Graphic Designers Must Convey Smart Messages

A graphic designer is a person who finds creative ways to convey a message to an audience. They are usually hired through companies as marketing people and create colorful, eye-catching, and unique designs that will help raise public awareness and/or generate sales. The designs they create will often be for advertisements in newspapers, magazines, or other publications, but they can also be for marketing brochures, logos for businesses, and increasingly websites and interactive media. Companies rely on graphic designers to make their business look attractive and professional to their customers.

A graphic designer career will often utilize computer programs to aid in the creation of the designs; though, many designers still use physical sketches and illustrations to draft the final product. Design programs are extremely helpful because they can allow the designer to quickly and easily customize and edit the designs as well as add animation, color, and other graphics the particular project might call for. A good graphic designer should have a lot of skill in the fine arts and in computer software; though, interpersonal skills are also extremely valuable for promoting and selling their designs to clients and executives.

The work environment for a graphic designer career varies greatly. Some designers work in the marketing or advertising department of an established company. Their job will generally be to produce new ads and designs for products. However, a graphic designer career can also take place in a design firm, which works with a number of different companies for a range of different projects. Many designers also start their own companies or work as freelance designers. Each of these scenarios will impact the work hours, job responsibilities, as well as environment of a graphic designer career.

A good graphic designer will start by taking into consideration the needs and desires of the client. This means understanding what the design is intended to portray, who the target audience is, and what the best ways are to get that audience interested in the message. The designer will then complete a draft of the project and submit it to the client for review. The client may suggest changes or approve the project so that the designer can put together the final project.

In order to achieve a graphic designer career, a degree in the fine arts or marketing is almost always required. This shows employers that the designer has a foundation of knowledge and has formalized training in the field. Most graphic designers start out as interns or assistants to designers who will complete parts of larger design projects. The senior designer will review these projects and may eventually use them as the basis for hiring the assistant as a full-time designer.

Junior designers will usually be required to work one to three years as a designer before being promoted to higher ranked positions. Some designers will continue in these positions; although, others will chose to become teachers in design schools or focus on a more specific area of design. Though the competition for jobs is expected to increase, the number of design jobs is also expected to grow in the coming years, with web design and animation being two of the most prominent specializations.

By Susan Bean 
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4793850