Life skills are adaptive abilities to deal effectively with challenges and changing demands. They include decision-making, creative and critical thinking, stress management, interpersonal communication, and problem solving skills. Examples of practical life skills are: communicating with co-workers, financial management, self-care, maintaining health and wellness, employability, home maintenance, and managing family responsibilities.

As young students, we begin a life skills-based education in the foundational skills: reading, writing, telling time, math, creative thinking, and interacting with others effectively. However, we continue to learn and develop throughout our lives. As we become young men and women, experience and educational training help to teach the skills necessary to live a fulfilling and competent life. These skills will be necessary in all primary life areas. Many of the skills mentioned above will be essential throughout our lives. Some will be particularly important during various stages of life. Erik Erikson and Daniel Levinson identified a series of predictable life stages extending from our late teens to after retirement. These stages do not occur in a completely linear fashion. We cycle through portions of each stage throughout life; however, specific skills are dominant in each stage. The dominant skills will differ somewhat for each individual.

Graphic Design Vocational Schools offer the skills needed to become a working digital artist. Graphic Design Trade Schools teach animation, website design, interactive media design, digital art production, digital publishing, 2D and 3D computer graphics, DVD authoring, vector graphics, image processing, and much more. Vocational schools use a variety of software packages to teach students to create visual effects for movies, websites, video games, and other graphic design fields. Many Graphic Design Vocational Schools offer college degrees including an Associate of Arts in Business Administration (AABA) in Visual Communication; a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Graphics, and Multimedia; and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication. A bachelor’s degree is required for most graphic design positions, but an associate degree may suffice for entry-level positions .

Vocational Graphic Design graduates can find employment in printing and related support activities; specialized design services; advertising and related services; or book, newspaper, periodical, and directory publishing. Some designers find positions in engineering services or for scientific, management, or technical consulting firms. Graphic Design professionals also find jobs creating computer graphics for computer systems design firms or motion picture production firms.