from the bottom up?

Design Discussions design employment
1

I will be graduating with a BFA in sculpture in a few weeks. I have always been interested in design and in doing research found that several designers started out as sculptors. So my question is this, is it absolutely necessary to get a design degree to get started working in that field? I am more than willing to start out as the mail room/receptionist/grunt labor person just to get a feel for how things go and what the scene is. in fact, i would prefer to start out doing something where i can simply observe design in action…
any thoughts? advice?

thanks so much.

2

It really depends what kind of sculptor/person you are. Do you draw a lot and then sculpt the things you draw, or is it more abstract sculpture, or is it still life representations? If you can draw well and sculpt the things you draw there are definately jobs out there. I think a good approach for you would be ID model making. I have come across several jobs in the past that wanted a model maker/sculptor, usually with clay. Best one I saw was for a sculptor/model maker to develop mockups and prototypes for action figures/toys, that would be fun.