A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed, or electronic media, such as brochures and advertising.
The 4 types of graphic designers?
Brand Identity and Logo Design
Brand –The perceived emotional corporate image as a whole. Identity – The visual aspects that form part of the overall brand. Logo – Identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon.
Packaging Design
“Packaging design is the connection of form, structure, materials, colour, imagery, typography, and regulatory information with ancillary design elements to make a product suitable for marketing.” To put that into a simpler form: Your packaging is an element of your marketing strategy.
Web and Mobile Design
Mobile web design is the process of optimizing web experience for mobile users. This process includes creating: Mobile-first design. Traditionally, websites have been optimized for desktop users, but as browsing habits have evolved, designers tend to follow a mobile-first approach in design.
Layout and Print Design -
Printed materials offer a static appearance; the size, fonts, colors, and navigation will look the same for every user. Thus printed materials like magazines, books, and brochures offer greater control over the user's viewing experience, since they ensure consistently identical results.
What is the role of a Graphic Designer?
The Graphic Designer job description includes the entire process of defining requirements, visualizing and creating graphics including illustrations, logos, layouts and photos. You’ll be the one to shape the visual aspects of websites, books, magazines, product packaging, exhibitions and more.
Your graphics should capture the attention of those who see them and communicate the right message.
For this, you need to have a creative flair and a strong ability to translate requirements into design. If you can communicate well and work methodically as part of a team, we’d like to meet you.
What are the duties and responsibilities of a Graphic Designer?
Graphic Designers are responsible for developing various types of creative content for advertisements, brochures, or magazines. They do this with multiple tools depending on the medium and goals of the final project.
Where do graphic designers work?
Since graphic designers can work in many settings, your tasks and responsibilities may vary. You may work in-house at a company or agency, or at home as a freelancer. Graphic designers often work in:
Ad agencies
Web design firms
Marketing firms
Print and online publishers
Online and brick-and-mortar retailers
Non-profit organizations
Skills needed to become a graphic designer
If you’re naturally creative and have a good eye for visually compelling design, a career in graphic design may suit you well. Nurture your talent as a graphic designer by spending time building a few key skills.
Audience targeting helps you identify and analyze who the design is intended to appeal to and why.
Color theory is a series of rules and guidelines you’ll apply to your work to create aesthetically pleasing visuals. This involves choosing an appropriate color palette for a project and understanding how people perceive color in various situations.
Communication skills help you communicate, actively listen, problem-solve, and understand what clients and other stakeholders need when collaborating on a project.
Computer-aided design (CAD) software help you create complex two- and three-dimensional designs. Some of the computer software programs used in graphic design include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Paintshop Pro, and Corel Graphics Suite.
Computerized sketching gives you creative flexibility that sketching and coloring by hand cannot offer. Sketching software also allows you to quickly implement changes to a design.
Why pursue a career in graphic design?
When you pursue a career in graphic design, you get to flex your creative skills and put them to use while you learn and implement new technologies in your work. If you want to have a critical hand in shaping how a company, brand, or product comes across to the world, it’s worth pursuing a career in graphic design.
Job outlook for graphic designers
Best Graphic Designer Resume
As with many creative fields, the job outlook for graphic designers is highly competitive. The BLS predicts that there will be a 3 percent increase in the need for graphic designers from 2021 to 2031. This is slower-than-average growth due in part to the decline in design jobs at newspapers, magazines, and traditional print publishing companies, balanced by an increase in the digital presence of companies.
How to become a graphic designer
If you're ready to pursue a career in graphic design, follow the steps below to streamline your process:
1. Get a graphic design education.
According to Zippia's analysis of over 120,000 graphic designer resumes, 68 percent of graphic designers have a bachelor’s degree, while 23 percent have an associate's degree .
Earning a graphic design degree (or degree in a related field) helps you build foundational career knowledge and gives you opportunities to begin building a portfolio of work to show potential employers.
2. Gain exposure to the field.
While enrolled in a design program, be sure to build relevant skills to make yourself more competitive when you’re job-hunting for a graphic design position, including:
Getting an internship and working with more experienced designers in a real-world setting
Volunteering your design skills to local charitable organizations
What skills does a graphic designer need?
Graphic Designers bring together art and technology, so they need a knowledge of design principles combined with a mastery of design software. Because they often work with clients and colleagues on various projects, they also need important soft skills like communication and problem solving.
What Kind of Companies Hire Graphic Designers?
Graphic design is an integral part of marketing and branding, so Graphic Designers can work for a range of different companies.
A few industries that hire Graphic Designers include:
Internet and software development - The demand for Graphic Designers is rapidly growing as new technology continues to be developed.
Television and video production - As motion graphic design increases in popularity, television and video production companies are looking for Graphic Designers who can create title sequences, ads, and video clips.
Corporate branding - Companies across various sectors need Graphic Designers to enhance or maintain their brand.
Manufacturing - Companies are looking for talented Graphic Designers to develop product packaging that will catch the eye of potential customers.
Advertising - Advertising agencies typically have a few Graphic Designers on staff, each with a different area of expertise. Agency Graphic Designers work with clients to develop creative materials that meets their needs.
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