Graphic design tips for non-designers. Profession graphic designer You must be able to write
24.07.2015
Almost all technical writers have to deal with graphic design, whether it's creating presentation materials for a new product, designing instructions or brochures, or materials for a company website. Of course, everything related to images should, in theory, be handled by professional designers, but in practice this work is often entrusted to technical writers. Today we are starting a small series of articles about graphic design in order to help non-professional designers start their creativity, already having some theoretical knowledge.
Everyone nowadays wants to do everything on their own. Do-it-yourself (DIY) has been a trend for quite some time. Customers realize that they no longer need to buy something ready-made or hire someone to do the work. There's not much you can find with Google and Pinterest that you can't make yourself with the right tools and materials.
More and more we're seeing the same thing happen with graphic design. Clients design invitations, flyers, posters, etc. on their own because they can save a few bucks by doing so. That's not to say that most of them are great at design, but I think we can all agree that this shift away from professional designers in favor of the DIY paradigm is changing a lot.
To help those who prefer to do it themselves, below are some tips and pointers to improve your design skills. Graphic designers can be outrageously expensive, but their work is high quality because they have studied these design tips and strategies. Whether you're just a budding graphic designer or a DIY enthusiast, we hope they help you with your next design project!
Software. You won't get far without graphic design software. Some well-known programs such as InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator will cost you a fortune. But if you are going to design on a full-time basis, you can change your principles and invest in it. If you're only going to design images every now and then, take a look at this list of free graphic design software. [Note “ProText”: We recommend a free Russified tool for drawing diagrams, creating simple infographics, working with text that is not in the list: https://www.draw.io ]
Ideas as a result of brainstorming. Before you start mindlessly designing something, brainstorm a few ideas, either on your own or in a group. Make sure you have a main idea and the information you want to convey. Also think about the overall theme of the image and the elements that should be included. This will give you a good starting point.
Draw sketches. After the storm, some ideas will appear - sketch them out on paper. You don't have to be an artist, and the sketch doesn't have to be perfect - it's just a sketch, a sketch of what you envision. Drawing sketches of the composition and the arrangement of its elements will help the design process itself go much more smoothly. Draw several variations of the sketches so you have a choice. It's a good idea to show them to others to make sure the sketches convey what you want to communicate.
Net. In graphic design, a grid is a two-dimensional structure consisting of a series of intersecting straight or curved lines used to organize content. The grid acts as a workplace for the designer; it allows you to organize graphic elements in a rational, easy-to-understand form. A grid can be used to arrange graphic elements around a page, in relation to other graphic elements on the page, or to other parts of the same graphic element or form. Please see the article for reference.
Text formatting. It is important to understand typographic terminology. You may think you know what words like font type, font, font family, point, baseline actually mean, but I'm sure some of them will confuse you and some you won't fully understand. The article “Basic Typographic Terms” can help with this. Using too many fonts makes it hard to read, and it's even harder to find a bunch of fonts that look good together.
Emotions of fonts. If you think that font style cannot evoke emotions, then you are wrong. The font style should reflect the mood of your content. If you're designing a wedding invitation, the font should be elegant, perhaps sophisticated, while on a third birthday party invitation, the font style should be fun and lively. Check out the article: Evoke Emotions Through Typography.
Gaps. Make sure there is equal spacing between your words and other graphic elements in the image. Certain sections may be full, while others have a ton of free space. The spacing between characters is also important, and it is recommended to simply leave some space between characters, also called "kerning". The symbols should not be too close or too far from each other, because... in this case, reading will be difficult.
Hierarchy. Visual hierarchy influences the order in which the reader perceives what he sees. Objects of the largest size are perceived by the human consciousness first. Visual hierarchy should be based on what has the most meaning in your composition and what should be read first.
