Do You Want to Have Fun and Get Paid For It?

Do you like to sit on your butt all day and play videogames? Are you as ambitious as an ottoman? Do you plan on leeching off of your parents for as long as possible, avoiding all methods of higher learning and manual labor? Well then, perhaps you can get a degree in videogame design! Or even graphic design!

No, I haven't gone insane, and I am not discrediting the very profession (graphic design) that I've chosen to pursue. But there are commercials on TV that are, and I'm sick and tired of them! ICM School of Business, DeVry, Collins College, Art Institute, Triangle Tech are all running ridiculous ads that make these two professions (one up and coming and another almost a century old) seem like a trip to the park. I'm not sure what is worse, their portrayal of these professions as being "get rich quick while having fun" schemes, or the fact that they never tell you what those jobs (and their training) are like in real life.

First off, why anyone would go into videogame design is beyond me... because I know it's not it's all cracked up to be. It's more exclusive than Hollywood, and requires about 76 times the knowledge that most actors have (this excludes the scientologists, which bumps that number up to about 83). You are required to learn coding in various computer languages (from Java to CSS and beyond), as well as 3-D design and digital marketing. It's a hefty amount of work for what will amount to typing lines of code into a computer for most of the day.*

Collins College is the worst of them all, a commercial I see at least once every single day no matter how much TV I watch. It starts off with two typical teens decked out in polo shirts playing videogames. Of course they are enjoying themselves way more than they should be, making faces that were once reserved for torture victims and audience members at a Carrot Top routine. "Hurry! Here comes the boss!" one screams... but surprise! The boss isn't here to lecture them for playing videogames on the job, she's here to give them another videogame to play! "How's progress on that videogame coming?" she asks. "The graphics need to be tightened up on level 2," the ass replies. What the heck does that even mean? "Graphics need tightened?" Apparently they are playing a game is loose as a goose and they need to reel it in before they can unleash this beast to the public. And so they have to get to work on that before they can start playing a different one. RIght... and then they have to eat chocolate for an hour and fall asleep on big couches while watching "Godfather II" and get paid for it!

When Carnegie Mellon, one of the best schools in the country, offers a degree in Computer Science and Game Design what makes anyone think that this "Collins College" degree would be held in higher esteem? I'd be interested to talk to someone in the Carnegie Mellon program, just to see how difficult it is for them.

Just recently I saw the commercial for a graphic design degree at the Art Institute. This made me even angrier because it's the degree I'm currently pursuing. But unlike SHU's program, AI doesn't give you a BFA. Instead it will apply you with an Associates Degree and a ticket to funland (apparently). I understand that this is the marketing side of schools, they have to make these professions look fun and interesting, when alot of times they are not. But what happens is that the job market gets flooded with folks who don't understand the first thing about Graphic Design, but got into it because they wanted to enjoy themselves and make some big cash. I love design, and I actually do think it's fun, but not because it's similar to playing videogames or designing CD covers. It's fun for me because I get to creatively solve problems and see my work making a difference for businesses and people who hire me. Anyone can use Photoshop (and almost everyone has it), it's knowing the ins and outs of design and art theory, as well as art history and philosophy, than someone can properly (in my humble opinion) get the job done.

But does the Art Institute tell you that? Instead, in their commercial, they show a girl sitting in front of a computer with Photoshop on the screen. And with her amazing skills, she is able to take a guy's face and paste monkey hair on it. Great job! That was fun and made you a ton of sweet cash!

I'm not discrediting these schools, because I know alot of folks who attend them, and do well in their professions. They probably do have a good curriculum and training program. But I am discrediting their commercials, which are misleading and a misrepresentation of real life. Graphic Design has been around long enough to give a good reputation to those who take up its calling. Game Design, however, is fairly new and is viewed by most adults as "immature." If they knew more about what was required for the degree, they might think otherwise. Unfortunately, these commercials aren't helping the matter.

*My course descriptions for a videogame degree have been taken from articles published in Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine.