Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering..

Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.'

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets.

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports ..

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed  across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!'

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

'Wait!' he screamed. 'That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any? 

God just shrugged and said,

JESUS SAVES!

At some point, in the very near future you are going to be on the job hunt, if you aren't already.

Degree in hand, portfolio under your arm, and the world at your fingertips.  What could possibly stand in your way? hmm... where to begin...

Unfortunately there's more to the interview process than skimming the resume and perusing the portfolio. Your interviewer is likely to take the time to really read your resume, and may have some questions.  Your resume could actually HINDER you from getting the job!  What's on your resume that indicates whether you count down the seconds to 5:00, or work till the job is done?  Does it say anywhere that you use the same font/color in every project, or have varied styles in your design arsenal?

Today it takes much more than a degree, resume and portfolio to get anywhere.

Check Yourself.

Are you a "well-rounded" graphic designer, or do you fall into a "niche?"  It's great to be good at something specific, and if you consider one thing to be your strength, great!  But the more narrow your focus, the more difficult it will be to find your place in the workforce.  You could be hired based on your stellar web portfolio, but when asked to create thumbnails for a logo, you freeze, and the next designer steps up to get the raise, promotion, or even your job.  And if you can't talk to clients, or take criticism from your boss,  you won't last very long.

I recommend "Talent is not enough," a book that drives home that there's more to landing a job than relying on talent alone.  No, it has no pictures.  Get used to it.

Take some time to check your resume and portfolio, to be sure that it represents you individually, and uniquely.

Work on areas that you feel least confident, while still cultivating your strengths.

But more than anything, to pad your resume and portfolio, I've narrowed down 5 of the most important things to do before you graduate.

1. Volunteer.  You might call it an "internship," but volunteering anywhere, not just in your field could do so much for your resume.  Volunteering at a place that gives you no reward or payback at all is even more glittery to a potential employer.

2. Network.  On graduation day, you'll be saying goodbye to many of your classmates and friends, so it's a good idea to start connecting with other creative people.  It can give you a totally new perspective on design, and you end up with friends and allies who might just call on you for work in a pinch.  It's all about who you know, and who THEY know.

3. Subscribe.  Call it an investment, or whatever you like, you can use it as a tax write-off.  Pick at least one publication to subscribe to yearly.  I suggest ComArts or HOW, but find one that helps your creativity bloom.  There are so many that provide a wealth of knowledge in each issue.

4. Grow Thick Skin.  I was lucky enough to have professors in college teach me the most valuable lesson - Not everyone will love your work as much as you do.  Learn to take criticism and direction.  Defend your work to clients, but not to your boss.  Keep an open mind, and if they say trash it, then TRASH IT!

5. Draw.  If you're still not great at drawing, having your degree doesn't mean you get to stop trying. You should concentrate on thumbnailing layouts for print or web - nothing fancy or detailed - rectangles, squares, columns, etc.  Get used to thumbnailing first, someday you will need it!

I've been teaching for over 5 years now, and one of my all-time favorite classes to teach is 2D Illustration.  Illustrator and I have been lovers now for 15 years, and it's hard for me to understand GD students who just don't really care to boost their skills as an illustrator.  It's gotta be part of your skill set to be competitive.  I've seen students work for DAYS working on illustrations, when one wasn't even assigned.  I've created things just to keep my skills fresh.  Illustration is a HUGE part of graphic design.

So is spell check, by the way.

Most of you who have a difficult time with spelling know who you are, No one should have to point out the fact that you suck at knowing the difference between There, Their, and They're.  It's ok.  No one's perfect.  But your designs BETTER BE.  If you misspell a word in a paid job - you probably won't get paid, and you might even get fired!  I've seen it happen time and time again. 

Stupid mistakes.  I've done them.  I've typed the wrong phone number, misspelled a name, and didn't get paid for those jobs.  Not a penny.  No matter how much blood sweat and tears I put into it, I didn't see any reward.  Lesson learned.  

It's an extreme statement, and there's a few steps missing here between lack of creativity and your demise.  Don't worry. If you're not creative today, you won't necessarily die tomorrow.

A question you may ask: "How does it work?  How can I get CREATIVE?"  

