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View Full Version : Looking further into interface design

maximebl
06-25-2009, 06:39 AM
I recently thought about trying to work towards improving my interface design skills, and to make myself more appealing to game companies seeking for interface designers. I really enjoy this field but I am not sure where I should start to really specialize in it.

I have good knowledge of photoshop so I think I have a good base. But as I said I would like to go to school for it, but obviously there is no such thing as schools with programs specifically for interface design(could be wrong on this). I was told going to college in graphic design would be the best thing, but I was curious if there is anyone here who could suggest something different. Not that I would mind going to school for graphic design, but I was just curious if there was something else.

Also, if anyone could share information sources on the subject I would greatly appreciate it. Like what kind of workflow game interface designers have, because what confuses me the most is that a lot of companies that seek for interface designers often mention schooling in graphic design, for the interface concept and all, but im pretty certain that graphic design in college will focus on teaching you print and web rather than graphical elements for games and softwares, wich is what I want to focus on. Isn't there a lot of coding knowledge required to fill these job positions?

Last, what other than software and game companies should I work with in order to become a better interface designer?

Thanks in advance.
taxguy
06-25-2009, 11:18 AM
I am not quite sure what you mean by interface design unless you mean the skills needed for web site design. As such, there are many good schools for that:

1. University of Cincinnati has a digital arts program
2. CMU has a Visual Communications Program
3.RIT New Media
4. Pratt Institute has a Communication Design program with four concentrations.

All of these have certain skills and software applications that they try to teach. Among these are: All Adobe products, Action Script III ( which is flash), HTML, Graphic Design and Typography, especially typography in motion, C++, and, of course, basic design skills.
maximebl
06-25-2009, 10:18 PM
Web design is definatly very similar, but what I really want to focus on is becoming better at creating user interface elements, I see a lot of game companies almost constantly hiring people to fill these spots and it looks really fun to me.

After looking into it even more I think going to college for graphic design would be where I should start.
gsokol
07-17-2009, 06:03 AM
If you are looking specifically at things like interface art, something along the graphic design field will help a lot. Web design and Flash courses would be good too. At work, I think that most (if not all) of the interface artists also do code, so you may also want to look at learning some languages that are used for interface.
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