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Career options for Commercial & Fine arts

   

Commercial and Fine Arts

Fine arts including drawing, painting and sculpture are gaining popularity among individuals who have the passion to beautify the world. These fields are each very expansive. Most artists choose to keep their talent alive but alongside take up another career, since there are very few options open where pure painting and sculpture work is concerned. Artists today wish to use their skills in other areas such as commercial art, which is relatively more popular.

A relatively new area - commercial art - is the application of different types of art media for commercial purposes such as - creating advertisements, billboards, book jackets, window displays, cinema slides, technical catalogues, packaging etc. Someone joining this field would not only need to be a good artist but also be adept in the 'art of marketing and publicity. The field of commercial art is so vast and employment opportunities so good that anyone entering it has a variety of positions to choose from.

The duty of a commercial artist is to make certain things look more beautiful. Commercial artists create and design the books stacked on bookstore shelves, the store banners, the CD covers and the ads. If you examine the dust jackets and copyright dates for credits, you will find Design by, Photographed by, Illustrated by and the names of the art director and those of his or her assistant.
 
Essential Traits

To become a commercial artist one needs to have some basic essential qualities within him/her. Natural interest and talent needs to be enhanced with formal training since this helps foster and embellish the artistic skills.

Secondly, being in contact with experts in the field, one gets to feel the pulse of the industry, learn about what the career is like, what is to be expected of them once enter the business world and so on. One needs to really enjoy creating and imagining, this is one discipline where learning from others plays an important role in the growing process. One should know how to be radical in their ideas but be practical enough to create original, inspiring work.

In today’s’ technologically advanced world a commercial artists requires skills in many areas such as illustration, graphic design and art directing because many of the skills needed overlap. The artist should also have good knowledge of computers and graphic arts programs, including QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, and PageMaker. Another important skill is knowledge of print production and graphic arts.

Career Prospects

All individuals in this field have a large spectrum of options in front of them, ranging from working in art studios, advertising companies, publishing houses, fashion houses etc. A number of artists chose to be freelance workers, this allows for variety in their projects. Other relevant careers are teaching, direction, photography, television, clothing and fashion, as art directors for magazines, on-line services, software companies, publishing houses, manufacturers, advertising, promotion and product design.

Also, commercial artists are of great demand in museums, non-profit institutions, churches, department stores, colleges, publishing companies, law firms, printing companies, cataloging houses as well as advertising companies, television stations, computer companies, design firms and movie companies. The pay-package is no less encouraging; some are offered quite good salary along with other perks and benefits.

Pay Package

The salary of a commercial artist varies from industry to industry. The factor also depends on whom you work for, your position there, the type of commercial artist you are and location. For an entry-level position requiring a degree in commercial art and computer knowledge, the salary ranges from Rs.10, 000 to Rs.20, 000 per month. Senior positions like Associates and assistant designers and art directors with three or four years of experience get monthly salary somewhere between Rs.20, 000 – Rs.30, 000. Creative directors, top designers and art directors with ten years of experience can command high five-figure and mid six-figure salaries per month. One who starts his/her own venture in commercial art enjoys the earnings which even go beyond expectations.  

Institutes & Training

Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai University of Bombay, Fort, Mumbai 400032
Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda, Baroda
Kala Bhavan, Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan 731235
Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025
College of Art, New Delhi 110001
National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House, New Delhi

 

   
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