If you’re interested in pursuing a creative career but want to combine it with a love of the outdoors, you might be struggling to determine which job is right for your interests. Consider looking into landscape design. This is an incredibly interesting, unique creative industry to work in if you have a passion for design and you’re interested in getting hands-on with creative, outdoorsy projects.
What Does a Landscape Designer Do?
Sometimes referred to as a landscape architect, the role of this individual is to create attractive and functional outdoor spaces for a variety of different clients- homeowners, business owners, schools and even municipal city areas.
What Is a Landscape Designer’s Work Actually Like Year Round?
We have many prospective landscape design students reach out with questions about this career path. One common source of confusion is about the seasonality of this career.
Given that landscaping is an outdoor art, some students aren’t sure what this job entails year round. So if you become a professional landscape designer, what will you do during the winter months?
The lead landscape design mentor for the New York Institute of Art and Design’s online Landscape Design course is named Doug Oldiges. Doug has been passionately interested in the areas of gardening, horticulture and design ever since his childhood. He has traveled extensively around the globe to visit as many of the world's most famous landscapes as possible as he looks for more inspiration in his work.
We asked Doug for some insight on his career of a professional landscape designer, specifically for some info on what the yearlong workflow is like in such an outdoor-focused industry. Doug shares,
“Winter can be an equally busy time of year- or an opportunity to devote to other professional areas you may not have time for during the busy warmer months.
Winter can be a great time to earn and maintain any continuing education credits, or participate in workshops and educational programs to enhance your skills, which is vital to keep up to date with the latest technologies. It is also a time to network and reach out to prospective clients and businesses in preparation for the next season’s projects.
It's also the time to send out holiday notes, cards, or Newsletters to existing/previous clients reminding them that you’re still around and look forward to working with them again in the future.”
As a professional landscape designer, networking and maintaining client relationships is a key part of your job, but one that many creatives often forget about. Some landscape design training programs teach designers the ins and outs of plantlife and design, but leave aspiring professionals hanging when it comes to covering the business side of the job.
Study Landscape Design at NYIAD
At the New York Institute of Art and Design, the landscape design course curriculum covers it all. An entire unit of the course is dedicated to business management- including the equipment you’ll need to invest in, legal issues encountered in landscape business, expectations of an employer, and how to write contracts and bid jobs.
As you make your way through each Unit, you’ll have unlimited access to mentorship from Doug, who has gone through the process of launching a business himself and knows from experience what it takes to succeed.
You can reach him by phone or email if ever you have questions about the way he graded your projects, or if you simply want more insight on something you learned. If you’re ready to learn more about this exciting online program, click here or call 1-800-583-1742 for more information on how it works.
