Are you toying with the idea of getting into the graphic design industry?
Do you wish you could get a sneak peek at the tasks that graphic designers perform on the job?
Here’s an in-depth look at the job, so that you can have a better idea of what graphic designers do on a daily basis.
1. The Beginning of the Day
Whether you work for yourself, in a firm or at a corporate office, the first thing you’re likely to do at the start of your day is to check your emails.
Next, you will most likely have to log into a project management system if you work for a firm or at a corporate office. A project management system will show you all the projects that you should be giving priority to, along with those that have approaching deadlines.
If you’re working for yourself you may not have a fancy project management system. In this case, you would probably check your calendar or diary to determine what projects need priority.
Keeping projects on schedule is one of the key skills you’ll need to master as a graphic designer because often you’ll be working on more than one project at a time.
2. Communicating With Clients And Colleagues In The Graphic Design Industry
Creative work such as graphic design requires constant communication throughout the day so that all parties involved are happy with the finished product.
This means you will be contacting clients on a daily basis or consulting with your art director.
You may have to produce a mock-up of the product images you would like to use in your project.
In addition, you will often have to present typefaces so that the client, your art director, or both can see how the message they want to bring across will look on the finished product.
3. Multitasking Your Way to Success
How are you with managing more than one task or project at a time?
If you plan on getting into the graphic design industry then you’ll need to be able to juggle more than one project at a time throughout the day.
You will often be working on sketches for one project, typefaces for another project, while waiting for additional information to come in for another.
You may need to consult with a professional photographer and others who are making a contribution to the project. You may also have to coordinate your layouts, images and other aspects of the project around text effects that a co-worker may present.
A career in the graphic design industry means that you’ll have to communicate and create in equal measure.
The fact is, you should always be open to adjusting projects as you gain new ideas from clients and other professionals who are a part of the project.
This means you will often have to make compromises so the project can align with everyone’s vision. In the graphic design industry you always have to be prepared to incorporate the creative visions of others with your own.
It can sometimes be difficult not to compromise your own artistic vision and personal style. The key to job satisfaction is learning how to be a graphic designer without losing your soul.
By now, you should realize that one of the keys to being a good graphic designer is being able to work not just independently, but in conjunction with others.
Being open to change and the ideas of other creative people is key to your success in the graphic design industry.
4. Designing on the Computer
As a graphic designer, you will spend a lot of time throughout the day using creative computer software.
This software usually comes with options to upgrade from time to time. This means you will always have to be open to learning new things as the software you’re using adds new improvements.
In the graphic design industry, it’s inevitable that a lot of your work will be done on the computer. Long hours sitting at the computer are not ideal, so during the day, many graphic designers will alternate between sitting and standing while doing their work.
You may also want to protect your eyes by investing in blue light blocking computer screen covers or computer glasses as some in the graphic design industry are now doing.
5. The Final Hours
As the final hours of the day approach, you’ll find yourself posting completed projects into a file system where you can share the completed project with key players.
The key players will decide whether you need to make revisions or if the project meets their expectations.
In the graphic design industry, you can expect to sometimes make several rounds of revisions or tweaks until the project is complete.
Once the project gets the approval of the client or the art director, you’ll be able to post it online very quickly.
However, printed projects will require you to do a little more maneuvering. You will need to create a print-ready version of the project and then liaise with the persons who will be in charge of the final printout.
When you speak to the printers, you’ll have to make sure that all the specifications for the project are observed so the final printed version meets the vision of everyone involved in the project.
One of the most important final tasks of the day is to back-up all your work that was generated on your computer. Once you’ve backed up your work, you can spend the last few minutes organizing for the next day’s activities.
Closing Thoughts
Working in the graphic design industry means you get to be creative on a daily basis. However, you’ll need to constantly come up with new ideas in order to keep things fresh.
While inspiration is likely to come naturally to you, it’s always helpful to have a great source of inspiration that can help you on your creative journey.
If you would like to learn more about the many techniques you can use in your graphic design projects, check out our blog to learn ways to sharpen your design skills.
