If I read one more article on my iPad that starts off by saying how terrible 2020 has been, I’m going to sling the tablet in the bin, chuck the bin in the bin lorry, and drive the bin lorry off a cliff. That said, 2020 really has been a terrible year. It’s been a year beyond our worst imaginings, one we wouldn’t have believed possible if someone described it to us in 2019: a year when almost everything that could’ve gone wrong has gone wrong, right down to about 90% of all decisions made by VAR.
But the human spirit is really quite remarkable in its resilience. Yes, even in the face of VAR awarding penalty after penalty for the flimsiest handball decisions, made after watching replays in frame-by-frame slow motion so as to remove both logic and natural biomechanics from the equation, we still try our hardest to love football, despite their best efforts to ruin it.
Equally, and some people might say more importantly (but they’d be wrong), we have, in so many ways, successfully adapted to what the world has thrown at us this year, specifically the pandemic, and the consequent restrictions that have been place upon all our lives. One of the most widespread changes is that of our working habits. Companies up and down the country have made it possible for their employees to work from home; and we, as individuals, have responded in kind, setting up work stations, learning new tricks of self-discipline, and whilst we may miss the banter and gossip of office life, we certainly don’t miss the commute.
Sadly, of course, many more of us have been forced out of work due to companies losing their financial battle against the onslaught of COVID’s impact. Whether you’ve lost your job or not this year, one thing 2020 has surely made us all do, as it so brutally put things in perspective, is reassess our lives, both professional and personal.
For many, 2020 has been the new start they were hoping for, or maybe didn’t even know they wanted. Their hands forced by circumstance, they have decided to make a change much larger than a new pair of tracksuit trousers to wear in their new home office, the sofa. They are seeing this as the ideal opportunity to retrain, to begin a new career, perhaps something more creative and in line with their interests. And, crucially, something they can do from home!
One such career, but perhaps something that is all-too-often ruled out as being difficult to break into, is that of a graphic designer. However, with businesses increasingly moving online, and turning to online promotions and advertising to spread their message, skilled graphic designers are more sought after than ever.
What’s more, graphic design is more straightforward to break into than you might suppose, with expert institutes offering accredited courses to accommodate people from all walks and stages of life. A great example of such an organisation can be found a short train ride away, in Chichester. Strohacker Design School offers courses of varying length, enabling those who wish to study either part-time or full-time to benefit from its highly acclaimed programme that can have you career-ready in as little as three months. Alternatively, you can opt for an Online Course (Covid friendly) starting at the beginning of any chosen month of the year.
The teaching faculty behind the course can boast over a hundred years’ experience in the industry between them, including the Principal and Creative Director, Bill Strohacker, who has worked in design and education for over a quarter of a century. Benefitting from such a raft of expertise, as well as direct links to potential employers within the industry, the school equips their students with the skills and knowledge required to launch a career in graphic design. Students leave with a portfolio of work, and a network of support as the school continues to help find suitable employment for their alumni.
Of course, graphic design may not be your thing. You may wish to retrain as a pastry chef, a ballerina, an astronaut, a bus driver, a – well, you get the idea, there are lots of different things we could be. And perhaps the annus horribilis of 2020 is what many of us needed to kick us in a new direction, or perhaps the direction we were wanting to go in, but somehow got side tracked. So, here’s to 2021, and the new courses, jobs, roles and adventures we all end up embarking on.
If graphic design is your thing, then check out the Strohacker website at: https://www.strohackerdesignschool.co.uk/