Graphic Designer Career
| Becoming a graphic designer requires special skills and creativity. |
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A graphic designer has one of the most creative jobs in the world. With the task of planning, designing, and creating graphics and art, there’s really no limit to what you can do as a graphic designer.
But working as a graphic designer is more than just making pretty pictures – it also requires you to know how to combine colors with images, words, font, and more to suit your employer's needs. Consequently, a bachelor’s degree in graphic design is generally required for most entry level positions. |
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Working as a Graphic Designer
When it comes to jobs and career paths, graphic designers have several options to choose from. You could go into advertising and create various ads and promotional pieces for large companies. You can work as a photographer, utilizing your skills in digital photography and image manipulation. TV and cartoon animation is another option, as is working in film – even live action films often require graphic designers.
You can also go into the more traditional graphic design work and create business cards, brochures, packaging, and other visual pieces for businesses. With the creative needs in publishing, journalism, film, business, government and more, graphic designers are in high demand. No matter what field you go in to, knowing computers and graphic design software is a must these days, so be ready to be in front of a computer for a good portion of your work day.
With the internet becoming more and more important to businesses, many graphic designers – especially those working for companies – are often asked to create graphics for their company’s website. It’s very helpful for future graphic designers to have an idea of how graphics on the web work; and learning website design isn’t a bad idea, either. In fact, if you’re interested in doing website design as a career, a graphic design degree is one option you can pursue.
While graphic designers do spend a lot of time in front of their computers, they also spend time attending meetings with clients. Before you can create the graphics, you’ll first have to meet with your employer to work out what kind of graphics they want. In some cases, this may be your boss or fellow co-workers. In others, it may be a client who has solicited the services of your company. In any case, you’ll need to have good communication and people skills. One of the biggest challenges in graphic design is figuring out what your client really wants and then creating it for them.
As you advance in the field of graphic design, you may find yourself moving more into a managerial position. Senior graphic designers often supervise the junior designers and only take on graphic work for important clients or for large projects. In ten years or more, you might find yourself reviewing others work and making decisions on final design rather than doing the actual designing yourself.
Another option for graphic designers is to freelance. Instead of working a regular job, freelancers take on work on a contract basis. Some pick up work from companies who don’t have enough graphic designers on staff to handle the load. Others start their own graphic design businesses and take on work from clients they solicit. In fact, almost a fourth of all graphic designers are self-employed. The fact that you can be your own boss is certainly a great career selling point for graphic designers!
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