CD vs MPPM

Creative Director (CD)

A Creative Director has to do more with advertising and marketing products. They work with designers and artists to guide them to get the desired outcome of what the Creative Director envision. On the business side, CD’s work with sales teams and marketers.

In most cases, creative directors earn a bachelor’s followed by several years of experience.

Some skills that a creative director must have is leadership, decision-making skills, and analytical. These three qualities make up a proper creative director. Leadership in order to manage the team in the right direction. Decision making because the CD eventually has to make the final choice for the final product. Lastly,  analytical skills to assure everything is perfect from artwork to data.

The annual median income for CD’s in 2010 was around $108,260. That’s pretty good in my eyes. However, it’ll take a while to get there.

Multimedia Production Project Manager (MPPM)

This job is no joke. It takes a lot of perseverance and determination from beginning to end.  Multimedia covers radio, television, and several other mediums. They are also in charge of “organizing schedules, budgets, and people… from initial planning, estimating and scheduling, through filming or recording, and on to final budget and production reports.” according to Ian Linton. Basically, they are the head of the project. Without a multimedia production project manager, everything would fall apart and nothing would get done.

There are some tough qualifications to reach this position. Experience and leadership are two requirements to be a multimedia production project manager. An MPPM must have experience in every part of the process required in a project. Knowledge is power. What is most important is familiarity with production like lighting, filming, recording, and editing. Being an MPPM does not technically require a bachelor’s degree, but it would look good otherwise.

The median annual salary of a multimedia production project manager varies between the type of industry. For example, Motion Picture industry earns around $92,820 a year for a PM while those in radio and television only work up to an annual $54,120. One tip to earning a lot of money is git good.

Comparison

Both CD and MPPM require leadership. Another similarity is that both titles require experience. Someone can’t just get a degree and start working as a CD/MPPM. They have to work their way up. On the other hand, Creative Directors work more with advertising than a multimedia production project manager does.

5 Audio Design Jobs

Audio design is an essential aspect when it comes to games, video, and several other projects requiring sound. Sound can bring something dull to life. It is a powerful tool that makes everything 10x better! Here are five jobs that have to do with audio design.

Technical Sound Designer

The Technical sound designer is responsible for all the sound effects including the following: music, sound effects, and sound design. Collaboration between other composers and sound designers to have consistent sounds throughout the project. Qualification includes excellent communication and organization skills. Salary is between $50,000 and $71,000 a year.

Audio-Visual Production Specialist

This job is in charge of adjusting and working with a variety of audio and video equipment. This job requires a lot of forethought on how they plan to take the shot, set up the lighting and several other tasks. It also takes a lot of knowledge about the equipment being used. To reach a higher level, it is recommended to earn a bachelors degree. Experience is also key to going up in the chain. Despite everything an audio-visual production specialist has to do, the median annual salary is only around $46,000.

Audio Programmer

Similar to what some of my colleagues will be doing next week, an audio programmer is responsible for “the processing, storage, and playback of sound effects and music in the game” according to music-jobs.com. They also must know about several programming software including Max/MSP, Java, and C/C++. In simpler terms, audio programmers use code to play certain sound effects depending on what the player is doing, or where the character in the game is and several other factors. The annual salary can reach up to $102,000!

Audio Engineer

Audio Engineers create, edit, and record sounds. How awesome is that! Click here to watch an interesting video about audio engineers and how they create sounds using materials you’d never think of! As an audio engineer, it is important to be familiar with audio equipment like soundboards, equalizers, microphones recording equipment and software. Their median annual salary is $53,330.

Sound Technician

A sound technician usually works uncover at live events like concerts and other stage performances. They are in charge of the sound quality, volume, and equipment. Soundchecks are when their part of the job comes in. After, it is just a matter of perfecting the sound to reach the ultimate quality. A sound technicians annual salary is around $63,340.

Photo by Enoc Valenzuela on Unsplash

Design Strategies for Websites

Website designing requires a lot of planning. The goal of designing a website is to create a public interface that is not only pleasing to the eye but also creates easy and self-explanatory access to its content. In order to achieve this, one must think about typography, layout, photos.  Use the elements of web design to help forge a website. Along with design, the functionality of a website is essential; I would say it is more important because there is no purpose of a website if it does not work. There are six steps to strategically thinking about designing a website.

1.Establish your objectives

Before designing and tediously typing code, make checkboxes to be organized and clear about goals. This builds a strong relationship between the client and the web designer. Ask several questions like: What are you trying to achieve with the new website or redesign? What is the website’s main purpose? These types of questions should be discussed and made unambiguous.

2.Identify your Target Audience

Customer demographics can alter and form how a website is designed. Things like age, gender, and opinions of whatever might influence a website’s information or design. For more information about target audiences for websites, click here.

3.Determine your Brand Image

Find out what kind of theme the website will be. A bad graphic designer would take “inspiration” and copy it word for word. Instead, think about color, and the feel that is trying to be conveyed. This also applies to typography and every design aspect.

4. Syncing goals with design

Now that objectives and design themes have been thoroughly reflected, it is time to put it into action. Use color and contrast to make the website pop-out for a lack of a better term. Keep the website clear and concise so that it will be easy for the public to use.

5. Measure Results

This step tells a designer how well the design platforms are. If not, then it would not be known if the website is effective in fulfilling the objectives specified in the first step. To measure your results you need feedback from users of the website. Look for repeated issues that come up from the feedback to fix.

6. Revise

There is no harm in fixing a few details to make the website better. And there is always a way to make improvements to make the website more functional and better looking.

