Graphic Design as a Career

We are all familiar with the fine artist and the cliché "starving artist." That no longer holds true. Today, the profession offers more opportunities than ever before.

The public is surrounded daily by art without realizing it: new products, signage, print material and, of course, TV, movies, video games - the list goes on and on. Along with this visual blitz there is a need, in the industry, for well-trained graphic designers to perform the various functions and to bring it all to fruition.

New products are constantly brought to the market, and the need to design packaging that will attract the consumer is a constant challenge. Then, there is the need to support that new product with ads, direct mail, billboards, and TV commercials so that the consumer is familiar with the look and the benefits the product offers.

In the entertainment business, artists have the opportunity to design video games, CDs, movie credits, special effects, and all the support material posters and displays.

As you look around, notice the designs evident in nature and how those are transformed, by the artist/designer, and introduced into his or her work. This is especially true in the cosmetic industry where nature designs dominate.

You can expect salaries to relate to talent and dedication. Entry level wages may begin low but will accelerate as the artist/designer has proven his or her skill and is productive. Surprisingly, the larger and more famous studios, agencies, and companies will often offer the lower salary. They know that having their name on a resume is a plus, and they feel it is a privilege for you to work for them, which in many ways is true. However, lesser known or smaller firms may offer an artist/designer more variety. There is something to be said for working with a "start up" company where you have the ability to grow together.

The opportunities are endless and the range is wide and diversified. For example, they include: corporate designer, fashion artist, package designer, air brush artist, cartoonist, computer animator, video producer, creative director for a firm, wild-life artist, sports illustrator, needle art designer, working in healthcare, artist for a printing company, pre-press, museum artist, furniture design, designer for a paper company, medical illustrator, calligraphy, technical illustrator, jewelry designer, artist for music company, sign or mural painter, owning your own business, story-board artist, creator of special effects, multi-media director, movie industry, video game designer, web page designer, art director at a TV station, sculpture artist for toys, set designer for theme parks, fabric/textile designer, children's book illustrator, specialty gift designer, greeting card illustrator, creating TV commercials, novelty advertising, display artist, ad agencies, t-shirt/tie designer, toy designer, newspaper layout artist, illustrator for paper backs, comic book artist, creator of funky magazine, or art director in a publishing house. And there are, of course, many more.

Don't ever think that art is an easy career. Today's employer looks for the person who is able to think as well as draw. An employee who is dedicated, responsible, punctual, and talented is a rare gem.

Work ethic all begins during one's education. It is impossible to expect anyone to be creative 100% of the time, but there are methods taught that assist a person in that process of thinking creatively. The students who make good use of their time, have excellent attendance (which ultimately is reflected in their work) and give that extra effort, will be rewarded many times over during their career. It is a career where "what you put in is what you get out" and begins with a passion in your "gut".

If you are one of those  talented designers and art is your passion, you will find a wealth of opportunity in the business of graphic design. You will also find a satisfaction that few occupations offer. Perhaps it is because you give so much of yourself to others.

Event Management : An emerging field in the list of best career choices!

Do you feel you are creative and are hounded by innumerous career choices?

Want to take up an off-beat career and grow your way up the ladder?

Tired of serving others and want to become your own boss?

The answer to all the questions can be found in the emerging need of Event Management professionals in the industry. The field of Event Management is seeing a successful growth by at least 20% annually. Today, events have become an integral part of an individual’s life. From college fests to movie promotions; from exhibitions to store inaugurations; all are curated and executed by the event managers who work relentlessly behind-the-scenes of each and every event. Apart from theoretical knowledge and understanding of case studies, an event manager needs to have the qualities of thinking-out-of –the –box ideas, practical planning of the events, resource and finance management, communication and leadership skills.

If you have some of these skills in you which can be honed further in the right direction; then here are 4 reasons why event management is an upcoming career option in your life and how IAAN can help you in this journey of your dreams.

1. It is competitive yet rewarding

As one of the emerging off -beat careers, it is extremely rewarding; provided you know the tricks and trade of surviving in the competitive market. Due to the sheer number of events which occur every year all over the country, basic public relation firms have encroached in this territory. However, the agenda of event management and public relations are different from each other. IAAN enhances event managerial skills through the various courses that it offers and provides extensive hands-on training so that you learn directly through practical assignments and experiments on the job throughout your course curriculum with the organisation. This helps in producing professionals who are especially skilled to take on any challenges thrown in their way, in this field.

2. The job market is less saturated.

Usually after having appeared for your school leaving examinations, you often opt for various courses like engineering, medical, law, humanities and some non –traditional courses like fashion, interiors etc. But these courses have a saturated market in India, making it extremely difficult and competitive to find employment in these avenues. Event management, apart from being a non- traditional career option, also has demands in the market for qualified personnel’s to enter the field. IAAN School of Mass Communication takes the advantage of the skilled personnel vacuum in the industry and trains its candidates to live up to the industrial demands of their job.

3. Not many institutions offer a holistic event management course.

One of the reasons why event management is a less explored field of study, is because of the lack of institutions that offer suitable courses to the candidates, meeting the needs of the industry .IAAN is one of the few institutions which offers full-time Courses relating with Event Management with detailed, wholesome learning & encourages its students to be a thinker, be brand solutions manager and be able to create their own event properties.

This includes courses like – BAMC, BMEFT, MAMC, UGD, PGD & Other specialized Diplomas etc. The training is designed in such details that students, while pursuing their course, curate their own events and social initiatives.

4. You can put to use your learning and experience and establish your own start-up or get placed.

Entrepreneurship and establishing your own start-ups is on the rise in contemporary India. Most of these start-ups are owned by college –goers or those who have recently graduated. Working in your own firm and laying down the rules of work is now being considered as one of the best application of the knowledge acquired by you through studies. Thus, setting up your own event management firms is also an emerging trend in this industry.

With the holistic approach of the course curriculum that IAAN provides to its students, they produce successful batches of graduating students. Further, with industry experts coming in to take your classes, you are not only getting exposure to the real scenario but also building contacts in the field. Event Management is one of those fields where you need to have a strong contact base. This would eventually help you to learn more and rise up the ladder. IAAN not only makes you academically and practically fit to take on any challenges in the field but also counsels you to take the right decisions for yourself so as to have a successful career in the future.One of the game changers and a gateway to the event management market is IAAN School of Mass Communication, New Delhi. IAAN has been training students directly under the industry heads to give them maximum exposure in this field. It offers Graduation, Post Graduation, diploma and advanced certificate courses in the relative field. Its integrated curriculum not only includes lectures and internships but also gives ample scope to the students to brainstorm ideas and come up with creative events that are designed and executed by the batch under the mentorship of the Academy guides and industry experts.

What if I tell you that even in media you can have a secured officer class life! Read this…

Students aspiring for a media career usually have a great fear of job! These student always stay behind a bar of thousands of fears & questions which includes the factors like job security, financial aspects of life and much more questions like these. To resolve this “great problem” there is a “great option” called- The Indian Information Services (IIS) .

The Indian Information Services (IIS) Officers are controlled by the Ministry of Defence (Directorate of Public Relations). The their tasks includes-

• Managing government’s print media, electronic media, advertising agency, Union Ministeries (news desk),act as press advisors etc.
• Constitute a press party
• Organise press conferences
• Control official media
• Organise festivals (national and international), etc

The work is interesting as it uses the flare for journalism, public relations and administration all together. There is a special requirement to enter this service. The officer needs to have some previous experience of work in a newspaper or news agency or ad agency. The promotional channel is more or less the same as that of other Services.

The training for Indian Information Service is of two sorts; one is the trough the Civil Service Exam which is conducted by UPSC every year (50%) and the other is upgrading the officers already working at senior position of IIS of Group B (50%).

After the distribution by Department of Personnel & Training, the newly appointed officers have to pursue three months basic training in any of the recognized national academies.The other part of training includes nine months certified training in Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and further one year being part of media in several outlets like PIB, DPD, NSD, RNI, AIR, DFP, DDN and NMW under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The scales in this service are exactly the same as in the other services, till the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG). At the top is a grade which is called Selection Grade (not to be confused with the Selection Grade which most services give their officers in their 14th year) and has a fixed salary, equal to what the senior most Additional Secretary would get.Training during probation is at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi.

An IIS Officer can be posted in organizations dealing with print media (e.g. Employment News) in the electronic media (e.g. AIR, Doordarshan, Films Division) or in an advertising agency (the Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity is the Country’s biggest advertisement agency).In short, IIS Officers can be posted to any of the several organizations that are controlled by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or the Ministry of Defence (Directorate of Public Relations).

So, now the people out there getting frustrating, depressed and god knows what, wake up!! Here is the golden option for you all, go run and achieve that, All the best!!!

Who is a Copy writer ?

And how to get into this profile?

 First things first. It takes a lot to become a writer.A writer is first a thinker, a thinker is first a seeker, and a seeker is always a student. In short, a writer is a perpetual student of life, its reasons, turns, curves, ups and downs. The process is an exacting one, and its duration long, but it offers great rewards. For one, it helps you see the world through eyes that are guided by knowledge. You begin to see things as they are, and when you apply such principles and insights into your writing, personal or professional, you will create work that will awaken the mind.

Like all work, writing too requires self-discipline, self-awareness, and consistency in keeping yourself inspired. Once you have turned your desire into determination, here are a few ‘tips’ that can come in handy on your path to becoming a professional copywriter.

