Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design


by Steven Heller and Teresa Fernandes.
1999, New York, John Wiley
ISBN 0-471-29299-0.

Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens


Every day, more and more university students are choosing some area of design as a career field. This guidebook is divided into four major information sections: Design Specialties, Design Businesses, Design Options and Design Education, followed by a Resource Guide, which consists of the names and addresses of design-related organizations and publications. Interwoven with these sections are portions of interviews with about 90 design professionals on such subjects as How I Became a Graphic Designer; Advice to Designers; On Personal Style; Major Influences; and The Future of Graphic Design. Other informative features include How Many Graphic Designers Are There? What Do They Earn? and The Optimum Portfolio. For the curious but uninformed, this is very likely the best introduction available. (Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)