Candace Stewart

Comm1010
MWF 9:00-9:50 A.M sec.39
Interview Part 1
11/08/15

Background Information
Interviewee of choice
I am going to interview Grant Roberts who is a Graphic Artist and the owner of Roberts
Studio in Stansbury Park. The interview will be held in the Community Learning Center
in Tooele where he also teaches design classes. This is convenient because this is
where he would be at the time of the interview during his prep hours and I also live in
Tooele County. I chose to interview Grant because he has been teaching design classes
that I have attended and is also a Graphic designer himself. A lot of my questions are
open questions which I hope to get various answers and explanations for more
information about this career.

Career research/why I chose this career

I took a couple of Graphic design classes (his) in high school which I enjoyed, and have
always enjoyed designing, drawing, and sketching typography in general since I was
young. Graphic design is known as communication design, because its like youre
communicating points and ideas through your design. It is a creative field that always
has new projects. You get to work with different clients and design different projects and
use your creativity and skills to create their requests. And after that, if your client is a
company, your design(s) and projects will be used in that company, which would be
pretty cool. I understand that with todays technology, typical graphic designers arent a
big deal and thus dont get paid very much sometimes from a lack of clients. Though I
also need to remember that theres a broad range of job opportunities revolving around
graphic design.
Cezzar, Juliette What is graphic design? AIGA, the professional association for design.
Web.
http://www.aiga.org/guide-whatisgraphicdesign/

Interview

Opening

Candace Stewart
Comm1010
MWF 9:00-9:50 A.M sec.39
Interview Part 1
11/08/15

Hi Roberts! How are you? I miss your design class! Thank you setting aside time for me
to come in during your prep hours. My purpose here is to interview you about the career
you chose as a graphic artist. This assignment is for my communications class Im
taking at SLCC. Though, Im still very interested in the things you have to say since Im
interested in this area of work as well. Im just going to be taking notes while you speak,
so dont feel the need to stop. There is also an evaluation questionnaire at the end if you
could please fill it out. You can answer honestly, because it wont count against my
grade and it will be feedback for me. This should only take about thirty minutes or
maybe even less. Are we ready to start?

Body w/topic questions

Topic 1- Getting started in the Graphic Arts world
I am curious to how you got started in this field.
1.Why did you choose to work as a graphic artist? (Primary, open)
If not mentioned already-Would you say that you had any passions particular or
relating to this field when you were younger? (Secondary, open)
-Why would you say you made a good choice to work in this field? (Secondary, open)
-Are there any regrets? (Secondary, open)
2.How did you get started working as a graphic designer? (Primary, open)
-Would you say that it was a good way to start? (Secondary, closed)
If not- What would you change about how you started? (Secondary, open)
3. What educational path would you recommend if I wanted to enter this field as soon as
I could? (Primary, open)
4.How much time in school did you spend to begin working in this field? How about
training? (Primary, closed)
-About how much did your schooling cost? (Secondary, closed)

Candace Stewart
Comm1010
MWF 9:00-9:50 A.M sec.39
Interview Part 1
11/08/15
-Did you feel well prepared entering this field? (With your amount of schooling and
training?) (Secondary, closed)
-Which parts of your schooling helped you the most in this field? (Secondary, open)
-Which life experiences helped you succeed in this field? (Secondary, open)
5.This next question can be considered very personal and of course you have the
freedom whether or not to answer. Its about your income with this job choice. Though
out of my curiosity, do you mind me asking? (Primary, bipolar)
Also, of course you can answer with a range.
If dont mind-About how much (range) do you make a year in this particular field? (Secondary,
closed)
If do mind-About how much do you think a typical graphic artist makes in a year? How about a
well-educated one? (Secondary, closed)

Topic 2- Schooling needed

I was wanting to know about requirements and recommendations of education before
getting started in this field.
1.Is further education (past high school) required to start working as a Graphic
Designer? (Primary, Closed)
- What (minimal) level of education is required to get started working in the Graphic arts
world? (Secondary, closed)

Candace Stewart
Comm1010
MWF 9:00-9:50 A.M sec.39
Interview Part 1
11/08/15
-What further education do you recommend than the minimal requirement? (Secondary,
closed)
2.Which skills look good to employers and/or clients as a graphic designer? (Primary,
open)
3.What graphic design software would you absolutely need to know how to use?
(Primary, open)
-What other computer skills are needed? (Secondary, open)

Topic 3- Schedule w/effects on family & personal life

I know you work as a teacher along with being a (self - employed) Graphic designer, so
Im curious what your schedule is like.
1.How does your typical day play out with all work? (Primary, open)
-What seems to be difficult to balance throughout the day? The week? (Secondary,
closed)
-Aside from balancing, what tasks seem to be difficult? Which tasks are easy?
(Secondary, closed)
2.Whats your favorite part about your job? (Primary, open)
-Your least favorite part? (Secondary, open)
3.Im curious how this job balances with life outside of work. Do you mind me asking
about your personal and family life along with your job? (Primary, bipolar)
If dont mind-Do you end up working a lot at home? (Secondary, closed)
-If yes to working overtime at home- do you think this affects your family at all?
(Secondary, closed)
If do mind-

Candace Stewart
Comm1010
MWF 9:00-9:50 A.M sec.39
Interview Part 1
11/08/15
-Do you know of any Graphic designers that end up working at home/working overtime?
(Secondary, closed)
If yes to knowing someone working overtime-Why do you think this is so? (Secondary, open)
-Do you think it affects their family at all? (Secondary, closed)

-More questions that are not listed were asked based off comments made from
interviewee-

Clearinghouse question- Interviewees turn

1. Are there topics we havent talked about that you think is of any importance?
(Primary, Open)
2. Are there any other comments you would like to add about what we have talked about
already? (Primary, Open)
3. Can you think of any other resources I could go too to get more information about this
field? (Primary, Bipolar)

Closing
Okay, thats all the questions I have for you today. Again, thank you so much for setting
aside time for me to come in and interview you. Its interesting how this career was your
plan B career, and that you were going to school and working as an architect at first. I
also really liked your saying good designers are good detectives for that is very true
and also good advice. This really helped give me some insight on how I might get
started in this career and areas I might need to work on. Also, here is the questionnaire
form I mentioned earlier, and again, please answer honestly. Thank you! Im so glad we
were able to do this, have a good rest of your day!