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/strategic-design-6-steps-for-building-successful-websites/

Photo by Sacha Styles on Unsplash

 

Targeting Audiences for Web Pages

To make this topic simpler to digest, ask yourself; who am I (what is my website) reaching out to? Whomever that may be, would be considered as your target audience.  Many people mistake their target audience for everyone because it is on the internet and it is accessible to everyone. It would be nearly impossible to satisfy everybody’s needs or wants. That’s why it is important to have a specific target audience like teenagers. Be mindful to not be too specific because it would result in a small audience.

Websites are reached through a search engine like google, bing, yahoo, etc. It searches for websites through keywords that are typed in by a potential visitor or customer. Therefore, it is important to keep your website’s name related to the purpose of your website that the target audience would type. However, this is only a small step to getting the target audience’s attention.

Target Audience is everything. It determines how your web design looks like, what kinds of products are being sold/ what kind of information is being told, and even what font should be used! Insane, right?! Satisfaction and reuse of any website, all depend on how web pages or websites are designed, made, and written.

Information should be gathered through questionnaires either through an online Google doc or even pencil and paper. Remember to ask important questions regarding a bit of personal information like age, gender, and location as well as comments as a customer of one’s service or product. Here are some suggestions in asking for marketing purposes: Full name, Zip code, How did you hear about us?, Do you have any other questions for us?, What do you like about our product the most? Keep questionnaires short and easy for the customer to fill out. This way the customer wouldn’t have to waste too much time on something they probably do not want to do and complete the survey with ease without any frustrations to keep the customer happy.

Overall, according to http://www.cleart.com, there are four main attributes:

1. Your Target Audience’s Age & Gender
2. Your Target Audience’s Platform of Choice
3. Your Target Audience’s Educational Level
4. Your Target Audience’s Location

To learn more about targeting audiences for web pages click here

To learn more about web design marketing click here

Photo by Spencer Imbrock on Unsplash

How Much Should I Charge for Graphic Design Jobs?

The Four Factors

The cost of a graphic design depends on four factors: experience, deadline, type of billing, and type of graphic. In the position I am now, I would charge a flat rate of twenty-five to fifty-five depending on the design desired. The range of my pricing is based on the very little experience I have with Adobe Photoshop and no experience with any other Adobe software (except for a tiny bit of Illustrator.) Because I don’t have a lot of experience I am very limited when it comes to arranging multimedia projects for customers.

Once I earn and excel in passing all my ACA’s (Adobe Certified Associate) I can begin to either raise my the price of my flat rate or I could change to charging by an hourly rate. Depending on the kind of project I would use either types of billing. If it were a small logo design or a business card then I would charge at least one hundred dollars to two hundred and fifty. If it were a bigger project like a magazine or a video , then I would most likely charge by the hour because it takes a lot more time in terms of recording, editing, and making sure the customer is satisfied with the product. Another very important factor that determines my pricing is the deadline the customer desires. Time also influences whether i decide to use flat rate or hourly billing. If the deadline is 24 hours, I would make sure I would milk out all of the guy’s money for making me suffer for 1440 minutes running on Red Bull and 5-hour-energy drinks. However if the customer gives a deadline of 2 weeks, then I’ll be a lot more lenient towards quoting unless is a project that requires more time. As a business person, one characteristic that would make my “company” (if I ever decide to create one) would be the involvement between the customer to company to get and idea of what the buyer likes and wants.

It is also important to have the skill of negotiation. Negotiating between the customer and the graphic designer directly impacts the relationship of one another. It also determine the profit made versus the effort put into projects. Having bad negotiation skills can collapse any business and result in bankruptcy and end up living in your brother’s house for 6 months until you find a job at Domino’s. But……with enough practice and trial and error, I’ll learn and grow into a successful beautiful flower.

Photo by Muhammad Raufan Yusup on Unsplash

Multimedia Jobs

Multimedia Designer

As an undergraduate it would be very difficult to get a spot as a multimedia designer. If anyone with no experience were to apply for a company they would have to work there way to the top. From washing toilets to being CEO of the most successful company. Being a multimedia designer requires a very creative mind along with the knowledge of using several adobe applications. Other skills like communication skills and an understanding of modern trends is very important to attain in order to convince the customer to purchase your design. Depending on whether you take the job part time or full time, the average annual salary is between $35,000 and $45,000.

Web Designer

To be a web designer, an associate’s degree is required at least with several key skills. Communication, graphic design, and teamwork are one of the many key skills in order to suffice as a web designer. As a part of the job, web designers must effectively produce an attractive appearance, layout and features of a website. Responsibilities include: writing and editing content, designing webpage layout, updating websites and backing up files. According to the U.S Bureau Statistics, the annual salary was $46,900 in 2015 and projected to grow by 1% between 2014 and 2014.

Brand Identity Designer

A Brand Identity Designer creates the look for the whole business. This varies from business cards to media advertising. The requirements to becoming a Brand Identity Designer are a master’s degree, job experiences of leadership, knowledge of business and marketing.Being a Brand Identity Designer needs a lot of dedication because they are in charge of every design produced for the company and has a great influence in the business’ outlook. Annual salary is about $46,900 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and just like Web Designers, it is projected to grow by 1% by 2014.

Flash Designer

Adobe Flash is a program that uses vectors and raster graphics which allow websites to be interactive and/ or animated. Since there are several fields of flash designers the annual salary is between $30,000 and $81,000! It is also predicted that the job growth will increase by 27%. Being a certified Flash designer along with an excellent portfolio of previous works on Adobe Flash is the best way to pursue a career in this field and ensure clients with a sense of professionalism

Creative/ Art Director

Creative Directors are the leaders that do advertising and marketing businesses. Directors work cooperatively with designers, artists, copywriters, and sales teams to create an amazing product. The Bureau of labor Statistics state that the median annual income for creative directors is $108,260. To reach this high of a job position, one must have several years of experience, analytical skills, decision making skilles, interpersonal and management skills.

Photo by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash