[sethius]

morning lads,

Something that I've been curious about for a long time, with paint jobs on bicycle getting more intricate lately, are bike companies actually hiring designers? last time i knew kona had an in-house crew for their marketing, line up of designs aesthetically and other such excitement. I'm sure most of the bigger players do. Remember hearing alot of the visuals get done in california for some of the big guns.

Is anyone working as a GD for one of these big companies, if so how did you get into the job? be it for their marketing, frame and range design or anything other such work. Would be interested in hearing about it.

 

[stoney]

Yes, all of them have graphics designers. How? Be damn good at what you do, because industry jobs are high demand. Beyond that, apply, apply, apply, and hope you get a callback.

 

[Droptopchevy]

It's all about who you know. I can only assume you are looking for a job in California.

 

[blackohio]

work alot, work hard and refine your craft.

 

[dante]

Easiest way to start is to be a good Graphic Designer, and be willing to do contract work. Learn the specifics of bike graphics (placement, factory limitations, etc) that way and work to parlay that into a permanent job. The moderate and large bike companies have their own graphics departments, while smaller companies end up with contract work often trading product for graphics.

 

[Routier07]

If willing you're to travel, Norco is currently looking for a FT Graphic Designer in their Head Office...

http://www.norco.com/company/jobs/

 

[stevew]

for the love of fvcking jesus christ....keep your sh!t simple.

 

[Smelly]

Considering how terrible most big-brand bikes look, I'd think these jobs are pretty easy to come by...

 

[?????]

Graphic designers could benefit if the schools taught more simple, modern architectural stylings and less tribal, flame, ed hardy affliction ticky tacky.

 

[blackohio]

I'd be willing to wager it's not the designers pushing that ****. It's the out-of-touch older numbers minded CEO/CD's.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

for the love of fvcking jesus christ....keep your sh!t simple.

This

The Specialized graphics of the past few years have been unconscionably hideous.

 

[Jim Mac]

In my limited knowledge (my wife is a GD and teaches at a local college + online), it seems that most places contract out nowadays. This local place (ID 29) was working with DT Swiss for some time:
http://www.id29.com/dt-swiss.html

 

[dump]

In my limited knowledge (my wife is a GD and teaches at a local college + online), it seems that most places contract out nowadays. This local place (ID 29) was working with DT Swiss for some time:
http://www.id29.com/dt-swiss.html

I was just going to add - many companies contract to independent designers and companies/agencies. Sometimes they have a designer on staff as well.

 

[jonKranked]

Considering how terrible most big-brand bikes look, I'd think these jobs are pretty easy to come by...

Graphic designers could benefit if the schools taught more simple, modern architectural stylings and less tribal, flame, ed hardy affliction ticky tacky.

This

The Specialized graphics of the past few years have been unconscionably hideous.

and herein lies the problem with graphics. some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. ya can't please everyone.

 

[OGRipper]

and herein lies the problem with graphics. some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. ya can't please everyone.

Yeah but I don't know too many people who won't buy a bike because the graphics are not exciting enough. On the other hand, I know plenty of people who won't buy a bike because it's just too damn ugly.

Make good stuff that works and keep the graphics simple.

 

[Greyhound]

Speaking as someone who works at an art school...nobody "teaches" that stuff. You have Ed Hardy and a generation of duck-faced douchebags to thank for that..

If you were looking to specifically get into the field as it related to biking, then you want to increase your marketability by adding web design and interactive media to your set of skills. This is typically because most companies that are big enough to employ a graphics designer as a full time employee, will want to squeeze all of the value out of that department as possible. You will often see that in addition to graphics skills many companies will want you to create/manage website content, social medial advertising and retail point-of-purchase display creation. The economy has forced these companies to broaden the scope of what a department like that does...and realistically, the added workload doesn't necessarily equate to higher pay increases.

But even if you weren't specifically working in a biking industry job, you would want that skill set anyways, as many clients will want you to create a logo/company identity, marketing materials, website creation/management....the works. That's not to say that advertising and marketing companies don't have their place and are getting squeezed, but we see the ever-widening overlap of the two fields and how similar they are starting to look.

Keep rooting around in the field and do some research...find your bigger companies like Performance, Specialized, Trek..companies that encompass markets in road/mountain/comfort which offer many more needs in terms of the added markets they are targeting vs. a smaller company that may only roll out a few bikes and all of their advertising materials once a year that just focuses on mountain bikes only.

