Craft Articles

A posting on the Craft Forum titled ‘No Craft Jobs’ really got me thinking about whether this is really the case and prompted me into doing a bit of research into this sector.  Obviously the biggest ‘qualification’ needed for this type of work is talent and perhaps unsurprisingly there is a large number of artists and ‘makers’ who are self-employed or portfolio workers.  Many of these supplement their income by other employment, often teaching their craft either in further or adult education classes.

However, if you wish to become employed in the creative sector, increasingly a degree is being deemed as necessary.  But how likely is it that an art and/or design degree will actually get you that dream job?

Initially the statistics don’t look that promising…the latest research conducted for www.prospects.ac.uk shows that only 63% of art students were in full-time employment 6mths after graduating.  Of these only 29% were working in the ‘Art, Design, Culture or Media’ industry with the greatest number of these employed as Commercial Artists closely followed by Graphic Designers.

Many art + design graduates initially work outside their chosen sector, encouragingly however as they gain experience only 20% remain outside art and design in the long term.  So, it appears in the long term the investment appears worth it.