Contrast. Contrast is important for defining different sections, or for highlighting important objects or words. Without contrast, the reader doesn't know where to look first or what's important. If you use the same color, font, and font size throughout your content, the reader’s eyes won’t concentrate on it and nothing will stand out. Contrast is what allows you to make something stand out and should be used in every composition.
Repetition. Depending on what you're designing, repetition can play a significant role. If you're designing a program book or foldable brochure, you may want to place the same or similar elements throughout the design. Such repetitions of basic elements throughout the document bring a clear sense of unity and consistency - in such a document it is easier to track the logic of presentation.
Empty spaces. Don't be afraid to leave sections of white space. Not every inch of your composition needs to be filled with captions, graphics, or pictures. Cluttered composition is difficult to read, and as a result, the reader misses important things. Empty spaces help highlight areas of occupied space and what needs to be emphasized.
November 14, 2017, 11:58After college, for a very long time I worked as a secretary and assistant, dreamed of career growth, promotion to the department, until I finally realized that I had to take everything “into my own hands,” because turning thirty was just around the corner, and there was no more or less I never took a serious position! I no longer wanted to work as a “help girl,” and I realized that it was time to learn a new craft.
Today there are a huge number of professions that many people don’t even know about! I had no idea when, at the end of school, I chose the institute to which I entered. If I knew about everything that the modern market offers, I would definitely immediately go to study graphic designer!
Graphic designer- a 90% creative profession that is easy to learn from scratch if you are bored with working, for example, as a lawyer or accountant. In no way am I belittling the importance of the specialists mentioned, but it often happens that society recommends first getting a “serious” profession, and then studying for what you want! And then you start working in your specialty, and your desires fade into the background - and they pay normally! But the soul requires creative impulses!
A graphic designer is, in fact, an advertising designer. A person who specializes in visual communications. Advertising can be anything: for example, printed (flyers, brochures, large-format advertising), web (banners, websites), smm (promotion on social networks) and so on. And also, it is the graphic designer who develops logos and corporate identity. This is a very popular specialty, since in a highly competitive environment, good advertising designers are worth their weight in gold!
You can study to become a designer through courses, or at an institute - get a second higher education. In my case, it was something in between - professional retraining courses at a well-known design university, at the end of the course, I received a state diploma. All teachers were from the university. The program, of course, was express (only a year), much depends on your desire and interest. In my case, the desire was huge - by that time I was frankly bored with working as an assistant, and I was very interested in getting a new specialty.
At any training, you will be given a “base” and the necessary literature, which you need to thoroughly “shove through”. The course program includes lessons in drawing and painting. Even if you don’t know how to draw, everything depends, again, on your desire and perseverance. They will teach you how to perform stylizations and make sketches, but if you want to master academic drawing, you will simply have to work more.
In addition to drawing and painting, in graphic design courses you will have lessons in composition, color science, typography (the art of type), as well as training in design programs. The latter - even if you don’t want to work in your specialty, will be very useful to you in life: you will understand the difference between a raster and a vector, learn how to professionally process your photos, and not just with Instagram filters :-), create beautiful travel albums - and much more. This is a mega-useful and cool skill!
In addition to the lessons, you, of course, will have to read a lot of literature - not only in order to master design terms and learn about the various techniques of advanced designers and the resources they use, but also in order to learn how to communicate competently with clients.
And this is a separate “nishtyak” of a graphic designer - freelancing work and the possibility of additional income. I’ll say right away that this is not easy, there are a lot of pitfalls, which you can learn from various professional literature and from your own experience. I will say one thing for sure: if you are sociable, easily get along with people and know how to negotiate, you will have a minimum of problems. And if you get stuck, you can completely go to remote work - this is just the dream of any office worker! :-)
Of course, the work of a designer also involves many illusions. For example, after painfully working through my portfolio, and finally starting to work, I realized that there won’t be continuous creativity here either :-) Both customers and employers have their own idea of the product for which you are designing, and it can be very difficult " come to an agreement" with internal ambitions. Therefore, it is better to always have a clear idea of what you are doing and why in order to be able to defend your idea. At the same time, you need to have enormous flexibility in order to be able to “hear” the customer, because the main task of the designer is, after all, to work for him.
