If you’re interested in creative jobs and an exciting career you’re first step is to get yourself enrolled in a quality design school.

Creative jobs in the multi media industries are abundant in New Zealand, with many Kiwis opting to transform their passions and innovative ideas into careers. If you have creative flair, artistic talent, an eye for detail and the desire to learn and innovate, a position within the creative industries could be the perfect fit for you.

To get started on the right path you’ll need a lot more than bright ideas and natural talent though. There can be some pretty high competition in the creative industries in New Zealand, so you’ll need the right training to give you the edge and ensure you know your stuff when the time comes to apply for your dream job.

To hit the ground running you’ll want to look into adding some quality design courses to your creative repertoire. Whether you’re a school leaver or someone looking for a change in career, there are some great design training options in New Zealand, including design certificate, degree, diploma, and short course options.

Here are our top three creative jobs picks, with a brief run down on what each job entails:

Graphic Design
Graphic designers commonly create artwork such as logos, packaging, advertising or posters for the promotion or development of goods, services and ideas. They may also design for fabrics, magazines, websites and other publications, or help to develop television advertisements.

Graphic designers also produce design solutions to communicate their clients’ messages for a huge variety of products and activities, such as websites, advertising, books, magazines, posters, computer games, product packaging, exhibitions and displays, corporate communications and corporate identity, e.g. giving organisations a visual ‘brand’.

Working to a brief agreed with the client or account manager, a graphic designer develops creative ideas and concepts, choosing the appropriate media and style to meet the client’s objectives.

The work demands creative flair, up-to-date knowledge of industry software and a professional approach to time, costs and deadlines.

Industry sources indicate that the average gross salary for graphic designers working in New Zealand in 2008 was just over $50,000.

Think you’ve got what it takes to be a graphic designer? To nab one of these creative jobs you’ll need a tertiary qualification in graphic design, media arts or visual communication, as well as a portfolio of work.

Animation
Animators capture the essence of movement and bring characters to life, commonly creating the motion of characters or moving images for film, television or the Internet.

An animator produces multiple images called frames, and when sequenced together rapidly, these frames create an illusion of movement known as animation.

Animators tend to work in 2D animation, 3D model making animation, or computer-generated animation. Computer-generated animation features strongly in motion pictures to create special effects or an animated film in its own right, as well as in aspects of television work, the internet and the computer games industry.

Though the basic skills in animation rely largely on the animator’s artistic ability, there is still a growing need for animators to be familiar with technical computer packages as computer generated animation becomes more popular and innovative.

The pay for animators varies, but according to the 2006 Census, animators earned an average of $42,200 a year and worked an average of 38 hours per week.

Interested in a career in animation? These creative jobs can be competitive in the New Zealand market, so to become an animator you’ll need to have a relevant qualification, experience in your specialist area, and previous experience with animation software.

Web Design
Website designers design, produce and maintain websites, and are often responsible for the layout, visual appearance and usability of a website.

Using a combination of graphic design skills and technical knowledge of how web pages are created, the work of a graphic design involves liaising closely with a customer or client and finding the answers to questions about why the site is needed, who the target audience will be, and who the leading competitors are, as well as producing a design that will be attractive to the target user, has a logical navigation system and has all the features required.

Website designers are also often required to test websites for functionality in different browsers and at different resolutions, and fix errors when they occur.

Pay for website designers can vary, though industry sources indicate that most web design graduates start on a salary of between $35,000 and $45,000 per year.

Itching to find your wings as a website designer? These creative jobs commonly require a tertiary qualification in website design or development, computer science, or information systems.

For more information about training for creative jobs be sure to check out some of the great design courses available in New Zealand.

This article was kindly supplied by NZS, New Zealand Search. To learn more, click here.