Learn to judge objectively

When you enter the world of copy writing, you will be bombarded by names, young and old, who have carved a niche for themselves in the art of persuasion. Don’t get intimidated; instead, intimate yourself with their writing. Find a small notebook and take note of how each celebrated writer writes. Soon, you will realize that not all famous and celebrated copywriters are good. Many are either given over to shock-and-awe, or are simply clever at imitating the styles of earlier writers. Your estimation will give you an idea of your judgement, and your judgement is the most crucial thing you’ll have to create good copy.

Find a mentor

As long as you keep your judgement of good and bad to yourself, all is well. But the moment you let it out in the open to breathe in the toxic breath of conformity and compliance, you will be labeled a heretic, or a highly opinionated person – an outcast. That’s the modern day Inquisition, stomping on freedom of thought by holding culpable an individual showing any sign of possessing individuality.

The best way forward in this course is to keep an eye and ear out for a mentor in your agency, among friends, or anywhere out in the world. Once you find someone who is willing to be objective rather than just swimming with the tide, grab and hold onto them. Share your list, concerns, and thoughts with them. Let them guide you by telling you where you failed and where you were right. Such guidance is of extreme importance in today’s time, when everyone’s lost and all landmarks are discredited. 

Prepare to fail

According to Han-Gwon Lung, award-winning CEO and co-founder of Tailored Ink, “This is the make-or-break point for all professional dreams. How well do you respond to failure and your biggest fears? Can you live with scars? Or do you expect the world to hand you trophies?” There is a purpose to everything. There’s a reason for success and there’s a reason for failure. As a young professional, it’s alright for you to not be aware of many specifics of your profession as a copywriter – how an agency functions, what constitutes an internship, the internal workings of an office, and more. As your days progress at your first job, you will find yourself becoming more and more aware of people, positions, and other equally important details, and depending on the kind of work you have done on building your character and your writing, you’ll be able to maneuver yourself through this endless maze. You should also be prepared to make mistakes where writing itself is concerned. The key element is not to beat yourself up too much over it.

Who exactly is an EP?

Lets know more about the term, its scope & importance.

Every job description ends with the phrase “all other duties as assigned.” The joke with Executive Producers is that their job descriptions consist of only that line! An E.P. is responsible for … everything.

There is not one definition of Executive Producer that everyone agrees with. Wikipedia says, “Executive producer is a role in the entertainment industry that is sometimes difficult to clearly define. Executive producers vary in involvement, responsibility and power. Some executive producers have hands-on control over every aspect of production, some supervise the producers of a project, while others are involved in name only.” Another web site, webgeek.com, says it even more simply. In films, an executive producer makes sure the money is being spent well, as the investors intended.

An Executive Producer is primarily the keeper of a program’s concept and vision, and the one person most responsible for the ship’s destination and the crew’s fundamental behavior and values in reaching that destination. He/she must inspire the staff with the program’s worth and the societal value of achieving success.

An Executive Producer also has to envision the future … that is, his or her gaze has to encompass both the present and the future. One major reason why an E.P. should not and cannot become too involved in this week’s program is that such a focus will squeeze out the big picture and allow the E.P. to become immersed in the minutiae of daily and weekly production. While everyone on the staff is focused on this week, the E.P. has to be planning the future, to be a year or two out into the future.

The E.P.’s interactions with the staff need to be frequent and provide inspiration, motivation, goals, and ideas. He/she should manage by walking around, parachute in, and not be in the middle of day-to-day management. He/she needs to serve as a consultant on individual stories or production problems, and help staff brainstorm. He/she needs to lead the senior staff, especially the Senior Producer, Senior Editor and hosts. He/she needs to teach staff how to have productive and cordial disagreements and to funnel their energy into positive creative results.

The E.P. also has to be the principal articulator of the vision – to the many support and management levels at the station or production company, to the network or broadcast system, to current and prospective funders and to the public. He/she is the key communicator of the program’s goals, successes, needs and risks to senior management. He/she needs to create an atmosphere in which the company “buys in” to the support of the project. He/she needs to effectively lobby all constituencies to deliver the financing, tools and support the program needs. He/she manages relationships with other producing organizations including key stations.

The E.P. has to be among the “best ears in the house.” He or she has to hear the program with an acute understanding of the vision and the audience, and how well the program communicates to the target audience. He/she also has to have a broad range of production experience so that he/she knows what is possible, what alternative and more successful means of accomplishing production or communication might be.

In a news or public affairs program, the E.P. is the principal journalist and needs to have very wide experience in journalism, knowing the rules, ethics, and practices of journalism as well as the laws and policies affecting the practice. He/she needs to assure that the program meets the producing company’s and other influentials’ requirements of fairness, objectivity and balance. He/she needs to articulate production and journalistic standards and hold the staff accountable to them.

