Graphic Designer wanting to move to Germany

Hi All!

This is my first post, so I will give a brief on WHY I want to move there.

I am a 25 year old graphic designer living and working in New York City. My mother was born in Germany and moved to the USA with her parents right after WWII. I only have 10 family members here, the rest still live in Germany. We lost touch with them over the years and only keep in contact with a few. They live in Hamburg.

As I got older I wanted to learn about my heritage and where I came from. So I started doing some family research and found a lot of very interesting things. Now I have been seriously thinking about moving to Germany and working for a while. My German is very poor, but I have been practicing and corresponding with my Aunt in German. I have been researching jobs and "how-to" forums, but they are mostly vague and unhelpful. So I thought I would give TT a shot.

I am looking to find any graphic design work in or around Hamburg. Any leads or places I should look. Any and all help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

NewJack

Hi Newjack,

what kind of graphic design? Advertising? Design? Press?
If you want to work in advertising, check out www.gwa.de

You should have a good portfolio! Very important. Maybe you should apply for an intership first.

Sorry, to hi-jack your thread NewJack...but my question is similar/related, and I've found that the forum folk don't take kindly to duplicate threads!

I'm 29 years of age with 7 years experience as a graphic designer. I'm looking to move to Germany next year, but after reading portions of the Berlin forum I have become fully aware of how grim the current employment situation is there!

I'm hoping that perhaps there would be more opportunity (less competition?!) in Hamburg? I have visited both cities on my two trips to Germany so far, and found Hamburg to be a pretty neat place.

My German is basic, but by the end of my two 2 week stints in the country, I was conversing with relative ease at a basic level, and of course, would put in the necessary effort prior to leaving for a longer stay. So, can anyone kindly give me a feel for what the situation is like work-wise in the creative industry? Am I kidding myself to think that I would have any chance of employment (as was suggested repeatedly to other folk in the Berlin forum)

Oh, and here is a link to my folio: www.thisisratio.com

I'd really appreciate any feedback on any of these points!

Anyone?

Hi Ratio,

You are right, Hamburg is a little bit easier to find a job in the creative industry. It is difficult at the moment, but not impossibe.
More opportunities: yes. Less competition: no ;-)
Hamburg is nice, but different from Berlin. More elegant and wealthy, but a bit less exciting.
You should have at least basic german language skills. It will make work much easier.

I like your portfolio, but i am not sure about the job situation in graphic design (I am working in advertising, which has a different situation).
I will look for links which might help you, but it will take a while.

here is one of my favourite german design agency
www.mutabor.de

hope it helps a bit

sam

Hi there!

You might want to have a look on the following sites:

www.horizont.net
www.dasauge.de

both are specialized in creative jobs.

Having worked for two creative agencies in Hamburg who did employ people who did not speak german at all, you really might be able to score with excellent portfolios.

But that surely does not replace german language skills

If you are interested in some more info, just mail me!
Cheers,
Nana

hi NewJack,
I too am a graphic designer, originally from the UK, studied for my degree there. have been living here in ulm (south germany) for over 15 years now, worked for a few local ad agencies and industrial graphic departments but now a freelancer for the last 3 years. If you need any info just mail me
cheers
carl