tools of the trade

1. I'll answer the hardware/software part of the homework first as it's the most fun :)

The position I'm after(large format advertisement) dips into multiple industries, (sign, print, advertising, graphic design), and requires varieties of software and hardware requirements. When designing something destined for output on a billboard, or other large format substrate, the use of two separate digital workstations if often required. One for designing and one for ripping or printing. The reason for this is that the drivers for most larger format (60"+) printers that print the designs are 32bit, and most design software is made to run most efficient on 64bit OS's.
Sure you could run a VMWare virtual machine with multiple OS's, however, VMware has no support for firewire which is what all printers in the industry run off of. So the hardware requirements for something in my position would be a design station computer, with essential design software (PS, AI, ID, cs3+) running on a 64bit machine, dual 24" widescreens, 24" wacom cintiq touchscreen, intel i7 processor, 8+gb ram, 10,000rpm high speed harddrives, 3way SLI *sweeeet*, i'm dreaming here...This is the design station, the computer that can handle the design, with no more parser module timeouts in PS or error, not enough ram to complete task. You cannot tell a client you can't print their file becaues of your inadequate hardware... A rip station would be a 32bit machine, running just the software required to print. It's not uncommon for files as large as 3 to 4 gb's to take hours even days to rip, and when I mean rip, I'm talking about from the time you hit print until the time the printer starts to print and process the file.

Most software thats used in the advertising industry is used for the print/sign industry as well, as you never know what kind of file type you may need to open, modify, or print. The entire Adobe Creative Suite is absolutely essential, as well as knowledge of ripping or print software, such as Flexi, Gerber, and AutoCad (especially since PS CS4 has more support for 3d objects, I forsee a shift towards more 3d capable software in the future.) I use go media's Arsenal line of fully scalable vector graphics. Check them out at gomedia.us they have freebies!!

Technology in the advertising and desigin industry is always changing. Your badass new design rig can be outdated before you can say intel fsb 1333 3-way SLI. Most hardware does not stay new for long. Time is money. The faster your hardware, the faster you can crank out work for clients, the faster you can get paid.

2. To research three more career positions, I chose to use the site careerbuilder.com, this is what I found:

1. Amsterdam Printing in NY is looking for a designer to do design destined for print, and web use. Basic requirements such as 2 years exp. 4 yr degree are required. They list the position as one being a designer for print, manufacturing, and marketing, right up my alley.

HERE

2. NINTENDO! is hiring a graphic designer to prepare graphics for websites(oftentimes satellite sites for game releases) I am majoring in web design, and extensive knowledge of basic html, xml, css is required. Acute attention to detail is required as well as up to date video game knowledge, which I definitely have!

HERE

3. CW11, a news agency is looking for someone to prepare graphics that go alongside headlines for news casts. I think this is an interesting position because it involves information design, or involving themed design with essential information. Deadlines are very important, which is something I enjoy working with.

HERE