Graphic design is an amazing field for those who can “harness a horse and a trembling doe”, that is, combine creativity and solving business problems in their work.
Graphic design is the creation of visual content that communicates information to an audience. Designers help put ideas into visual form. Through text and graphics, they inform the audience and draw attention to the product.
The goal of graphic design is to create visually appealing products that communicate a certain idea. We see examples of graphic designers’ work literally everywhere – billboards, magazine covers, cereal boxes and the interfaces of popular websites.
Graphic design is also a way for businesses and customers to communicate. It is used to promote and sell products or develop a corporate identity. Therefore, the designer’s creative process is limited by business goals.
The concept of “graphic design” includes several elements. It is what the designer works with, with the help of which he delivers information or emotion:
color,
typography,
line,
shape,
size,
space,
texture,
hierarchy.
A good graphic designer knows how each design element works. Overly flashy details will make it hard to read the main information. In a mush of elements, the buyer won’t notice the price offer, and poorly chosen backgrounds will spoil the effect of useful text.
For example, when working with space, designers add “air” and lightness to the layout with negative space, or white space. This is the part of the layout that is left empty, the unfilled space between graphic elements.
Graphic design is not just “to make it pretty.” It always solves a business problem, tells a story to customers, and communicates ideas.
How graphic design differs from web design
It can be difficult for a beginner to understand how graphic design differs from web design. You need both to create visual solutions for your clients.
Graphic design is the process of creating graphics for physical and digital products. Web design is one of the subspecialties of graphic design. It includes visuals for websites and interfaces. The difference is the result of the work. For a graphic designer, it can be promotional materials, printing, website layouts, banners, covers and posters.
A web designer’s work results in websites and mobile apps interfaces.
Graphic designers also work with digital products, but they don’t touch site architecture or develop prototypes.
Web designers, on the other hand, do all of this. Their focus is not only on the visual component, but also on the interaction between the user and the interface. Their task is to make the site aesthetic, comfortable and responsive to the needs of users and businesses.
Types of graphic design
Graphic design is all around us, and there are a number of specializations within this professional field. Each type of design requires a specialist with certain skills. Let us briefly talk about them and give examples of graphic design for each specialization.
Advertising Graphics
This type of design is used in sales and promotion of goods or services. For example, in print advertising (posters, billboards, flyers), catalogs, packaging and advertising in social networks.
Graphic designers create visuals for marketing strategies and advertising campaigns. Because they create layouts for a specific target audience, specialists in this field need at least a basic knowledge of how to sell a product and interest consumers.
An important marketing tool is product packaging. Graphic designers in this field develop packaging concepts, layouts and print-ready files. Packaging design requires an artist to understand the printing process, as well as knowledge of the fundamentals of industrial design.
Brand Identity
Designers express brand identity through colors, corporate identity, and logo. They develop typography, color palettes and image libraries that subsequently shape the image and perception of the brand.
Typography
Typography includes the layout of text, classification of fonts and working with text elements on the layout. A product with poorly designed text will look unsuccessful, even if effective visual solutions are applied.
In web design, typography is very important. Understanding its subtleties helps make the text more lively and reflect certain ideas through it. Knowledge in the field of typography allows the designer to diversify the design of layouts and delivery of content, as well as to create copyright variants of corporate identity.
Infographics
Infographics is a type of content where text, pictures, diagrams and other graphic elements are combined in one layout. When done well, infographics can convey complex information to an audience in an accessible form.