Whenever you come across any kind of visual communication in your daily life, you are witnessing the wonders that come out of the genius brains of graphic designers. It wonโt be an overestimation to say that designers have played their significant role in revolutionizing every industry ranging from entertainment, advertising, digital and broadcast media like game machines, TV, web browsers, social media and portable devices to name a few.
As technology progresses by leaps and bounds, the duties and skills of graphic designers also develop in complexity while ultimately growing their duties and skills.
Letโs have a detailed insight into the facts relevant with becoming a successful graphic designer.
What is a Graphic Designer?
The basic thing about Designers is that they love concepts and objects, messages as well as experiences and are curious about how messages and objects work to a fanatic level. Moreover, they also a strong fascination about how objects and messages look like and are after their meaning as well.
Designers continuously observe, analyze and question and they find ways to improve on existing images and messages and want to excel in their craft like other professionals.
If you are someone who can look past the technical, conceptual and visual aspects of things, it is highly likely that you would do exceptionally well as a designer.
It should also be kept in mind that designers are lifelong learners and as technology along with the culture and trends of mass media advances, designers should have to adapt themselves to the new environment. That is why; designers should continuously stay updated with all the latest methods, procedures and tools of the profession.
Graphic Designer Experience and Skills
Labor statistics reveal that students who opt for bachelor’s degree earn considerably more over the passage of their career as compared to those with a high school diploma.
Moreover, it is true beyond the shadow of doubt that not every job in the design industry needs a graphic design degree, it still remains a fact that some skills are very difficult to learn on your own.
If you get a degree in graphic design from any of the highly regarded universities, you can easily show to your clients, advertising agencies, and other employers about your seriousness and the fact that you are a professional who has invest well in his skills in order to be successful.
Some of the employers would expect specific experience as well as knowledge from you as they are an essential part of a professional graphic designer work. Some of these skills include,
1. Basic Drawing Skills
The key to become a professional graphic designer always start with learning basic drawing skills. Prior to approaching the commercial aspect of art, you need the core ability to put your ideas on paper.
To express your ideas concisely, you should have full command over basic drawing abilities and also a practiced clarity in your sketching that helps you to express your point of view.
Later on, if you work in any field ranging from television to commercial advertising, youโll make the most of those drawing skills in โstoryboardโ your concepts.
2. Website Design Practices
You need to keep in mind that users spend only short time to determine if a particular digital ad or website catches their interest or meet their demands prior to going further.
If you have a full understanding of the best practices for content, structure, layout and visual aids, it will certainly help you increase engagement time as well as click-through rates and visitor retention above all.
Moreover, you also have to make sure the quick page loading times, optimize designs for mobile and also the responsive elements that can easily personalize all aspects of the UX.
3. Graphic Design Theory โ Typography, Color, Theory, & Grid Systems
You must also have to put your ultimate effort into determining the correct imagery, layout and spacing. In addition, having a better understanding of the visual structure and appropriate typography as well as an appealing design would be of great help.
Graphic designers should also comprehend the white space around the design elements in the layout as clients wonโt pay you for the empty space. Moreover, the headers and subheads should also be of a consistent size while fitting just according to the space on the page. Designers must also be well aware of how color and imagery could influence individuals and how to manipulate them in the most efficient way possible and where they want them to look.
4. Essential Software
A designer also needs to be comfortable with the software for creating designs rapidly and rightly according to industry standards. Regardless of the fact as to whether you are creating images for website use or a brochure, a graphic designer will have to know about the right size, format, and as well as dimensions for any different variety of project a client demand.
If you arenโt enough skilled with the programs, you wonโt be well aware of your limitations or design abilities prior to beginning the project. Three Adobe Creative Cloud suite programs have all the essential tools as well as time-saving hot keys that designers often know how to use without even thinking. Certain other software such as Adobeโs Dreamweaver will help you out in the best way when it comes to digital and web design.
Graphic Designer Salary
According to Payscale, some cities such as New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and pay the highest salaries. The media wage of a graphic designer in San Francisco is $54,711. Moreover, self-employed designers can earn up to $20,000 plus per annum (Payscale).
Leave a Reply