What is graphic design? With examples for beginners

Communicating ideas in images, text, colors and shapes is what graphic design is all about. It assists in getting messages across to people in a way they will respond to. Graphic design is visible in logos, posters, social media graphics and business cards to catch people’s interest and show off creativity. If you are just beginning, making something like a flyer or a quote image on Canva can help you get experienced.

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 A main purpose of graphic design is to help solve concerns and lead viewers as they read or view something. It is important for branding, advertising, making web pages and all kinds of visual communication.

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What is graphic design?

The main purpose of graphic design is to arrange typography, images, colors and shapes together to convey a message or deliver information clearly. Magazine layout, theater poster creation and designing product packaging are all included under graphic design.

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We all probably use graphic design every day, by adding words to pictures on the internet or formatting data at work. Very simply, if you’re producing images or graphics, you are doing graphic design.

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What is the main purpose of graphic design?

Graphic design’s purpose is to present or improve a message.

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Great graphic art eases how we exchange information. Picture data analytics in a spreadsheet. Different colors can be used by the graphic designer to indicate if important numbers are going up or down which helps others figure it out quickly.

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Graphic design performed well can create emotions in viewers and guide them into action. A “sign up” page often encourages visitors to sign up for an email list or try a free trial. Food packaging design tries to make the food inside look more appealing to people.

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What does a graphic designer do?

Since they design visuals for ideas, information and messages, graphic designers use both their art skills and professional knowledge to carry out a range of tasks, depending on what their job entails.

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A graphic designer works on brand identity, visual design, marketing, advertising, web, illustration, type, infographic, textile, packaging, editorial, motion graphic and user interface design. All of these elements depend on graphic designers using visual communication and cooperation.

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The basis of graphic design is visual communication which forms the beginning of all your projects. At this point, graphic designers meet with their client, department or team to learn about the project, its backstory, who it’s meant for and its aims. Next, design teams collectively brainstorm creative themes and visual designs until it’s time to begin the layout, structure and design of the album.

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Es‍sential principles of graphic design

Basic ideas in graphic design include using contrast, balance, alignment and hierarchy. Designers need to give importance to visual hierarchy which helps direct a user’s gaze.

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11 types of graphic design

These 11 fields highlight the wide range of opportunities in graphic design.

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1. Brand and visual identity design

Both brand and visual identity design are connected topics in graphic design and visual identity is part of brand design.

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To have a consistent brand identity, brand design sets up rules and guidelines for using the brand across different company materials. A brand, its audience and its strategy are all covered by branding, while visual identity design emphasizes design elements within the brand only.

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Designers for brands guide the communication and appeal of companies toward their audience.

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During this process, a brand’s mission, identity, messaging and values are outlined and then their personality, sound and look are defined.

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When the brand design is complete, a brand designer works on the aspects and elements that display the brand — this is the visual identity design. This process means coming up with color themes, designing logos, selecting typography, using icons, choosing different graphical styles, selecting where to display them (like on business cards or websites) and finally, setting brand guidelines.

Designers working on brands perform several tasks and not all of them fit in the brand design category :

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1. Making logos and creating guidelines for their correct usage

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2. The creation of letterhead, icons and illustrations

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3. Pick brand colors and write down the guidelines for their usage

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4. Designers choose or develop fonts and typography guidelines (much like choosing a style for writing).

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5. Developing templates that reflect the rules of the brand and are helpful to marketing, growth and many teams

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6. The design and graphics for packaging products

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A good brand designer is knowledgeable about marketing design, web design, logo design and lots of other factors in graphic design

because the decisions made for these will affect all following designs to come from the brand.

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If brand design guidelines are new to you, look at the creative expression site from Starbucks. It explains how a brand designer can use different efforts and make useful guidelines to maintain a brand’s visual identity.

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Aráceas designed by Walter Mattos, Fernanda Galindo and Bruno Krazler and PureBud by Motaleb Hossain are part of the other brand graphic design examples.

Brand design is progressing at a very rapid rate. With new technology improving daily, brands are always finding new approaches to reach their audience, so their design has to reflect this. If you appreciate tackling fresh challenges and keep up with all the updates in design trends, brand design might suit you well.

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2. Marketing design

Marketing design is the application of graphic design in marketing activities. They can be involved in preparing single emails for promotions and also create big campaigns, special ones for new seasons or construct booths and supplies for events and exhibitions.

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Part of marketing design includes :

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1. Marketing efforts on social media

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2. Email marketing can be very useful.

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3. Newsletters

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4. Billboards and different signs

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5. Posters

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6. Print ads

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7. Trade show business displays and materials

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8. Physical mailers

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9. Digital material for websites and mobile gadgets

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By using the inputs given by brand designers, marketing design conveys a special message for a particular campaign, asset or platform. We can study some examples of campaigns and assets.

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3. Web design

There are many who specialise in brand website design, but graphic design—although close—is not the exact same area.

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Designing a great website takes skill in many areas, since websites interact with users as opposed to the fixed format of brochures or magazines. It is important to have graphic design skills along with experience in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, so website teams often have members with matching skills.

