Graphic design is a popular career avenue. It’s ideal for creative-minded people looking for a practical application for their artistic skills. While there are many important uses for graphic design, it is a competitive industry, and not everyone is able to get their foot in the door. Below are some tips on becoming a graphic designer.
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Consider getting qualifications
Obtaining graphic design qualifications could help you to build some credibility when getting hired. Graphic design courses will also teach you various skills that could be important when pursuing a career in this field. While you may be able to learn the same stuff from books and videos, courses typically teach a broader set of skills in a more hands-on way.
The most popular and credible qualification that you can obtain is a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. This typically involves completing a three or four year college course. Such a course could be studied online or on campus.
Some graphic design employers may not require this qualification, however many will prefer you to have some formal graphic design training and higher education qualifications. This means that if you already have a degree in another subject, you may not need to take a full degree in graphic design – taking an additional short course may be enough to please some employers.
Decide your niche
Graphic design encompasses an array of different focus areas. A general graphic design college course will usually cover most of these, although you may have to select modules along the way. It’s important to choose modules that will relate to your preferred area of expertise. Alternatively, you may be able to find a more specialist graphic design course (such as a bachelor’s degree in animation) to help focus your skills.
Some of the different areas of focus are explained below:
Digital illustrations
Illustration work is almost always done digitally nowadays. Such illustrations may include comics, stock illustrations, book illustrations, music art, logos, infographics and adverts. If you’re good at drawing, this could be the best type of graphic design to focus on. Of course, you’ll need to learn how to use digital illustration tools, which can be very different to drawing freehand. Beyond drawing images, learning elements like typography and geometric design could be essential.
UX/UI
UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) are two branches of graphic design that relate to designing websites and software. UX is all about the navigation and improving the user journey – it includes building site maps and using research tools like analytics and heat maps. UI on the other hand is about the visual details – it may include designing the appearance of buttons, loading screens and fonts. Having some basic programming skills may help when getting into this form of graphic design.
Animation
Animation is all about designing moving images. Animators can work on all kinds of projects including TV shows, movies, video ads, explainer videos, video games, website animations and app animations. There are many different types of animation to explore ranging from 3D animation to stop motion. If you’ve always wanted to get involved in movies or video games, this could be a type of animation worth focusing on.
Photo editing
Photo editing could be an area of graphic design worth focusing on if you have a background in photography. This could include editing photos for magazines, adverts or other media. To excel in this form of graphic design, you’ll need to learn how to use photo editing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom.
Video editing
Video editing could be another area of graphic design to get into. This could include adding graphics to YouTube videos, video adverts or even movies/TV shows. Getting familiar with video software could be important when getting into this form of graphic design. Having some videography knowledge may also be useful.
Printed graphics include flyers, posters, magazines, newsletters, menus, worksheets and brochures. While the print industry is not as big as it used to be, there is still a lot of graphic design work to be found related to print media. When getting into this type of graphics, it could be important to understand the different types of printing materials and inks, as well as developing illustration and photo editing skills.
Packaging
Packaging is another branch of graphic design that could be worth looking into if you prefer the idea of working with physical mediums. Packaging design could include boxes, cartons, labels, bags and pouches. Learning some packaging engineering could be useful when getting into this area of graphic design, as well as brushing up on packaging and labelling laws.
Choose your industry
Many industries have a use for graphic design. You may find that developing expertise catered to a specific industry helps you to score a job. If you already have a background in one of these industries, this may be an advantage. A few examples of industries that use graphic designers include:
Marketing
This is probably the industry that hires the most graphic designers. Graphic design skills are necessary for all kinds of forms of marketing including print advertising, video advertising, social media advertising, PPC advertising and web design. Marketing agencies and companies often offer graphic designer internships and placements – which could be a foot in the door.
Entertainment
The entertainment industry also has many uses for graphic designers. Movies, TV shows, video games, music videos, album artwork, book covers, magazines and theatre sets are all created with the help of graphic designers. Of course, the entertainment industry is notoriously difficult to get into. It’s often best to start small-scale and build up experience this way – even if it’s through voluntary projects.
Education
Education is another area where graphic designers can find work. You could sell educational handouts, worksheets, posters, flashcards and other educational resources to schools. You could also help illustrate textbooks and study guides. Much of the work in this industry is likely to be freelance, although there could be some education media companies that have employee positions.
Hospitality
Graphic designers are also needed in the hospitality sector. Many large restaurant and hotel chains hire designers to create signs, menus, websites, brochures and employee handbooks. It’s possible that you may be able to find work for one of these companies.
Healthcare
There are also plenty of graphic design roles in the healthcare industry. This includes designing hospital signs, medication labels, first aid guides and illustrated medical books. Having a knowledge of healthcare could help you to break into this industry, but may not always be essential.
Employed or self-employed?
There are many companies that hire graphic designers as employees. Choosing this route can provide you with a secure wage and employee benefits. However, landing such positions is not easy due to the amount of applicants and pay can be fairly low to begin with. You can apply for vacancies through job listing sites, or I try applying to companies that aren’t advertising (sometimes you may get lucky and apply just as a company is thinking of taking on a new employee).
This is why some people prefer to go freelance or start their own graphic design companies. This does involve finding your own clients and not being paid employee benefits. However, you have more flexibility as to what projects you can take on and there’s the potential to earn a lot more money because you can set your own rates. You can find clients through sites like Upwork, Fiverr and Behance. Alternatively, you can promote your services using strategies like social media marketing and SEO. You may also be able to find work by signing up to agencies (such agencies can give you the work so that you don’t have to look for it).
Building up a portfolio
Building up a portfolio is what will ultimately help you find work and progress. Initially, your portfolio will have to be built from things like college projects, hobby projects or work you’ve taken on voluntarily. This will give employees an idea of what you are capable of – if your portfolio is strong, employees and clients will trust you. From there, you can then start to build up a portfolio of work achievements, which will help you progress to better positions.
Many graphic designers have a private website that they use as a digital portfolio. Links can then be shared with employees or clients who can then peruse through your past work. You could also keep a physical portfolio of any print media you’ve produced. This could be something that you take with you to interviews or that you can show to clients in person. This post provides more information on where to keep your portfolio.
Becoming A Graphic Designer
Getting an education, finding your niche and building a strong portfolio are the three main steps to graphic design success. Finding initial paid work is the biggest hurdle. Once you’ve landed work, you can start to build up trust and climb the ladder to better opportunities – whether it’s better employee roles at companies or growing your own graphic design business.
This is a contributed post.