Ep. 59 - Digital Graphic Designer - Abbey Phillips, Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW)

Welcome back to the Joust About Careers podcast! This episode features a conversation with Abbey Phillips, a 2015 Van Buren High School graduate who is a Digital Graphic Designer with Designer Shoe Warehouse, more commonly known as DSW. In the interview Abbey shares about her life as a graphic designer, how she changed her career goals after her freshman year at Ohio University, how an internship she completed after college set her up to earn an opportunity with DSW, what skills are essential to becoming a graphic designer, and much more. Anyone interested in pursuing a career as a graphic designer will find information related to starting down that path in this episode. Enjoy the show! 1:52 - Life as a digital graphic designer 2:38 - Thousands and thousands of eyes see Abbey’s work daily 3:29 - Some days are monotonous, and others allow for a lot of creativity 4:05 - Photography, designing concepts, developing a library of concepts - all part of the career 4:50 - Merchandising departments come up with the ideas; Abbey designs the ads for those ideas. 5:40 - Every day is on a computer; 3-4 meetings a day in addition to six hours of work 6:35 - It might take 7-9 days to develop an e-mail before it goes out to the consumer. 7:28 - Art for four years, yearbook for two years, and graphic arts for one year - helped Abbey decide what she wanted to do 8:08 - Started college as a fashion merchandising major at Ohio University 9:21 - Fashion design was also a passion, but OU didn’t offer that specific major. 10:17 - Found publication design as a sophomore in college and fell in love with it 11:17 - For Abbey’s career goals, college was a necessity, but certifications can also be a path to the career. 12:21 - Abbey also learned a lot about photography as part of her degree, which has been helpful. 13:13 - Using Canva to design - useful for high school students, but Adobe will likely be the focus once a graphic designer 15:15 - Coding experience (UX/UI) is not a prerequisite for becoming a graphic designer. 16:25 - Creativity, an ability to communicate effectively, being a problem-solver, working efficiently - essential characteristics for a graphic designer to have. 18:42 - The value of internships and other experiences - a way to differentiate from other candidates for a career opportunity 23:15 - Internships often lead to full-time opportunities. 25:30 - It’s okay for students to not know what they want to do while they are in high school. Questions? Connect with Brian on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bratt/) or e-mail ([email protected]). Connect with Abbey on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbeyphillips0/) or e-mail ([email protected]).