Here is a quick rundown of everything.
I'm 24 and I just graduated college last May. It was only an associates degree, but I simply can't afford to continue going to school right now.
Before I went to college I worked in a tattoo shop, but not as an artist. Did pretty much everything besides tattoo people, including sketches sometimes for clients. I wasn't, and still am not even that good, but I'd say I'm better than average and I love to draw (I don't work there anymore because I moved for school). Because of this I got my A.A. in Graphic Design and Digital Illustration.
Right now I have about $12000 in student loans, $300 in medical bills, $1100~$1300 a month in total bills if I'm fairly frugal, and about $2200 in the bank right now. Because I was young and stupid, I got a lot of tattoos while working at the tattoo shop. Two full sleeves and knuckles to be precise. Nothing vulgar, just a bunch of Norse mythology stuff. Well, because of this and where I live, Arkansas, it makes it VERY hard to get a job anywhere. Even fast food. It isn't a problem for what I got my degree in at all, but I haven't found anything so far using my degree. I freelanced 3 local jobs over the summer and made $150 total. I also spent about $80 of that making my own business cards and making them very high quality.
My wife doesn't have a job at the moment, but had an interview today for a good job, $11 plus benefits and she is pretty sure she got the job as she made it through two interviews and an assessment designed to weed people out. She will know if she got the job by next Tuesday.
My problem is that I'm running out of money and can't find a job with my degree or otherwise. I know I made it difficult for myself with tattoos so I don't need to hear that. I simply need advice on what to do.
There are two or three firms around town for graphic designing, but they are solo designers with their own business. I spoke to one and the owner said she is building a list of people to collaborate with and send work to when she is over booked and would like to see my portfolio. Thing is, all I have are three projects for my portfolio. I just graduated a couple of months ago and we never really did anything from school that constitutes as portfolio material.
A side note: I have no way of getting help from family, so that is out of the question.
Submitted September 19, 2017 at 06:07PM by Njodr http://ift.tt/2f9anQ4
