“To make my meal in a box taste better, I decided to tweak the logo, rather than the ingredients.” - Jarod Kintz
Graphic Designing is a profession of applying design principles to visual communication with the purpose of conveying a particular message. It combines art and technology to create a memorable and easy to understand message. Graphic Designing includes images, typography (words and fonts) and motion graphics to create messages. Graphic Designers design websites, print advertisements, books, magazines, posters, product packaging etc. They work with handmade, photographed and computer generated images. Graphic Designing is present everywhere today, from the cover of a packet of chips to the huge advertising billboards on the top of buildings.
Graphic Designing is an extremely adventurous and viable career option. This industry is expected to grow at a good rate in the next few years due to the technology boom that is responsible for creating more opportunities for designers in websites, motion graphics etc. Graphic Designers work with Newspapers, Magazines, Websites and the Motion Graphics Industry (Films, T.V). It is a well paying job and a strong knowledge base in the fields of web design (coding, layouts, etc.) and animation can help you get better jobs.
What do Graphic Designers do?
Graphic Designers are professionals who use images, words, fonts and white space to come up with attractive and easy to remember visual messages. They normally use image based software like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create and edit graphics. Their basic aim is to use visual communication to effectively send the desired message to the audience.
The most important job of a Graphic Designer is to clearly understand the requirements and objectives of the client. Even a great design is useless if it doesn’t say what the client wanted it to say. Understanding the requirements includes visualizing the concept of the design and its style. It also includes estimating the time that it’ll take to complete the project within the allocated budget.
Developing concepts is also an important task that a Graphic Designer has to perform. This includes coming up with new ideas, styles and ways to present messages. A Graphic Designer creates new concepts depending upon the client’s requirements as well as his own creative notions.
Another one of the most important jobs of a Graphic Designer is to actually create the design and the layout. This includes creating and choosing images, working on the typography, selecting the colors, size, style etc. It also includes determining the whole arrangement of all the illustrative material including the typography.
After creating the design, Graphic Designers show the client a sample layout. This sample layout may is not the final copy but it is the base on which the rest of the design will be developed. Graphic Designers take the client’s suggestions and criticisms into account and then alter the design to meet the requirements.
Generating new images is an important part of a Graphic Designer’s job. These images can be drawn, painted, photographed or computer generated. These images usually play a very important role in any design concept.
Graphic Designers are responsible for creating final layouts of their designs. These are normally in the form of soft copies or low quality hard copies. These final layouts are created keeping the final design in mind and no changes are made to them once they have been approved.
Once these designs have been approved by the client, it is the responsibility of the designer to coordinate with the printing and production departments to make sure that they are printed on time. They have to give instructions to the printing department regarding the type of paper to be used, the size of the design, the color palette etc.
Graphic Designers have to check their designs once they have been printed. It is important for them to make sure that there are no spelling mistakes and formatting mistakes. The printed version should be exactly like the final layout. If it is not, then the Graphic Designers point out these mistakes to the printer and send the designs for re – printing.
How to become a Graphic Designer?
Graphic Designing is a discipline that combines images, words, layouts, colors etc. to create a deliberate effect on the audience’s mind. This effect makes the message more effective and easier to understand. Some Designers focus on the image aspects (illustrations, drawings etc.) whereas some focus on the typography aspects (words, fonts, colors of words and sizes).
In order to become a Graphic Designer, you need to concentrate on subjects like Art, Art History, Photography, English and Basic Math during school. Choose the Arts stream after your 10th. It is to be kept in mind that even though there are no necessary educational qualifications required to become a Graphic Designer, most companies prefer to hire professionals with a good knowledge base in related fields.
Once you complete your schooling, you should do a Graduation course in Graphic Designing or a related field. Such courses will help you gain exposure regarding the subject, and will also increase your skill set and knowledge base. You can also choose to pursue a Post – Graduation course in Design. Though this is not necessary, it can help you specialize in particular designing field such as web design or motion graphics design.
Graphic Designing is a profession that survives in image based computer software like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. You should study about such software and practice working on them as much as possible on your own.
Developing a portfolio is crucial if you want to become a Graphic Designer. A portfolio will include all your works that you have done on a professional as well as amateur level. If people like your portfolio, there are a lot of chances that you will land up with a great job. Therefore it is important to keep creating new designs on your own and adding them to your portfolio,
Internships can be of great help if you wish to become a Graphic Designer. Assisting other Graphic Designers will give you an inside view of how this profession works and also drastically increase your knowledge base.
Networking is essential if you want to become a Graphic Designer, as you might have to deal with a lot of people such as Copywriters, Photographers, Printers etc. Establishing good relations with people will be a great help, as people will adjust to your needs and give preference to your project over others.
You can become a Graphic Designer without any education background in the field of design. This is an alternative route which relies heavily on networking, individual talent, passion and desire to excel.
Institutions:
There are many institutions in India which provide courses in the field of Graphic Designing. The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad provides a Post Graduate Diploma Course in Graphic Design. It also offers Graduate Diplomas in Animation, Film Design and Exhibition Design. IIT Mumbai also offers a Master’s degree in Design. IIT Guwahati has an excellent department of design and offers Bachelor’s and Master’s courses in Designing. The Shrishty School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore is great for aspiring Graphic Designers. It offers many courses in Graphic Designing and related fields. It has a one year Foundation Studies Program. It also offers a Professional Diploma in Design for Business, Design for Humanity or Design for Experimentation with Majors in Industrial Design or Communication Design.
There are many other private institutes which provide great courses in Graphic Designing and specific fields such as Web Designing. It is to be kept in mind that many people prefer to study Graphic Designing courses abroad as the course content and exposure level is far greater in foreign countries.
To know more about studying abroad, click here.
What are the skills required to become a Fashion Designer?
Graphic Designers are highly creative and innovative people who can use visual communication to deliver messages in an interesting and captivating manner. They should have excellent designing skills and should know about the fundamentals of a good design layout. They need to be creative, innovative and artistic. Graphic Designers should have the ability to work under constant pressure and meet deadlines while staying within allocated budgets. They need to have excellent communication skills as they have to often deal with clients and other professionals. Graphic Designers should also have great computer skills with proficiency in software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign etc. They need to have the ability to work on several different projects at the same time. It can be helpful to know about different cultures, trends and practices. Graphic Designers need to great in drawing and sketching and should be able to make hand written as well as computer generated graphics. They should also possess the ability to make quick decisions and solve problems. Graphic Designers should also know about basic photography as they might need to click pictures themselves for a particular design layout. Most of all, Graphic Designers should possess a genuine desire to use their creativity and innovative talent to create beautiful and attractive designs that can convey messages to the audience easily.
Is this the right career for me?
Graphic Designers spend most of their lives in front of computers working on new designs. They have to often attend meetings with clients and other professionals which can be time consuming as well as frustrating. They have to work under constant pressure to meet deadlines and stick to budgets as well as improve on earlier designs. It is an unpredictable job that requires a professional to work for long hours but can be well paying if you have the right aptitude and will to work hard.
So if you’re looking for a regular job that does not require you to work for long hours or sacrifice a part of your sleeping hours and if you’re not comfortable in dealing with unreasonable clients and meeting their requirements, then this isn’t the right career for you. But if you’re interested in using your creativity to create unique and innovative messages, and if you’re willing to lead a hectic life just to be able to satisfy your creative urge, then this might just be the perfect job for you.
To know more about what it is like to work in the Designing Industry, click here.
