Graphic artist

Graphic designer Melanie Newton works at home with pet cat Tobias watching over her. Picture / Sarah Ivey

Name: Melanie Newton
Age: 32
Job title: Graphic artist
Working hours: 40-50 hours a week
Employer: Melt Creative, advertising agencies, printers, publishers, newspapers, art departments of large companies
Pay: $15/hour rising with experience to $25/hour
Qualifications needed: on-the-job experience, graphic design degree
Career prospects: travel and work, creative director, self employment

Describe your job.

I describe it as doing commercial art on the computer. I work on magazines, logos, business cards. For some magazines I make up all the ads and layout the whole book, for others I make up the odd advert but do all the layout.

To do layout, the client supplies all the text files and I format all the text and make it look nice, do headings, put in images, do any graphics that need to be done and then send a PDF [file] off to the client, they send it back with their changes, I make those and send it back to them and it should be ok.

For an advert, the client gives me the content and any images or I can supply images from my image library. I put on their logo, any text and images and make it look good so that, for instance, it works in with their existing advertising.

Why did you choose the job?

I was doing visual merchandising - I have a qualification in that - and a friend's boss offered me a job at a place where they do magazines and I fell into it. I started as a scanner operator and when I didn't have a lot of scanning to do I would teach myself the other programs, the other software, they let me do little things and it just snowballed from there.

Why is the job important?

Because you have to get things looking right. Clients don't want their stuff going out looking like it's been done at home on a PC. They want it to look professional and have impact. But then you get quite a lot of clients who want to look like everyone else, to fit in with the crowd rather than stand out from it.

I find that quite weird and it can be a bit frustrating because you know it could be so much better if you could do it even just a little bit different.

What's the best part of the job?

Being self-employed I can pretty much work my own hours. I just like being creative. It's getting paid to do what you love. If I didn't love it I wouldn't do it.

Probably the worst part is when clients need an urgent job, ring you on a Thursday, say, and want it by 4pm on Friday but then don't get their files to you until 3pm on Friday but still want it by 4pm. It's because they didn't know Christmas was coming, or something.

What's been an interesting project?

The Maori Academia book. Because the client said I've seen your work, I love your work, here are the files, I trust you, do what you want. And so I did it, made it really different but didn't know if she was going to go for it because it was really quite different but she loved it. It's a coffee table book.

It's a yearly project and each year it changes. I get to redesign the whole thing and it's nice having one job where you can do what you want, make it outrageous or conservative or whatever.

What are your strengths?

My design and, probably, my people skills. I know a lot of people find it hard dealing with creative people probably because of the artistic temperament.

I won't tell a client what I'm going to do because usually when I start designing it turns out quite different. So, I'll do it and send it to them.

My clients know now that I won't explain it. Probably the thing I need to work on is keeping up with my business book work.

What's your job hunting advice?

Get a graphic design degree and make friends with graphic designers. If there is a job going everyone rings or emails around to find anyone who can fit the role.

What are the essential qualities or a graphic artist?

Being able to get along with your clients and having a passion for what you do. If you haven't got the passion it shows in your work.