By the way, about the “painful” creation of a portfolio: at first, you will have to work hard, since all clients and employers are interested in your work. And they need to be made from scratch. You can take student work, drawings and a diploma, or take on any work, even for free. Personally, I invented companies, drew logos for them, and literally trumpeted everywhere that I was starting to work as a designer - there were people who needed such services.
Now I can confidently say that this work is much more interesting than what I had to do in administrative positions. Now, instead of boring documents and numbers, I deal with pictures, presentations, drawing and photo processing.
Of course, everything inevitably turns into a routine, but tell me, what kind of work doesn’t have it? :-) This is partly why designers tend to change places of work often - they want new achievements, new colors and paints, since working within the framework of one corporate style can be not only boring, but also difficult.
As a designer, you can develop both “upward” and “broadly”. In the first case, you can work your way up to art director, brand manager, head of the marketing department; in the second, you can master web, SMM, UX design (interface design), etc. Or you can go teach or start your own design blog! There are a lot of opportunities for development!
By the way, among famous personalities there are many who started out as graphic (or web) designers, for example: Emma Stone, Serafima Shnurova, Freddie Mercury.
I am of the opinion that you should go to work as if it were a holiday :-) Or at least get close to it, because we spend most of our lives at work! Therefore, do not be afraid to learn new professions if you don’t like the old one or are simply tired of it!
Thanks to everyone who read to the end! Have a great day and week! :-)
Updated 11/12/17 12:03:
My website address: stremyakosha.ru
There are many types of design, and they are all very different from each other. The designer's interests are far from the activities of a clothing designer. First, decide on your desires and inclinations. Having chosen your direction, proceed to the formation of your individual style. This means that having taken up, for example, graphic design, begin to study the basics of your chosen profession, gradually developing your own approach to it, unlike anyone else. Don’t tie your talent to basic knowledge, experiment, create, try.
Education required for a designer
The usual scenario for the development of events is that a person enters a higher education institution in a special faculty. He studies there for five years, receives a diploma and the necessary knowledge. But in fact, what they present to you at the institute in the form of the necessary knowledge may not be useful to you in the future. Therefore, the quality of education may suffer, because the teacher does not know whether you understand the essence of the subject or not.
There is a worthy alternative to such education - these are paid courses. Basically, people working in paid educational institutions are interested in working off the money they receive. Therefore, it is possible to choose the highest quality education. Another reason to choose paid courses is the short duration of the educational process. The duration of study will not exceed three months. In addition, limited time will save you from studying unnecessary disciplines, such as higher mathematics and statistics.
There is another option - to learn the basics of the profession on your own. Self-education is very beneficial. You choose your area of activity and control the learning process yourself. The only disadvantage of such education is the lack of documentary evidence of education.
How to become a designer yourself
First you need to collect all the necessary information, which will then have to be organized. This is easy to do using a computer. Having found something that interests you, do not rush to put it into practice immediately, try to get to the bottom of the source. After all, there will probably be something even more useful there. You will have to be aware of everything that is happening in your chosen field of design every second. Follow new products, listen to the advice of more experienced colleagues. Try to master computer design programs. This will make your work much easier. After all, all sketches, models and sketches are easier and faster to do on a computer.
The profession of a designer appeared in our country several decades ago and very quickly became in demand in a wide variety of business sectors - from printing to industry. Due to the high commercial success of this type of activity, many are concerned about the question of how to become a designer. Let's sort it out in order.
Translated from English, designer is a designer, constructor, developer of sketches, models, images. In turn, this concept migrated to English from Latin, where “designere” means to do, show, outline.
