A
graphic designer is a professional within the
graphic designGraphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and
graphic artsA type of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of art forms. Graphic art is typically two-dimensional and includes calligraphy, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, lithography, typography, serigraphy , and bindery. Graphic art also consists of drawn plans and layouts for interior...
industry who assembles together images,
typographyTypography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or
electronic mediaElectronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end-user to access the content. This is in contrast to static media , which today are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end-user in the printed form...
, such as
brochureA brochure is a type of leaflet. Brochures are most commonly found at places that tourists frequently visit, such as museums, major shops, and tourist information. Brochure racks or stands may suggest visits to amusement parks and other points of interest...
s (sometimes) and
advertisingAdvertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. They are also sometimes responsible for
typesettingTypesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
,
illustrationAn illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
, user interfaces,
web designWeb design is the process of planning and creating a website. Text, images, digital media and interactive elements are used by web designers to produce the page seen on the web browser...
, or take a teaching position. A core responsibility of the designer's job is to present information in a way that is both accessible and memorable.
Qualifications
A degree or certificate from an accredited trade school is usually considered essential for a graphic design position. After a career history has been established, though, the graphic designer's experience and number of years in the business are considered the primary qualifications. A
portfolioCareer portfolios are used to plan, organize and document education, work samples and skills. People use career portfolios to apply to jobs, apply to college or training programs, get a higher salary, show transferable skills, and to track personal development. They are more in-depth than a resume,...
, which is the primary method for demonstrating these qualifications, is usually required to be shown at job interviews, and is constantly developed throughout a designer's career.
One can obtain an
AASAn associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
, BA,
BFAIn the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
,
MFAA master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
or an
MPhilThe Master of Philosophy is a postgraduate research degree.An M.Phil. is a lesser degree than a Doctor of Philosophy , but in many cases it is considered to be a more senior degree than a taught Master's degree, as it is often a thesis-only degree. In some instances, an M.Phil...
/
PhDDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in graphic design. Degree programs available vary depending upon the institution, although typical U.S. graphic design jobs require at least some form of degree.
Current graphic designer jobs demand proficiency in one or more graphic design software programs. Arguably, the most common software used in the graphic design industry is
Adobe Creative SuiteAdobe Creative Suite is a collection of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications made by Adobe Systems. The collection consists of Adobe's applications , that are based on various technologies...
. The "Suite" has three primary programs used by a designer:
- Photoshop -manipulate photos, typography and create images with a variety of effects.
- Illustrator -create logos and typography.
- InDesign -create typography, and output print layouts. (Some designers still prefer QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc...
when creating layouts, as it was previously the industry standard choice.)
Outside the graphic design industry many people use Microsoft Word to make a layout or design. However, depending on the job at hand, most designers create the layout in either InDesign or QuarkXPress. Specifically, the designer will type the text in the layout program, importing the graphics and images they created in PhotoShop or Illustrator. There are a couple reasons a designer builds a layout in this fashion:
- Files going to press are printed at 300 dots per inch. As a result, the file size can become very large. So by using a layout program and importing the graphics and images, the working file is a fraction of the file size. When the designer is ready to go to press, they will either create a press-ready PDF; or do what is called, "Collect For Output."
- InDesign or QuarkXpress make it possible to work with large multipage layouts like catalogs and booklets.
- Since InDesign and QuarkXPress import the original file, linking to the graphics and images, the designer can change the "original file" and it will update all instances throughout the document to save time.
A web designer should understand how to work with
XMLExtensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
,
HTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
, and basic web programming
scriptsJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
. A print designer should understand the processes involved in printing to be able to produce press-ready artwork.
Designers should be able to solve visual communication problems or challenges. In doing so, the designer must identify the communications issue, gather and analyze information related to the issue, and generate potential approaches aimed at solving the problem. Iterative
prototypingA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
and user testing can be used to determine the success or failure of a visual solution. Approaches to a communications problem are developed in the context of an audience and a media channel. Graphic designers must understand the social and
cultural normsSocial norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
of that audience in order to develop visual solutions that are perceived as relevant, understandable and effective.
Graphic designers should also have a thorough understanding of production and rendering methods. Some of the technologies and methods of production are drawing, offset printing, photography, and time-based and interactive media (film, video, computer multimedia). Frequently, designers are also called upon to manage color in different media.
Career portfolio
Fifty years ago, the graphic designer's
portfolioCareer portfolios are used to plan, organize and document education, work samples and skills. People use career portfolios to apply to jobs, apply to college or training programs, get a higher salary, show transferable skills, and to track personal development. They are more in-depth than a resume,...
was usually a black book or large binder in which samples of the artist's best printed pieces were carried to show prospective clients or employers. Printed pieces are often protected inside by being mounted on boards or slipped into Acetate sleeves.
Since the 1990s, portfolios have become increasingly computer digitized, and now may be entirely digitized and available on the Internet, or on CD,
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, or via
emailElectronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
.
Branding
Graphic design relates heavily to
corporate identityIn Corporate Communications, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives...
, the
brandingBrand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a result of a famous memo by Neil H...
and "persona" of a corporation.