Career-shifting is not unusual in the field of architecture. You could grow tired and impatient faster than you can imagine. Between the late-night stay-ups, the unreasonable clients, and the over-demanding boss you could get completely lost. Always racing with time to catch the deadline can be nerve-wracking, and being restricted by codes, budget, and structural limitations can, also, be quite frustrating.
If you never had the passion, to begin with, then career-shifting will shine to you as your best option, but what if you do have a thing for architecture? You hate it but you love it. What to do? You can choose the hard -but worthy- way of looking for Strategies to Develop Your Architecture Career. You can leave it altogether, or maybe do it along with something else? While this may seem unrealistic, given that architecture is, by all means, a time-consuming profession, it may be deemed possible with part-time or freelance Careers.
If you acquire a part-time job, you will only be given tasks that fit in the time you are offering. You will not have to do overtime unless you consent to, and no extensive task. However, you should not be expecting either a significant sort of advancement in your architectural career. If you can settle with that, and if your few practice hours will do to satisfy your passion for architecture then go for it.
As for freelancing, it is a come-and-go thing. One day you have a job that could take on weeks, and then you may remain jobless for a long while. It is not a very stable option like part-time jobs, but it could let you take on complete tasks of your choice, and maybe even complete projects, depending on your experience. Either way, you will have more time to pursue something else, but what else can an architect pursue apart from architecture? Here is a long list that includes some of the possible options.
Careers You Can Pursue Beside Architecture
First, we will start with architecture-related options
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Architectural Illustrator:
creates manual or digital renderings of architectural designs in 2D or 3D.
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Architectural photographers:
are specialized in capturing expressive photos of significant or aesthetically pleasing buildings and structures.
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Architectural Journalist:
writes articles on architecture and design and reports their latest news, for specialized or non-specialized magazines and newspapers, printed or digital.
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Architectural Critic:
is a journalist who criticizes architecture in newspapers, magazines, or even books.
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Professor and Researcher:
pursue post-graduate architecture studies, researches topics of interest, and teaches at the university.
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Architectural Historian:
is an expert in the history of architecture. They research it and write about it. They can be lecturers, or they may work in historic preservation or at museums.
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Architecture Tour Guide:
leads tourists through tours on important architectural sites and tells them about their histories and cultural values.
Second, we will move to the designer options
Being an architect, you have probably gone a great length to master the skills which make you a successful designer, as part of being an architect, so you already have the basics.
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Graphic Designer:
designs advertisements, brochures, flyers, infographics, book covers, magazine layouts, digital banners, and so. They work manually or digitally to create their visual concepts and illustrations.
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Fashion Designer:
designs clothes and accessories. Fashion designers need to be knowledgeable in fashion trends, textiles, fabric, and ornaments.
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Furniture Designer:
mix between fashion and function to produce trendy yet usable furniture pieces. They may co-work with interior designers.
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Textile Designer:
creates repeatable patterns for fabric which can be used for clothes, upholstery, and wall covers.
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Product Designer:
works on the design of products for everyday use, under various categories, like electronics, kitchen utensils, toys, clocks, lighting fixtures, and others.
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Game Designer:
develops video games, board games, card games, or sports Video game designers need a computer programming background; they create ideas, design characters, settings, as well as puzzles and levels.
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Web Designer:
designs the layout of a website and gives it its unique style and appealing look. Knowledge of languages like HTML and CSS is required to do so.
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Set Designer:
may also be known as scenic or stage designer, designs the physical setting for plays, films, or television shows.
Designers are definitely creative, and architects are arguably on a higher level of “creative”, as they need to be innovative under higher levels of restrictions. So, creative career options are, also, valid.
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Art Director:
may work in a variety of fields like, possibly, advertising, product packaging, fashion, publishing, film. They are responsible for the creation of the visual style for different productions.
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Creative Director:
direct and coordinate the works of designers, artists, and copyrighters at marketing and advertising companies.
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Movie Director:
directs the making of a film by guiding the actors and filming crew, controlling artistic aspects like lighting and aspects or dramatic aspects like pace and impact.
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Concept Artist:
does conceptual illustrations for films, animations, comic books, or video games. They help the art director with creating the visual style. They can also work in fashion or retail to create product lines.
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Animator:
creates sequential images for animated cartoons shown on screen. They may depend on natural drawing talent or art and modeling.
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Magazine Editor:
decides on the content of a magazine including the writing, the photos, and design. They direct the writers and check-up on issues before publishing.
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Craft Artist:
creates things with hands, like pottery, jewelry, needlework, decorations, toys, and so.
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Fiction Writer:
creates fictional stories in the form of novels, plays, poems, song lyrics, or movie scripts.
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Cook/Chef:
plans and prepares meals. Chefs are knowledgeable of the latest cooking utensils, cooking procedures, flavors, and herbs. They may specialize or go for International cuisine.
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Entrepreneur:
designs and starts new businesses. They are not employees, but rather decision-makers who take the initiative and check out for opportunities.
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Event Planner:
plans and coordinates different events like meetings, conferences, ceremonies, festivals, or weddings.
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Teacher/Instructor:
teaches students at schools, institutes, or training centers. They may create the syllabus and devise innovative teaching methods to communicate ideas and knowledge.
Some of the listed careers, if not all of them, may require some extra few hours of learning to completely master them, but you don’t have to join a college or get a formal education for that. An experience by apprenticeship or, simply, open online courses can do the trick. Now, decide on the path you would like to take, plan it, pursue it, and live a life with no regrets.