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Some of the tasks web designers might do include:

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1. Producing icons and buttons

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2. Making the layouts of web pages

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3. Adding different interactive parts to the website

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4. Making sure that the website looks good on any type of device (desktop, mobile, etc.).

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Working alongside the web development, UX, UI and marketing design teams to enhance how site visitors experience the website

There are many graphic designers who double as web designers, know about UX design and can make attractive websites as well as mobile apps on their own. Because of Webflow and similar tools, designers can easily develop interactive websites without having much experience in coding.

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4. Illustration design

Online, marketing and brand design often have illustrations included, but there are many other useful ways for them as well. There are designers who specialize in making illustrations and work together with big teams by giving single assets for several projects.

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They may produce visual elements for :

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1. Children’s books

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2. T-shirts and other pieces of clothing like hats, socks and jackets

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3. You can use cards, stationery or posters.

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4. Websites

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5. Social media

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6. Activities using video and interactive media

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7. Marketing campaigns

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There are many different ways illustrators work and design and every designer has their own methods. Some artists are comfortable with graphic design tools, completing their art purely on computer and others like to combine digital techniques with old-fashioned pencil and paper.

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5. Type design

Many graphic designers are experts in choosing or creating typography, typefaces or fonts.

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Some things that type design can do are :

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1. Putting together custom lettering and numbers

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2. Either writing or creating typography assets.

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3. Choosing fonts and writing typography rules for a company

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People use words to send messages which is why type designers are involved in different projects. Type designers play a part in brand design by developing, choosing or pairing fonts. People who design fonts also frequently work with resources for web sites, marketing campaigns, product designs or packaging.

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6. Infographic design

Basically, infographics are visual ways to share data or information. Information graphics are sometimes shown as illustrations, interactive parts on websites or even videos. Every one of them helps the audience grasp complex or large amounts of information more effectively.

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Here is an infographic from bby Pororo. It is lovely to look at and it also tells you everything you need to know about peaches and their healthy benefits.

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7. Textile and surface design

A textile graphic designer may create artwork for use on fabrics, wallpaper, carpets and furniture. A large number of textile designers have experience creating textile patterns as well as producing them.

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It is important for textile designers to know the concepts of color theory, hierarchy and what results can be obtained with various materials and dyes, because the final design will depend on them.

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8. Packaging design

Just to give a few examples, the retail packaging for foods, gadgets and jewelry is equally valuable as the products. Good packaging makes the products inside look appealing or highlights what’s inside the package.

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9. Editorial or publication design

Printed and digital publications make up the field of editorial or publication design which falls under graphic design.

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Apart from thinking about colors, text, amount of space on the page and pictures, print publication graphic designers pay attention to texture and the paper and cover surfaces as well as other print details.

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Also, modern digital designers look at the same points as traditional designers, but also pay attention to the online aspects. Rather, they would analyze the way things work, the level of interactivity, the use of animations, the digital medium available on web and mobile platforms and specifications.

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Print and digital publication design covers:

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1. Books

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2. Magazines

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3. Newspapers

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4. Brochures

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5. Catalogs

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6. Newsletters

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7.  Emails as well as other digital resources

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The way a publication is designed creates the atmosphere for the work and helps the text have more strength. See a pull quote added well to a printed interview or notice how great the arrangement is in a recipe book.

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10. Motion design

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Have you ever examined a graphic design and wondered what it would be like if it had a bit of movement? A motion graphic designer’s main duty is to bring graphic designs to life by making them move and interactive.

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Motion graphic design or motion design, applies the rules of design to animation and filmmaking to produce engaging visual content.

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Typical motion graphic design includes :

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1. Title sequences

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2. Explainer videos

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3. Materials used in social media marketing, commercials and web advertising

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4. Animated effects and little actions

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Storytelling often plays a part in motion design. An effective motion designer uses graphics to lead people through a story or idea.

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Go to this link: “This is Fine” from Facebook’s creative director Baron Maxime, graphic designer Angèle Bappel, creator/web developer Axel Risser and web developer Pierre Martinière. They tell the story well and keep it going through all the graphics and the game which is fantastic motion graphic design.

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11. User interface design

A user interface (UI) graphic designer is different from a user experience (UX) designer because they design user interfaces through graphic design.

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This style takes parts from user experience (UX) and graphic design. User interface graphic designers do this by shaping buttons, icons and menus with attractive colors and making everything within digital products user-friendly and easy to use.

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Some user interface graphic design examples are :

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1. User interfaces used on the web and in mobile apps

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2. Software interfaces

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3. Gaming interfaces

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4. Smartwatch interfaces

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5. Appliances like smart refrigerators, smart TVs and the like

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6. In-car interfaces

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7. Interactive Kiosks and automated teller machines

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Get started in graphic design

If you’re thinking about graphic design, you’ll find it easier to decide which area is right for you by playing with graphic design software and tools. Remember to work with traditional forms as well. A lot of skilled digital designers start their work by sketching on paper.

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Building a collection of your own projects is a good method to present your creative side, the skills you have and your style of working. Having samples of your top projects ready is a smart way to impress people.

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