Graphic Design is…

Graphic design, graphic design, and more graphic design, the term tends to make it around the block a lot in the business of designing websites, marketing and advertising, and similar professions. When you are looking to build a website, market your products, services or business, or seeking a logo design that best suits your business to use as your letterhead, or on business cards, the term “graphic design” will get thrown at you quite a bit.

So the question is, what exactly is graphic design?

Dictionary.com explains graphic design as “the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience.” For starters, that a great, easy to understand description of what a graphic designer is.

There are many specialties within the field of graphic design, such as print design, billboard design, web design (some aspects of web design can be seen as specialties within graphic design), online advertising design, logo and branding design, and the list goes on. There are many jacks of all trades in graphic design, of course, but each of the specialties and media used in design are very different from one another. Web design, for instance, has many elements that are very different from billboard design – core elements like what the design is meant for, the design outcome, various coding languages, and how “artistic” it can be. Most websites are not that “artistic” in a sense that they are not heavy with art—it is usually subtle. However, with cosing languages and programs making it easier to incorporate an artistic feel to web design there is a lot that can be done to improve a boring website with coding languages such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Graphic design is everywhere, so answering the question “what is graphic design?” is a matter of perspective. The right question to ask is not what it is, but rather “what do I need graphic design for?” This will give you a better definition to answer “what is graphic design.”

Most likely, at some time and point you will need a graphic designer for a logo, advertisement design, or similar projects that build your business brand, products or services. Think about what the Nike Swoosh does for Nike, the green deer for John Deere, the once bitten apple for Apple, and so on. Now I am sure you get the picture and were i am going with this, in order for a company or business to go global or reach a level of success a graphic designer will be needed for their expertise in design, well, may not an expert but it will help. I have seen companies grab the next thing to who they believe is an expert graphic designer... well on a 9th grade level, and basically make their career within the company, just by making them head of the 'graphic division' but hire more experienced and skilled graphic designers under them. Sort of like the Ford theory, he had no knowledge of engineering and auto design, but surrounded himself with people who did and had answers to the questions. Now look at Ford... not the stock, but the recognizable name and brand.

Logos are simple artistic designs geared towards conveying a simple idea (“working,” “speed,” “strength,” “utility” are common concepts) as well as branding the company's name with that idea by working type-faces and fonts into the design. Print-based graphic design includes the use of photos, colors, and even texture to put forth an idea or organize a concept. Graphic design in wider print media such as magazines and newspapers uses readability concepts, font types, and layouts of blocks of text as well as graphics and other pieces to create a visual whole while still appealing to those who focus on individual elements (reading articles).

So you see, graphic design is much more than just placing photos and text together on a gloss print page or switching out some graphics on a computer screen and adding a photo of yourself and photoshoping the background to appear inverted. It requires skill and art, both of which come from practice and experience.

Most graphic designers are capable of doing almost all types of graphic design, but nearly all of them have an area of specialty they tend to focus on. Each specialist will no doubt have an individual answer to the question of “what is graphic design” as well, but the overall answers will be the same.

Hopefully, this article has given you a good idea of what is involved in graphics design and has answered the question “what is graphics design.”

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