 

[jonKranked]

Yeah but I don't know too many people who won't buy a bike because the graphics are not exciting enough. On the other hand, I know plenty of people who won't buy a bike because it's just too damn ugly.

Make good stuff that works and keep the graphics simple.

thankfully the industry does well because of all the people who choose fashion over function.

 

[blackohio]

Yeah but I don't know too many people who won't buy a bike because the graphics are not exciting enough. On the other hand, I know plenty of people who won't buy a bike because it's just too damn ugly.

Make good stuff that works and keep the graphics simple.

...and herein lies the problem. Owners are always going to have an emotional attachment to their product. Im not going to say I'm right all the time, but as someone who doesn't have emotional ties into a brand I can oftentimes help them move past what "they" like and onto a broader appeal.

I literally just had to do that with a small XC/Cyclocross manufacturer. Originally he wanted a gothic medieval font to be used for the logo and he wanted flames around the head tube badge to reveal the carbon on the frame. Two items that might be able to work on their own but don't stand a fighting chance not to look dumber than **** together.

After deciding ding to simply give him what he wanted after expressing my concerns he showed the mock-up to some friends/customers and they hated it. Revision, back to my original ideas. It took him sometime to come to terms that what "he likes" doesn't necessarily make a good image.

If you'd like to know how I got my foot in. I offered to design small (non-corporate) race teams jerseys for free as both an exercise to myself as well as a means to place me in-front of potential sponsors of the teams. Through there I've been able to help a couple companies.

More often than not though, like has been mentioned these small companies do not have a marketing budget to pay for a full-time designer, so the trade is often a great option for them and you and after a bit of time they see the value you add and can swallow the lump of your rate.

 

[OGRipper]

thankfully the industry does well because of all the people who choose fashion over function.

Fair point. And it certainly applies to technology as well as graphics.

 

[SuspectDevice]

This local place (ID 29) was working with DT Swiss for some time:
http://www.id29.com/dt-swiss.html

Those guys did the branding/direction/strategy/web development for Firefly too.

As for the o.p.- try to find a job in moto/ski/surf/etc. industries. More jobs. It will be easier to get hired from another industry than as a direct hire.
Also;

 

[WestCoastHucker]

seems easy enough. just pass 5th grade and you are more than qualified by todays bike graphic standards...

 

[johnbryanpeters]

for the love of fvcking jesus christ....keep your sh!t simple.

If only the frame designers would figure that out. Since composition frames have come out, mechanical designers seem to be reincarnations of the geniuses who did tail fins in the late 1950s.

 

[local717]

Simple, isn't always the simple answer, but always the easy one.

 

[sanjuro]

Yeah but I don't know too many people who won't buy a bike because the graphics are not exciting enough. On the other hand, I know plenty of people who won't buy a bike because it's just too damn ugly.

Make good stuff that works and keep the graphics simple.

Good point.

My Blur is basic matte black, nothing too exciting but I love it.

But the best example is my Cannondale Flash 29er.

My year:

The year before:

Basically the same bike, but I couldn't buy such an ugly color. I'm so glad I waited when I saw the polished alu.

 

[SacredYeti]

Yes, all of them have graphics designers. How? Be damn good at what you do, because industry jobs are high demand. Beyond that, apply, apply, apply, and hope you get a callback.

^^This^^

 

[?????]

If only the frame designers would figure that out. Since composition frames have come out, mechanical designers seem to be reincarnations of the geniuses who did tail fins in the late 1950s.

What are you saying?

The cars produced in the 1950's looked way better than the styleless crap coming out today.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

What are you saying?

The cars produced in the 1950's looked way better than the styleless crap coming out today.

Late 1940s to early 1950s, yes. crank it up to '57 and you have tarted up garbage scows, absolutely fugly, as are 80% of the carbon bicycle frames today.

 

[dante]

I'd be willing to wager it's not the designers pushing that ****. It's the out-of-touch older numbers minded CEO/CD's.

You guys would *cry* at the awesome colors/graphics that I've seen purged due to upper-management decisions. My favorite story about this was a PM at a previous company I worked for snuck the graphics past management so the first time he saw them was for the production samples. By then it was too late to veto...

 

[jonKranked]

You guys would *cry* at the awesome colors/graphics that I've seen purged due to upper-management decisions. My favorite story about this was a PM at a previous company I worked for snuck the graphics past management so the first time he saw them was for the production samples. By then it was too late to veto...

please, continue with story time