A designer is a specialist in artistic design and design of various kinds of objects. The areas of application of the designer's talent are very diverse: this includes fashion, industrial or architectural design. The profession of a designer is one of the most fashionable today. The advantages of working in the design field are good earnings and the opportunity for creative self-realization. This article covers how a graphic designer works, the programs needed to master it, and the issues of building a successful career.
The Essence of Graphic Design
Currently, the profession of a graphic designer is in high demand. What a graphic designer does is clear from the very definition of this specialty. Graphic design is the art of designing objects using graphic images. A graphic designer is a specialist in the design of various types of printed and poster products, the creation of brand names and labels. A separate area of graphic design is web design - the activity of designing websites on the Internet.
A graphic designer is a creative profession, close in meaning and philosophy to the work of an artist who creates paintings.
Professional Graphic Designer Skills
A graphic designer-illustrator must have knowledge in the field of typography (know the types of fonts, understand the technical process of creating printed materials). The main professional skill of a specialist in this field is the ability to draw well and use visual media, master the basics of composition and color. He must understand the main modern trends in his professional field and constantly improve his
A necessary condition for successful work in the field of graphic design is knowledge of basic computer programs for creating all kinds of graphics and the ability to work on a personal computer.
Specifics of a web designer's work
The differences between web design and graphic design are mainly related to technical issues. A graphic designer specializing in website creation must understand the technical aspects of user interface design (know the principles of a programmer and coder, understand the features of viewing computer graphics on monitors with different resolutions). His task is to make browsing the site’s pages an easy and enjoyable experience. A graphic designer of any specialization must have a general knowledge of the principles of creating advertising products and possess industrial design skills.
How to become a graphic design specialist
The path to becoming a graphic designer lies through studying at an educational institution. Design specialists are trained in educational institutions of higher and secondary vocational education. These can be artistic, architectural, construction, technical. Studying in specialized educational institutions, in addition to teaching the basic skills of working as a designer, also helps to broaden one’s horizons and gain the necessary connections in the professional community (for example, during an internship).
How to become a designer?
In addition, studying at an educational institution gives you the skills to work independently and search for the necessary information.
The professional skills necessary for work can also be obtained by enrolling in various types of courses. Unlike higher or secondary vocational education, studying in courses will allow you to obtain only the necessary set of knowledge sufficient to start working in the profession. The courses are usually practical in nature. This, on the one hand, is their positive property. A negative aspect of taking courses is that the student does not have the necessary theoretical knowledge, without which it will not be possible to achieve great success in the profession.
Graphic designer is a creative profession. You can master it yourself if you wish. Many famous graphic designers (like Karen Cheng) have acquired the necessary graphic design skills on their own. However, they all had higher education in different specialties. A novice graphic designer still cannot do without the basic skills that a specialized education provides.
When choosing a graphic design profession, you should keep in mind that it is not an essential profession, and in an economic crisis there is a risk of job loss.
Computer programs in the field of graphic design
A modern graphic designer must have the skills to use software. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are required to learn. Please note that professional versions of graphics programs are quite expensive. In order to understand the basic principles of their work, a novice designer can first start studying free analogues.
How to build a career as a graphic designer
To successfully work in the field of design, it is important to choose your specialization wisely and constantly improve your knowledge. In order to keep abreast of current trends in the world of graphic design and acquire useful contacts in a professional environment, it is important to regularly follow the latest developments in the field of professional activity and attend thematic events.
Communication with professionals will help you avoid mistakes and blindly copying other people's ideas. Their advice will help you create a portfolio. Wide opportunities in the field of professional self-realization in the field of graphic design, and especially web design, are provided by freelancing - remote work using the Internet.
Where can I learn skills?
Currently, there are many specialized electronic portals on the World Wide Web that provide remote work. Designing a graphic designer’s portfolio plays an important role in obtaining profitable orders. It should be as informative as possible and contain the most striking examples of work.
