Home

A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming linguistic messages into graphic manifestations, whether tangible or intangible.[1][2] They are responsible for planning, designing, projecting, and conveying messages or ideas through visual communication.[3] Graphic design is one of the most in-demand professions with significant job opportunities, as it allows leveraging technological advancements and working online from anywhere in the world.[4]

Education

Referring back to the history of graphic design development, it is evident that the design field was always a skill demanding profession due to variability of printing responsibilities.[1] Unlike pre digital era, where design craft was rather an exclusive practice, the current situation in the field is more accessible and welcoming for everyone.[4] The easy access attracts many individuals to join the field. The concept of graphic designer is fluid: technically, anyone who knows how to use design software and manipulate the provided templates can be called a ‘graphic designer’.[5] This profession is unique in the sense that unlike traditional jobs, one can still work as a designer as a freelancer without an official certification.

Printed media: a tool of communication. British war propaganda poster (WWI), showing financial problems of the government.

However, the design industry is currently occupied by an increasing number of ‘self-taught’ and ‘informally trained’ graphic designers who don’t have any formal design education.[6]

Career

Origins

The Industrial Revolution in England had drawn a distinctive line between fine art and commercial art, and this split formed graphic design as a modern design profession.[citation needed] During the first and second world wars, graphic designers were needed to unite, persuade and inform citizens with the help of printed media.[7] The post war era shifted designers’ focus to the advertising and consumerism promotion.[7] The profession of graphic design emerged from the printing and publishing industry, and the term has been widely used since the 1950s.[8]

Profession

A graphic designer working digitally on a logo design

Generally, a graphic designer works in areas such as branding, corporate identity, advertising, technical and artistic drawing, multimedia, etc. It is a profession that exposes individuals to various academic fields during their university career,[5][6][9] because they need to understand human anatomy, psychology, photography, painting and printing techniques, mathematics, marketing, digital animation, 3D modeling, and some professionals even complement their skills with programming,[10] providing a comprehensive view of a company by addressing the three essential factors evaluated: structure, team, and product.[11] Graphic designers are usually expected to have process management, conceptual design, technical design and software skills to apply for a graphic designer position.[12]

Graphic design encompasses various extends of expertise, which is categorised by such levels of qualifications:

Role and Responsibilities

Professional requirements for graphic designers vary from one place to another. Their role and responsibilities evolve and morph each year, adapting to the current technologies and market demands. A practitioner essentially has two primary roles in the process: satisfying the design brief and executing the job.[8]

Designers should undergo specialized training, including advanced education and practical experience (internship) to develop skills and expertise in the workplace, which is necessary to obtain a credential that allows them to practice the profession.[13][14] Practical, technical, and academic requirements to become a graphic designer vary by country or jurisdiction, although the formal study of design in academic institutions has played a crucial role in the overall development of the profession.[15][16][17] Graphic designers can work with singular clients or multiple people including collaborations. This is where communication is crucial because misunderstandings can lead to setbacks.[18]

The primary responsibility of graphic designers is to manipulate visual and textual content.[19] Today, graphic designers are much more than visual decorators-they are required to be versatile and have various skills besides the design realm.

Graphic design is usually tightly connected with stakeholders and commerce, which means that graphic designers’ decisions depend on clients’ vision.

A graphic designer is a versatile instrument that is capable of visually communicating messages through a skilful usage of typography, imagery, compositional layout, visual hierarchy, colour combinations, and more.

Goals

The main goal of graphic designers is to effectively communicate messages relying on text and images.[8] Designers focus on imposing an order and structure to the manipulated content to facilitate and ease the communication process, while optimizing the likelihood that the conveyed message will be received and understood by the target audience.[8] Additionally, designers aim to create aesthetically appealing products and invent creative approaches to the design process.[8]

Depending on an employment type, besides primary goals, there are secondary goals such as: