So, I dropped my graphic design classes.
I decided that if it was ruining my art for me, then it should be gotten rid of. There was also the matter that the class was geared toward morons. I got sick of hearing teachers trying to give us lessons on
"how corporate america works" especially since I have a better handle on that than some of my teachers. I also got sick of all the idiots who didn't know the first thing about computers and having the class be geared toward them. There were people in my class that didn't even know how to get to the document set up page of a program, or who were confused after the teacher spent half the class explaining how to save something to disk.
There were times I nearly lost it on my electronic publishing teacher, when she'd explain things ad nauseum that were basically common sense. (Like "save to disk". Of course, she'd tell the class, "save to disk" and then, not twenty minutes later, there would inevitably be one student who hadn't saved to disk and had lost all their work.) Or "don't type in all caps" or "put one space between the period and the next sentence, not two."
My teacher would make comments such as "Sometimes computers don't work. There's no explanation for it, they just don't." And it was all I can do to not twitch uncontrollably then yell out "There's always a reason, you dumb fuck! And usually the reason has to do with some stupidity on the part of the user!" Arrgh.
But I didn't realize how bad it was until later that night.
I was in my drawing for animation class. While not more fun than a barrel of monkeys, because a barrel of monkeys would be pretty hard to top, it is a close second. I went outside for a cigarette and these two ditzy blonde kalamazoonies were simultaneously talking about their kids' (though neither looked over 22. Around here it's "old enough to bleed is old enough to breed") and complaining about their typography teacher. They were complaining about him going too fast saying "he doesnt realize some of us don't know computers!" and all I could think was why the hell are you in graphic design then? Most of the stuff was really simple too. "That one guy couldn't get his lines to group, and so he just explained it and walked away!" They were both aghast by his lack of spoon feeding.
I realized I was in a class designed for hicks and morons. I had to get out.
My Graphic Design class was a little bit better but quite banal. And my teacher's "this is how it is in the advertising industry" mentality was really starting to get on my nerves. First of all, it's a class, not a corporate environment. I'm there to learn the essentials of graphic design, not to become a tool for the ad industry. Second of all, there's a whole world of design that extends outside of the ad industry. Maybe not in Kalamazoo, but with both Chicago and Detroit two hours away there's a good chance that folks will graduate from the program and work there. Third, while I can appreciate the value of print design even if it's not my thing (I try to deal with paper as little as possible. I mean, isn't that what the internet is for?) more time seemed to be spent on things that were basic concepts covered in prior classes (like font. Finding a font appropriate for your document is great if you spend maybe an hour or two on it, not three weeks.) or pedantic busy work that served no real purpose.
The facilities were lacking, too. I've worked in an office, I know what is usually around to make your presentations as clean as possible. And I'm not talking large corporate offices with a big budget. I had a boss who was such a cheapskate he openly admitted to firing the receptionist to give himself a raise, then proceeded to divide her tasks among us. I know how a small office on a budget works. And I know we had some fairly inexpensive equiptment that could make a presentation cleaner, which we did not have at school. So having endless classes on putting together stuff that I know I could do in two seconds in a regular office environment was infuriating.
I remembered how much I used to love design. How excited I was to learn design, not one month before I started school.
I wanted to get that back.
So I dropped.
I now know I will never get a college degree, but I don't care. I don't need one. I had Rob give me some HTML and photoshop pointers, and I learned more in that one hour than I did the whole month I was in those two classes.
I've got some good books on design practice and theory, from the classes I was in, and I'll continue reading them. I also have been going through International Design Magazine's annual "best of" issue, finding the best design, and basically experimenting with ideas I get while looking at it.) I did some fun stuff yesterday, and for the first time since I started school, I like design again. I don't feel unstimulated and uninspired.
I'm still taking my flash class and my drawing for animation class. And I'm still learning because we have all the stuff that came with the G4, and we're buying the macromedia suite with my student discount on Monday.
I don't think I'll ever be a degree seeking student. I don't really mind though. An occasional class here and there is all I really require. I think when we go back to Chicago, I'll take classes at Chicago Filmmakers. Org. They're a private group that gives classes in every aspect of film editing and production. I'll probably take a few computer animation classes at the community college, too, just to help me get through any kinks as I work on my own.
I don't mind this at all. I have found sacrificing financial stability to spend all this money on an unchallenging education to be terribly frustrating.
I need to face facts. I'm just too smart for school.