My training to become a digital media designer
My school path and the decision: Digital media designer
After graduating from high school and a brief foray into studying computer science, I quickly realized that I wanted to live out my digital passion, which I had had since early childhood, in a more creative environment than traditional computer science. I enquired about the training opportunities and it quickly became clear: "Digital media designer" was the apprenticeship I was looking for. The combination of school and training company complements each other perfectly, especially in this apprenticeship, as theory and practice merge very well and you get very practical lessons at school.
The training - a summary
What many people don't know: Choosing to train as a media designer requires an important decision about where you want to develop before you even apply. It is best to choose the company that suits you best or does what you want to develop into. As the companies cover a wide variety of tasks and activities, it is important to make this decision wisely so that you don't end up doing the wrong job. Once you have made your decision and you are at the company of your dreams (hopefully!), it's time to draw up your training plan. This is an important part of the training and should be drawn up together with the trainer. The training plan sets out what you will learn over the 3-year training period and what goals you have set yourself. From then on, it's just a matter of going to school regularly (1-2 times a week), completing your report booklet and finding your feet in everyday working life. While practical work and class tests have to be completed repeatedly at school, the intermediate examination is due halfway through the training period. You will be extensively prepared for this at school and in the company. In the media designer apprenticeship, the intermediate examination is an interim feedback to the trainee on what skills they have and how well they perform in a performance test, but it does not count towards the final grade. After this performance test, you then know where you can possibly improve and which topics are already easy for you.
At the end of the apprenticeship, there is the final exam, which can be brought forward by half a year for good students, as I did. I would recommend this to anyone who has a high school diploma or already has extensive knowledge of media design. Further information on the intermediate exam and the final exam can be found behind the links.
If you have the final exam in mind, it is definitely worth talking to the company about the possibility of being offered a permanent position. Many training companies have a heightened interest in keeping their trainees, as they are already familiar with all processes and know all customers and projects.
Know your strengths
When it comes to the decision to train as a media designer or to be taken on by the company after training, the question arises: What are my strengths and where do I want to go? The training and the companies provide several paths you can take here, including the classic "print" path or the "digital" path. This is where the term "print/digital media designer" comes from. Many training companies leave it up to the trainee to decide which path to take, while others are set in stone and only offer one path, so it's important to know your strengths and what you want to do and decide accordingly. As I personally have been programming websites for years and want to develop further in this area, I decided to go down the "digital" route at an internet agency. If you prefer to work in Photoshop/InDesign and Illustrator and produce a lot of print media, you should opt for the "print" direction and consciously choose the company accordingly.
The decision: Digital media designer at Tojio GmbH
Training as a digital media designer at Tojio GmbH is special because the agency is small and you can have a steep learning curve very early on with your own project responsibility. The projects are interesting and Tojio GmbH has really exciting and well-known customers in view of its size. In view of the (relatively short) duration of the training and the quantity and complexity of the subject matter, it is an advantage if you already have some previous knowledge. At Tojio GmbH, we use the open source CMS and framework Drupal and are proud of it. In general, we are convinced of Open Source and actively participate in the Open Source Community around Drupal. It would be great if the applicant fits in here and also supports the community activities.
My conclusion
The decision to do this apprenticeship was absolutely the right one and I am proud to have passed my final exam so successfully. I also learned a lot during the apprenticeship and was able to build and expand my knowledge on special projects, which proved to be a great opportunity. The work at Tojio is forward-looking and I would go down the path of training at Tojio again.
In terms of the projects, I was able to increase my knowledge enormously and further my own education. Drupal has also shown me how people all over the world can create something great across borders and has significantly influenced my goals for my future working life.
How do you find out whether training as a media designer is the right thing for you or whether you want to focus on digital? Read here about my final exam to become a digital media designer to get a more detailed picture of the work of a digital media designer.