In the field of freelancing, a condition for success is business reputation. It is difficult to earn it, but easy to lose it. Therefore, the main rule of a beginning graphic designer should be to complete the order on time and with high quality. At first, you shouldn’t count on high earnings. Gradually, over time, the number of customers will increase. Consequently, income will also increase. It is important to remember that a graphic designer’s portfolio plays a big role.
How to learn creativity in design
The task of a designer of any specialization is to meet the customer’s requirements to the maximum extent possible. Of course, here, as in any other field, a creative approach is encouraged. However, a graphic designer in his daily work is limited by the technical specifications, and does not solve the problem of creative self-expression. Therefore, creativity in this professional field is not encouraged.
Illustration taken from knockknock.ru
In this article I will look at not only what a web designer should do, but also what he should NOT do.
As a beginner in web design, it is extremely important to know your responsibilities, otherwise you will simply be “having” by cunning clients who will take advantage of your ignorance and will demand more from you than you should and you will do more than you were paid for. If you don’t want this, read carefully and forget it 😉
Before you get acquainted with the list of your future responsibilities, I want to talk about the most important web design skill that you should have if you plan to work as a freelancer. No one will demand this skill from you, but your success and earnings will greatly depend on it. So…
Every web designer should be able to Google 🙂
This means that if you are looking for something in a search engine, then you need to look not at the first 5-10 sites, but if necessary, then all 100-200, because RuNet has now become a copy-paste dump and it is very difficult to find something worthwhile. Or if you don’t have time, buy books, courses, training.
What a freelance web designer should be able to know:
- You need to be fluent in Photoshop.
- You should be able to:
— Collect and structure information
- Be able to distinguish between the main and the secondary
— Create a website prototype
— Be able not to “reinvent the wheel,” but to model what is already successful
— Select the appropriate color scheme for the purpose of the site and for the target audience
- Know how to work with fonts
- Know how to work with meshes
— Be able to use photo banks and process graphics
— Be able to make the site convenient and familiar to the target audience - Be able to draw different types of sites (landing pages, business card sites, online stores, promotional sites, portals)
- Be able to draw in flat, material, minimalism, technical design styles
- Know how to do adaptive website design
This is quite enough for you to become a web designer, a good web designer and earn 30-45,000 rubles per month. 6-12 months after start.
If you go to job sites where vacancies for web designers are published and look at what they require from you, you will simply be horrified. You will be required to master 2-6 professions at once, master 3-10 programs and have a bunch of responsibilities.
I don’t know who you need to be to be able to do so much and what employers hope for when they post such advertisements. Here's a typical ad:
Based on this example, I would like to move on to perhaps a more important component...
What a web designer should NOT know and be able to do:
- Layout (html, css, etc.) - the one who does this is called a layout designer, not a web designer.
- Programming (php, mysql, javascript, etc.) - this is what a web programmer does.
- SEO and website promotion - this is what a se0 specialist does
- Fill the site. This is what the content manager does
- Promote the site on social networks and work with public pages.
How to become a clothing designer: 7 tips from the pros
This is what SMM and SMO specialists do.
- Master every graphics program in the world. A web designer doesn’t really need this. 99% of everything can be done in Photoshop. A web designer, not an illustrator, not a printing worker - he does not need to know coreldrow, illustrator or indesign and other programs
- 3D modeling programs. This is what 3D designers and architects do, but not web designers.
- Marketing and conversion. This should be done by marketers and testers.
- Branding. Honestly, I don’t know who should do this :)
- Proficiency in all CMS (Worppress, joompa, DLE, etc.) - this is usually done by webmasters
- copywriting.
Articles should be written by a copywriter, not a web designer.
- Draw by hand. A web designer is not an artist.
- Draw on a tablet. This is what a graphic designer does.
This is not the entire list of what may be required of you in your resume. If you find something that is required of you and it is not on the top list, then feel free to classify the new requirement as something you should NOT do 😉
If they ask you for all this, then let them pay you for each profession separately - the total will add up well :)