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Advice For Starting Out in Broadcast Design
Hi. I am new to broadcast design. I am an art director that works for a small interactive marketing company. Up to this date, I’ve mostly worked with the Adobe Creative Suite and am learning 3D design on my own time. I was recently thrust into designing title screens for various projects and have really enjoyed it thus far. However, I feel as though most of my work looks incredibly “infomercially” and archaic by today’s standards. Any advice on good books on broadcast design or other resources that I can use to improve my workflow and skillset? It’s important to me that I really learn the modern principles and practices of what I am doing and not just become a mindless, technical button pusher that is enslaved to one piece of software. Thanks
Joel H.
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4 Replies
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maybe someone else could help you out on the Book front. Ive been the Lead Animator\Senior Designer in Chicago at Fox and in Los Angeles at CBS
for many years. Im actually currently Designing a whole station look for a new movie channel I cant mention here, yet, 🙂That said, Tools are a necessary ‘evil’ in our industry. You need them and need to know them well, depending on what level of Broadcast Design you aspire too. Graphic Design training is a great beginning to get down design principles in general. To some, this comes naturally, others
schooling is a great help. I majored in graphic design in college and minored in illustration and it helped me immensely.I was able to work on Promotions and main ‘franchise animations’ so I was always having a lot of fun working at Fox and CBS. BUT BUT BUT, a whole lot of positions at TV stations in particular are pretty close to ‘button pushing’ mindless positions imho. If your not high enough up the totem pole you may not be assigned the most ‘stimulating’ of design work.
For inspiration, I watch some of the major networks and HBO and mostly
go to the websites of some of the best broadcast design companies and check out there work on a regular basis. Trying to mimic some of the more challenging work when I have the time. Its good you have a critical eye on your own work, try to balance that out with motivation
to constantly get better and you will get your work looking less ‘infomercially’.good luck. I know Neil, our new guy here, has lots of TV experience as well.
SuperNova
Animation & Visual Effects
Scott Novasic
Los Angeles Ca
web:https://web.mac.com/finaleffects -
Hey Joel,
I totally agree with what Scott said, I also started out in graphic design, and I’ve felt the skills I learned doing that kind of work made for an easier transition into broadcast design. Typography, color theory, are all universal, and all very important to understand.The tools you use (software/hardware) is more of a personal preference than anything else. But, learn whatever you have access to. One thing that I would add, or that has been helpful to me, is seek out other designers that are willing to share their knowledge. Try to soak up as much as you can. In free time I loooovvveee picking apart projects that others have done. If you’re in an open environment where people share their work, this is a great way to pick up new tricks and learn work flow as you go. This has always been my method of choice, I like tutorials here and there, but picking apart stuff and putting it back together has gained me more knowledge than anything else.
Look at what others are doing for inspiration, learn from it and take it a few extra steps. Build on it, turn it on it’s side. But always be honest about your initial inspiration. That’s the only way to grow beyond button pushing. The Art Director at the second station I ever worked at gave me on bit of advice, that has stuck with me to this day… and while it may seem ambitious and not exactly helpful when you are trying to make something look nice, I feel it has helped me become a better broadcast designer because of it. So I’ll share it with you for what it’s worth.
“Always try to learn a little about what others jobs entail, if it’s a producer, an editor, a tape op. whatever it is… try to do it, even if you’re never going to do that for a living. Understand their work flow. Because having a better understanding of what they do allows you to build and tailor your work to better fit their needs.” (He’s a GM at one of the station groups now)
That bit of advice has allowed me to be on target with my work more often than not. Gaining me more time to do edgier design, more trust with our clients and better working relationships overall. Does it help you with what books to read for techniques? heh…nope 😉 Hopefully someone else can jump in on that. But it might help you get into the right train of thought? who knows? you asked, I shared 🙂
If you’re looking for technique, CreativeCOW is a great place to start, check out the tutorials… both graphic design ones and video editing, as you will need to understand both. Check out Mograph or some of the other design places out there, watch tv, if you have a dvr, record opens or spots you like and look up the people who did the work. Try to match the lighting, or the textures. Just gotta carve the time out to do it. I’m a fan of other Broadcast Designers myself, check out LostProject.net Check out Scott’s site
Pushing yourself, as you’re already doing, feeding off of others, exchanging ideas… that kind of stuff will help you get far. It’s a continuing learning process for all of us. The more you put into it the more you’ll get out. That’s all I got when it come to advice. Hopefully some of it will be useful, not just random blabbing 😀 (off the soap box) I would love to hear from other designers as well. Don’t be shy! Share your thoughts.
-Nel
Site:ForbiddenSky
Blog:TVNewsBlog
LinkedIn:Profile -
Thank you guys for the insights. Also, your reels are awesome. What plug-ins do you all use within After Effects the most? In the near future, I will be animating a few logos. Also, I’ll need to animate a couple of products. My budget will only allow me to purchase one or maybe two plug-ins at the most. Which ones would you all recommend for this type of work?
Joel H.
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Hey Joel,
thanks for the compliment 🙂 much appreciated. Plug-ins? Plug-ins? um, I’d probably say I use Knoll Light Factory and Trapcode’s Shine the most. I don’t use Shine for the rays, usually kill those, but use the color tinting and brightness levels on additive layers to achieve some of the blowout on the lens elements and highlights on logos. I loveeeee Sapphire’s blur effects (for their speed and versatility), but that’s one expensive package. Must haves? My vote would go to Knoll Light Factory.-N
Site:ForbiddenSky
Blog:TVNewsBlog
LinkedIn:Profile
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