for student loans). You will be competing with locals and with remote workers scattered throughout the country and globe. My suggestion is to stay put, hone and market your skills in the desert. It's all about networking and marketing.