Pursuing a career in graphic design can be rewarding and challenging. Graphic design is an interesting field that requires both creativity and technical skills. This career path has grown in popularity and importance over the years. Graphic design may help organisations build a distinctive brand identity, separate themselves from competitors, and increase sales. This is why graphic design is such an important tool for businesses and organisations across industries.

Graphic designers are visual storytellers. They create visual concepts by combining images, words, and graphics to communicate information and engage audiences. They often create designs for advertisements, websites and campaigns. Before you can start a career in graphic design, you need a solid understanding of the principles of graphic design. Additionally, you need to build yourself up with the requirements to succeed in the career.

In this piece, I will discuss the processes and requirements needed to start a career in graphics design.

How to Start a Career in Graphics Design

1. Develop your Design Skills

   You must start improving your graphics design skills. You can consider practising these skills at home or enrolling in design courses at a school. You can design skills such as drawing, sketching and an understanding of design software.

2. Earn a Degree

   You can apply to a university to obtain a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, website design, fine art or a related field. Additionally, you can consider attending a boot camp, an art institute or attending online courses.

3. Gain Relevant Experience

   After obtaining a degree and learning the basics of graphics design, you must apply for entry-level roles and internships to utilize the skills you have learnt. This can help you learn more about graphics design and provide you with hands-on experience. Additionally, it can give you a chance to make professional connections in this field.

4. Learn Graphic Design Software

   You should learn the necessary design software used to make good designs. You should become proficient in tools such as adobe photoshop, adobe indesign, adobe illustrator, CorelDraw, Figma and affinity designer.

5. Create your Design Portfolio

   While you are working on designs, you should compile your best work that showcases your skill set. This can include your drawings, mockups or concluded designs. A good portfolio can help you secure a job or a freelance opportunity.

6. Network with Colleagues and Experts

   Building relationships with other graphic designers will help you advance your career. Additionally, it can help you secure new opportunities through partnerships and recommendations. Networking with other graphic designers is a crucial requirement for your career growth.

7. Stay Updated

   Graphic design is a dynamic and developing field. You need to keep up with the commercial and artistic trends in the industry. You also remain current on new and updated computer graphics and design software programs.

Areas of Specialisation in Graphics Design

1. Brand Identity Design

   Brand identity design has to do with creating a visual identity for a company. Brand designers are responsible for creating brand styles and usage guidelines that guide other designers in a company.

2. Print and Publication Design

   These designers focus on designing book covers, magazines, album covers, brochures and flyers.

3. Advertising and Marketing Design

   Graphic designers in this field focus on creating designs for social media, banners, marketing emails, billboards, pitch decks, and vehicle wraps.

4. Motion Graphics and Animation

   This has to do with focusing on animating visual media. Motion graphics and animation present exciting opportunities to balance technical and creative skills.

5. Packaging Design

   Graphics designers in the field employ the creativity and branding strategies of ad design, manufacturing designs, 3D mockups and printing.

6. Graphic Illustration

   Graphic Illustrators are responsible for creating illustrations for commercial and editorial purposes as well as illustrations that live on web designs and social media.

Technical Skills a Graphic Designer should have

1. Typography & Typesetting
2. Adobe InDesign
3. Idea Generation
4. Adobe Photoshop
5. Digital (UI, UX, Sketch)
6. Adobe Illustrator
7. Branding
8. Designing for Print
9. Portfolio Management
10. Non-Technical Skills

A career in graphic design is highly needed in every industry sector. This is because graphic design is an essential part of the marketing and advertising efforts of a company. Graphics designers use design elements such as colours, lines, shapes and textures to produce a range of work. Therefore, you must build skills relevant to graphics design. Additionally, you need to learn how to learn how to bid on contracts, market services and develop an ongoing client base. This can add to the inflow of design opportunities you get.  The higher the level of your competence, the more chances you get to have a successful career.

Good luck!

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