How to be a graphics designer
What is Graphic Design?
Graphic Designers are those individuals who create visual images through the utilization of typography, layout, graphics, illustrations, photography, animation, and other design elements. This can include logos, brochures, websites, advertisements, packaging, marketing materials, promotional items, business cards, letterhead, envelope liners, billboards, newspapers, books, magazines, newsletters, catalogs, direct mail pieces, product labels, technical drawings, instruction manuals, software, video games, CD covers, VHS cover art, clothing designs, interior and exterior decorating schemes, fashion shows, music album covers, film stills, motion pictures, and television programs. If you’ve ever seen any of those things before then you have done graphic design work.
To become a Graphic Designer, students need to complete at least Bachelor level studies (usually 4 years) into either Art, Communication Arts, Multimedia, Science & Technology or Business. Most colleges offer courses that teach this type of study but some may require a degree from a specific school. Courses usually focus heavily on typography, illustration, photography, color theory, style creation, advertising, printmaking, computer aided design, web design, graphic editing, photo retouching, and many more topics. Many schools even incorporate courses that allow them to prepare students for the creative side of business such as Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Sales, Human Resources, Retail Management, Project Management, Information Systems, International Trade, Finance, Accounting, etc.
The job outlook for Graphic Designers is great right now! With the increased popularity of Internet use and social media, companies are realizing the importance of having visually pleasing imagery to get their message out and promote themselves. As long as they want something well designed, graphic designers should have no trouble finding jobs. The average salary for a Graphic Designer was $44,900 dollars per year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and many top designers make over 100K per year.
1. Understand your end goal
2. Have a passion
3. Be willing to learn
4. Hone your skills
5. Know how to market yourself
6. Create something original
7. Make sure everything is consistent
8. Research
9. Get feedback from others
10. Keep working
11. Be patient
12. You are worth what you make
13. Always seek advice
14. Work hard
15. Don’t give up!
Learn Photoshop. (I use CS6)
If your going into graphic design, you need to learn photoshop or something similar. I've been using Gimp for years but Photoshop has become better over time and is now my primary graphic design program.
Learn Illustrator. (I use CS5)
I used to only use InDesign but have recently started learning illustrator. If you're going into web design this may not be what you want to learn but its useful to know how to make vector based images.
Use pencil and paper if possible.
You can't really do much without having some sort of drawing tool at hand, whether that's paper and a pen or a digital tool like Photoshop/Illustrator. You'll be surprised how fast you can draw stuff out on paper. Even better though than physical tools are digital tools since they allow for precision and control. For example, I'd rather look at a line of code on paper than in Photoshop.
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