“I want to become a graphic designer”, he said.
“Sure, but art will not pay your bills”, his father replied.
Every time we hear the word ‘graphic designing’, we think of it as a newly-originated, fancy profession, which offers erratic job security and a miserly standard of living. But, rarely do we know that graphic design was first introduced during 2500 BC to 1400 BC, by the usage of Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian pictographs. Designing has been playing an important role in the lives of us, humans, since time immemorial. A simple design has the capability of expressing innumerable words and ideas. It was during the 13th century when the Egyptians branded domestic animals, through hieroglyphs, to mark their ownership.
Do you know that the font used in Coca-Cola was prepared using a hand-written style, which is now known as Spencerian script? Branding businesses and organizations, through art and design, has not been a recent trend. With businesses taking to the digital platform, graphic designer jobs have become immensely popular and necessary. Read the article below to know more about graphic design jobs, how to be good at graphic designing, and more.
Why do we need Graphic Design Jobs?
Be it social media platforms, like Facebook, research organizations, like NASA, or fashion companies, like Ralph Lauren, every business requires branding through advertisements, brochures, magazines, corporate reports, and more.
Graphic design is extremely important for the sales and marketing of products. Graphic designers, by creating visual concepts, inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. They, by integrating art and technology, develop product designs and layouts, and make business organizations recognizable and prominent.
Had it not been for graphic designers, advertisement, promotions, marketing, and building public relations would have been an incredibly daunting task.
How to be good at Graphic Design Jobs?
Graphic designers are natural leaders and influencers who thrive at persuading others. A career in graphic designing requires a lot of visual thinking, problem-solving, and communication.
Some of the things required to be good at graphic design are:
- A Certified Degree: Having a certified degree provides people with added perks. Some of the courses that help to be good at graphic design jobs are Design fundamentals, introduction to typography, color theory, web design, media management in digital design, and more.
- Designing Skills: To pursue a career in graphic design, one needs to have great designing skills, which can be learned at platforms, like Udemy, Unacademy, or Lynda. People can watch online tutorials on YouTube, Hack Design, and other websites, too.
- Openness to Learning: Graphic designers must be open to learning. They must be aware of the latest commercial and artistic trends in the industry. With technology evolving constantly, it is also important for graphic designers to stay updated with latest computer graphics and new design software programs.
- A Portfolio: An impressive portfolio, demonstrating a range of work and growth, as a graphic designer, makes it easier for prospective employers to identify people efficient in graphic designing.
Programs that are helpful in Graphic Design Jobs:
- Print Designing: QuarkXPress, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign.
- Digital Designing: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe FreeHand, CorelDraw Graphics Suite.
- For Motion Graphics: AutoDesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, MOGraph, Adobe After Effects.
- Other Online Tools: Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Dreamweaver, Macromedia HomeSite.
Jobs in Graphic Design
Graphic Design may appear as a limiting and challenging profession, but it allows individuals to be creative and artistic. They can be anything they want, be it an art director, production manager, visual journalist, logo designer, web designer, or multimedia developer.
Graphic designers can find potential employment in the following places:
- Ad Agencies: Graphic designers play an instrumental role in driving an advertisement company forward, by making marketing ideas come to life. They use the right colours, imagery, and format, to draft logos, banners, brochures, menus, and more, and ensure that the brand conveys the right message.
- Publishing Houses: “Do not judge a book by its cover”, they say. However, an impressive book cover design plays an integral role in communicating the story, which is inside the pages. Being aware of the latest design trends, graphic designers design the right book cover, and play an instrumental role in publishing houses.
- Graphic Design Agencies: There are many business support service providers, like EZ, who through their team of graphic designers, deliver consistent high-quality graphic design services to their clients.
- Newspapers and Magazines: Every time a newspaper agency publishes a story or an article, editors assign work to graphic designers, who use graphics and design elements, and attract viewers and readers.
- TV and Movie Studios: Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else”. Graphic Design and Cinema may be considered as two different forms of art, yet they are not. The use of graphic design in movies and television can be seen in film titles and posters. Be it incorporating computer-generated images or adding stunning visuals, graphic design is used from start to end in film production. However, working in the media industry shall require graphic designers to have the required skills and experience.
Freelance Graphic Design Jobs
- One can always work as a freelance graphic designer and be responsible for their own business. Freelancers get a plethora of opportunities for providing graphic design services.
- Besides graphic designing, freelance graphic designers are also supposed to manage other things, like client relations, bookkeeping, invoicing, and more. Hence, working as a freelancer requires utmost dedication and self-discipline.
Laura Busche, the author of Lean Branding and Powering Content, once said, “great design is no longer an advantage, it's a prerequisite. Brands: get sharp or get cut out”.
If you are passionate about pursuing a career in graphic design, take a leap of faith and put your best foot forward. You are here to make a difference, and you have to make sure that you do make a difference.