The E.P. is the overall manager of the project, the commitments it has made, the staff. He/she should not, in my opinion, be the day-to-day manager for the reasons cited above, but should delegate to a project manager and a staff manager, holding both accountable to their stated goals and plans. The E.P. should assess the progress of the project on a regular basis, integrating all available information including ratings, marketing and distribution reports, and outside consultants. He/she needs to set the priorities for major organizational thrusts within the project.

The E.P. is the primary talent recruiter, especially of key staff such as Senior Producer, Senior Editor, and hosts. He/she needs to review and approve all hires, setting the standards for the staff. He/she reviews performance of direct reports and oversees the annual and ongoing interim performance reviews.

In concert with the Senior Producer, the E.P. creates and adjusts the format of the program and designs or approves the design of high profile recurring segments.

The E.P regularly (weekly) critiques the program and creates an interactive process where the staff is fully engaged in regular criticism and improvement of content. He/she needs to pay particular attention to host performance and be able to provide support and outside help needed for coaching talent.

The E.P. oversees creation and management of the project’s overall business plan, as well as annual budget and regular reviews performance against budget with the Senior Producer and the Financial Analyst.

In summary, an E.P.’s job is:

• To provide the concept and vision.
• To provide overall programmatic and editorial guidance
• To set direction
• To set standards
• To relate to the outside world, marketing, finance, station relations, promotion.
• To find money and resources.
• To get the tools staff need to do their job and to cut through the bullshit for them
• To inspire.
• To nudge.
• To critique and evaluate.
• To perform all other duties as needed or assigned.

 If you can do this all then this is a never ending high paying career opportunity for sure.

Have you heard of the word Sound – Engineer ? Want to make it your profession?

Audio engineers are some of the most important team members working in the film production, television and music industries today. Audio engineers are responsible for the sound design and construction that enhances voices, sound effects, and music to create a rich experience that compliments the visuals on screen. An audio engineer (also referred to as a sound engineer) is responsible for setting up and operating equipment used to capture sound. They must be tech-savvy, and have a deep understanding of how to best capture the recorded experience. They must also take concepts (like emotion) that only exist in words and translate them into sound. Improperly recorded sound can completely change the audience experience when they watch a movie, television show or musical performance.

Pursuing a career as an audio engineer gives you two major avenues to explore: you can choose to work in music production or film and television. In the music field, an audio engineer is responsible for setting up and operating audio equipment used to capture and shape an album. Working very closely with a record producer, the audio engineer provides valuable input into how sound is captured, which directly affects what people hear when a final product is released.

Though film and television are inherently visual mediums, audio engineers are valuable members of these production teams as well. There's a reason why not one but two Oscars for sound each year- Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Design are given. How sound is recorded, mixed, and ultimately put together can drastically shape the overall film experience, affecting everything from how scary a moment is to how heartfelt it can possibly become.

An audio engineer is both an artist and a scientist. The requirements of the profession involve working with the technical aspects of sound for the purposes of reproduction, mixing and recording. These career professionals are knowledgeable about how every aspect of a recording studio operates, and how each piece of equipment contributes to and maximizes the potential of audio material. 

Thus it’s a very interesting professional option, you may have a start by any graduation degree in the field of Mass Communication like BAMC, BMEFT etc to start up with your journey for this wonderful profile. Institutes like ISMC, IAAN School of Mass Communication, MCU & PTU etc are best places to start with your passion in the field of Mass Communication.

Are you dreaming to became a DOP?

Cinematography, an integral element in the art of making motion pictures, literally refers to the combined art and science of using a moving image camera. It is the process of recording visual images for the cinema and subsequent development of recorded images in sophisticated photo laboratories. Cinematography comprises of all the processes beginning from the choice of lighting and camera until video and audio of a particular scene is recorded perfectly.

A person qualified in the art of cinematography is called Cinematographer or Director of Photography (DOP). The Cinematographer / DOP is regarded as one of the most senior and important technician in the film creation process. The DOP is the person who actually plans and coordinates the actual filming of the movie. A DOP is the person responsible for turning the director’s creative vision into a production-feasible reality on screen. Being a creative designer, DOP translate the written text to meaningful images. In other words, what you see on screen looks the way it does because of the DOP.

DOP’s work closely with the director and give a film its unique visual look and identity. They are responsible for composing each scene to be shot, decides lighting and camera angles as per director's requirement. To succeed as a cinematographer one need to be creative, have a strong interest in cinema and the arts, as well as knowledge in design, and principles of photography. A course in Cinematography is essential to enter the field. Cinematographers primarily monitor the use of photographic and lighting equipment. They often have to work odd hours and travel to remote shooting sites, and may have to work in outdoor locations in stormy weather.

DOP’s  film movies and television shows, using cameras in various mounts. This can be a perfect career option if you are up for it, & the institutes like IAAN School of Mass Communication, ISMC New Delhi & Makhanlal Chaturvedi University of Journalism & Communication etc are the best place to start your journey of dreams.