A graphic designer is a professional within the
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...
and
graphic arts
A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface. industry who assembles together images,
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...
, or
motion graphics
Motion graphics (sometimes mograph) are pieces of animation or digital footage which create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects. Motion graphics are usually displayed via e ...
to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for
published,
printed, or
electronic media, such as
brochures and
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
. They are also sometimes responsible for
typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random ...
,
illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...
, user interfaces. A core responsibility of the designer's job is to present information in a way that is both accessible and memorable.
Qualifications
Designers should be able to solve visual communication problems or challenges. In doing so, the designer must identify the communications issue, gather and analyze information related to the issue, and generate potential approaches aimed at solving the problem. Iterative
prototyping and
user testing can be used to determine the success or failure of a visual solution. Approaches to a communications problem are developed in the context of an audience and a media channel. Graphic designers must understand the social and
cultural norms of that audience in order to develop visual solutions that are perceived as relevant, understandable and effective.
Graphic designers should also have a thorough understanding of production and rendering methods. Some of the technologies and methods of production are drawing, offset printing, photography, and time-based and interactive media (film, video, computer multimedia). Frequently, designers are also called upon to manage color in different media.
For instance, graphic designers use different colors for digital and print advertisements. RGB - standing for red, green, blue - is an additive color model used for digital media designs. However, the
CMYK color model is made up of subtractive colors - cyan, magenta, yellow, and black - and used in designing print media. The reason for the different modelsĀ is that when designing print ads, colors look different on the screen and when printed onto paper. For example, the colors appear darker on paper than on screen.
See also
*
Graphic design occupations
Graphic design careers include creative director, art director, art production manager, brand identity developer, illustrator and layout artist.
Graphic art managers
The following are positions or responsibilities and usually titles, held by expe ...
*
List of graphic designers
This is a list of notable graphic designers.
A-C
* Reza Abedini
* Otl Aicher
* Alan Aldridge
* John Alvin
* Gail Anderson
* Jeff Arwadi
* Roberto Baldazzini
* Jan Balet
* Marian Bantjes
* Noma Bar
* Jonathan Barnbrook
* Saul Bass
* H ...
*
Mood board
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graphic Designer
Computer occupations
Computational fields of study
Mass media occupations
Visual arts occupations
Office and administrative support occupations