To some it may sound like a daunting task, to others it may flow naturally like breathing.  Where are you in that spectrum?  Rate yourself from 1-10, on average, on how creative of a person are you?  Typically, on average, I'm in the 7-8 range, but lots of times I've felt like a -3.  I do know that I work very well under pressure and time restraints, but it takes a lot out of me to get it done at the last minute.  For those of you on the lower range on a regular basis... why are you here?  What can you do to REGULARLY rate at least a 5?

Luckily I'm well-versed in the art and science of getting creative, or IDEATING.  Think back to when you were a kid, and you laid in the grass looking up at the clouds, and if you look long enough, you start to see dragons, or rabbits, or soup cans in the formation of the clouds.  Think of that when you start feeling uncreative.

So next time you're feeling lost, uncreative, and ridiculously lame, know that Gilpin has been there, and tried these things.

Supplies:

Sketchbook - you should have one by now!  If you don't, go get one as soon as you can.  My suggestion: Spiral Bound, and Small enough to carry around with you everywhere you go.

Drawing Tool - I used to draw exclusively with a fine point Sharpie for a while, then changed to the mechanical pencil.  Like night and day. My suggestion: Try different things, and see what you like to work with best. They are all different in the way they feel when drawing, so play around!

Magazine - Not a book, not a catalog.  A magazine.  There's so much variety between the pages, you're almost guaranteed to find some imagery that inspires you.  My suggestions: HOW, ComArts, Juxtapoz, Nylon, Flaunt.  But any magazine you like will work.

Music - Sometimes the music you choose can alter your thought process.  Many suggest listening to instrumental music, while others might prefer music that's familiar.  My suggestion: It all depends on what you're creating.  What are you trying to create? What is the design problem?  Are you making a font? Listen to Tupac.  Are you creating something for a business?  Listen to Cake.  Evaluate what you're working on, and what the objective is to determine what kind of music you're going to listen to.

I can see you are making an effort to learn, Grasshopper.

"But Gilpin, I want to be AWESOME. Teach me your ways."

You know you're thinking it. Right?  Keep telling yourself, Rome wasn't built in a day.  Again, these things take time, and you want instant results.  You won't get any sympathy from me if you're impatient.  I'm at the point in my skill level because I've been DOING IT for 14 years!

Your 1st plan of action: Play. Like you did when you were a kid.  Just tool around with the program.  Allow yourself to make mistakes.  Allow yourself to accept and love the rainbow wheel of death.  Save often.  Imitate what you see.  Google.  Look at cool things for inspiration.  If all else fails, go to ffffound.com.

2nd plan of action: Repeat.  Try doing the same thing over and over.  Practice one thing, and get good at it.  Then move on, after 50 tries, I bet you'll see a difference in your skills.

3rd plan of action: Follow directions.  This I saved for #3 because it's important, but not till you get the FEEL of the program.

Yeah, it's gilpin, making you feel like a loser again.

Don't be discouraged.  You CAN do this.  

You're riding a frickin bike, remember?  You needed training wheels at first, and soon after the training wheels were removed, you wrecked.  And wrecked.  And wrecked.  But the reason you wrecked, scraped up your elbows, knees and bruised your ego, was because you TRIED AGAIN.  

Yeah, Illustration isn't easy.  It'll piss you off so bad you gotta walk away for 10 minutes just to keep from screaming.  It takes PRACTICE.  As with anything WORTH DOING.  You think they pay you to do this cause it's easy? uhhh. no.  They pay you to do it because you're somewhat good and efficient at it, and makes everyone at work happy.  They pay you to do it because you know the difference between an anchor point and your a**hole.  They don't know.  

They don't pay you to do it because you went to college and got away with doing the least amount of work possible, with the least amount of effort.  Good luck at McDonalds.  They don't pay you because you got the degree, but because of what that degree represents - your skills.  Not nunchuck skills, not bow hunting skills.  Your dazzling skills, original thoughts, creativity.

So ask yourself: What will I bring to the creative table?

If your answer is: not much more than anybody else. = You want fries with that?

If your answer is: I'm damn creative and my skills will floor you. = How does your corner office look?

My advice: start now, while you're still breathing and able to do it.  Helpful hints: tutorialize yourself till you overload.

Here's a good place to start.