4 answers
Millie
Student
Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
1
Question
Updated
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What do I need to know before becoming a graphic designer?
Are there specific qualifications you need to become a good graphic designer? And besides having a great eye for design, are there any other skills I need to acquire?
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4 answers
Sallie Young
payroll specialist
28
Answers
Canton, Georgia
Updated
Sallie’s Answer
Hi Millie! An Art and/ or graphic design related degree is a great start. You will likely also need experience using a variety of products from the Adobe product suite such as photoshop, illustrator, etc.
Thank you!
Millie
Ellen Rosenthal
Retired Art Teacher
239
Answers
Woodbridge, Virginia
Updated
Ellen’s Answer
Hi Millie
I'm responding as I would for students in the USA, I'm sure this will still make sense to you.
To become a graphic designer, yes you need a "good eye", but you will also need evidence of your "good eye" in the form of a graphic design portfolio. A portfolio, whether it is an actual or an electronic folder of your work, should show your best graphic design work, and it should meet the needs of the job in the area of graphic design that you are applying for. Keep in mind that graphic design is a huge field, and there are many types of areas that use graphic designers: publishing, businesses, signage, websites, product designs, clothing labels, all manner of advertising, fashion, and so on. Some of those areas are very matter of fact, think of the text on your cereal box, and some areas will require lots of creativity, think of the advertising you see in magazines. So you might want to investigate where in the graphic design field you want to work. My sister in law worked in graphic design for a utilities company, preparing year end reports and internal newsletters, and I had a cousin who designed labels for clothing (she also had a degree in textile design).
In addition to solid art skills using traditional art materials, graphic design is now primarily a computer graphic design field, so becoming proficient in all kinds of computer graphics (another person who responded to your question listed them) will be really important.
In the USA, students go to school for graphic design, either to an art school, or a regular university that has a graphic design program and earn a degree. In addition, most students now do an internship with a graphic design studio, or some place where they can work under a graphic designer to gain experience. Getting a job as an entry level graphic designer can be competitive, so having this internship experience is really helpful in terms of references from graphic design professionals and in terms of getting a start in the field.
I hope this helps! It's a great field that can be challenging and creative and satisfying.
Best wishes.
I'm responding as I would for students in the USA, I'm sure this will still make sense to you.
To become a graphic designer, yes you need a "good eye", but you will also need evidence of your "good eye" in the form of a graphic design portfolio. A portfolio, whether it is an actual or an electronic folder of your work, should show your best graphic design work, and it should meet the needs of the job in the area of graphic design that you are applying for. Keep in mind that graphic design is a huge field, and there are many types of areas that use graphic designers: publishing, businesses, signage, websites, product designs, clothing labels, all manner of advertising, fashion, and so on. Some of those areas are very matter of fact, think of the text on your cereal box, and some areas will require lots of creativity, think of the advertising you see in magazines. So you might want to investigate where in the graphic design field you want to work. My sister in law worked in graphic design for a utilities company, preparing year end reports and internal newsletters, and I had a cousin who designed labels for clothing (she also had a degree in textile design).
In addition to solid art skills using traditional art materials, graphic design is now primarily a computer graphic design field, so becoming proficient in all kinds of computer graphics (another person who responded to your question listed them) will be really important.
In the USA, students go to school for graphic design, either to an art school, or a regular university that has a graphic design program and earn a degree. In addition, most students now do an internship with a graphic design studio, or some place where they can work under a graphic designer to gain experience. Getting a job as an entry level graphic designer can be competitive, so having this internship experience is really helpful in terms of references from graphic design professionals and in terms of getting a start in the field.
I hope this helps! It's a great field that can be challenging and creative and satisfying.
Best wishes.
thank you for your advice:) i actually didn't know the graphic design field was that huge
Millie
Eric Coddington
Graphic Designer
9
Answers
Portland, Oregon
Updated
Eric’s Answer
There are lots of avenues in the design career, so if you are looking to get into the industry first look at what your strengths and passions are and lean into them. There's bound to be a career path that will fit you nicely. Besides the obvious job requirements look for additional skills that can give you a leg up. For example coding, photography, learning a second language, etc.
Madhavi Bhola
Graphic Designer
3
Answers
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Madhavi’s Answer
Hi Millie, There are various design topics within graphic design that you get to learn at art schools like typography, color theory, digital graphics, layout, visuals, adobe software's, art history, website design etc. You can learn how design interplays on different medias with current industry standards. Graphic designers are proficient in Adobe products like Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and more.
Thank you for the advice:) Do you know of any free courses that can help me get started with adobe illustrator?
Millie
You can self-teach Illustrator with online videos. There are a bunch on youtube. Envato Tuts+ you tube videos can be a good start. They have some photoshop videos too. Also look into class central.com.
Madhavi Bhola
okay! thank you
Millie