A career as a graphic designer provides an interesting and varied employment. Graphic designers work for a variety of companies and also work with a variety of different media forms. Some graphic designers may also work freelance or work towards establishing their own graphic design house.
The following information describes what a career as a graphic designer entails.
Requirements to Enter a Graphic Design Course
To become a graphic designer you do not need particular qualifications although a degree in art, graphic design or photography may make you stand out from the crowd. The majority of graphic design positions are gained through personal qualities that the applicant posses and on the strength of portfolio work.
To become a successful graphic designer you should be a creative individual with a flair for design. The ability to draw and previous experience of photography will also be an advantage to incorporate these skills into your designs. Knowledge of printing methods and different materials used will also help particularly if you are working freelance or need to obtain quotes for a brief.
The majority of design houses today use software packages to create designs. This is particularly common when creating magazines, posters, promotional material and art for websites. A knowledge of computer aided design packages and programmes such as photoshop will also offer a distinct advantage over other candidates.
Graphic Designers Duties
A graphic designer's work can vary considerably from day to day depending mainly on whether they are working freelance or for a graphic design house. Generally a designer's workload will focus on client focussed work and creating designs.
An important part of the job is creating and discussing design briefs. The designer will meet with clients or members of their team and management to discuss initial concepts for a project. A variety of factors will come into consideration such as budget, target audience, time constraints and aims of the design.
Once the brief has been discussed the designer can then start to implement the principles of the design and forward initial pieces back to the client or management for further review. Graphic designers may be studio based or work from home and may work with a range of media including sketches, 3D design and computer aided design packages.
Career Prospects in Graphic Design
As with many artistic employments graphic design is a competitive field. Many graphic designers will move from employer to employer in order to expand their skills and experience and gain promotion.
Progression is mainly based on portfolio work and experience gained over formal qualifications. Long term commitment to graphic design may result in gaining a management position or long term contract as in house designer for a large corporation. Over time designers may be able to finance becoming self employed or eventually establishing their own graphic design house.