Hello and welcome to this beginner's guide series to graphic design.
From what graphic design is, skills to be a graphic designer, design theory, education you need,
equipment you need to the graphic design portfolio and interview advice.
This series is for anyone at any level.
So if you're interested in graphic design and considering becoming a graphic designer
join me as I discuss a series of graphic design topics.
So you're wondering if you want to focus your
creative energy into a career in graphic design. In this video I'm going to
discuss 10 key pros and cons of graphic design, being a designer and becoming a designer.
Hopefully this will help you get a good overall understanding.
So first let's talk about some pros. So number one: It's creative
If you're a person who loves being creative graphic design is a good career choice for you.
On a day to day basis you will be problem solving, coming up with cool
inventive solutions and creating a range of graphics and design ideas.
Number two: It's fun. Graphic design can be really hard work but at the same time it
can be really fun bringing your imagination to life and being creative.
Number three: It's challenging. Graphic design is by no means easy you're pretty
much problem solving most of the time. So to produce great work you will have to push yourself,
harness your skills, be resourceful, tackle complex briefs and be able to
produce great results swiftly. Number four: Its educational.
to produce original and exciting work
you're going to have to do a lot of research. Often you will find
yourself learning and discovering things you didn't previously know. Getting paid
to research and learn how cool is that!
Number 5 includes multiple creative disciplines.
There is no limit to the techniques you can use to create your work.
To name a few:
Illustration, photography, painting, screen printing, digital art, 3D modeling,
paper engineering the list goes on. One of the great things about graphic design
is that it can be diverse and you don't have to be tied to one medium.
Number six: Something to show your hard work.
So you may spend hours days or weeks working on a particular project.
At the end of it you will most likely have something to show for it.
Over time you will build a portfolio of work
you can show off and be proud of.
This will ultimately help you get more work or
a better job in future. Number seven: Expressive.
Design is a discipline. In the industry you
will not always have the freedom to be
as creative as you want.
However there will be opportunities whether your creating work
for yourself or for a client where you will have creative freedom.
On these occasions you can be
really creative with your ideas and create some work that you feel justifies
you as a designer that you can be proud of.
Number eight: Rewarding.
Being a graphic designer can be really hard work but
you really get out what you put in. If you do a great job and your client is
happy that can be really rewarding. You may enter a design competition and win
some recognition. That can be really rewarding. If you create a piece of
design like a logo that gets used to add marketing value to a client and
improve their business that can be really rewarding.
Building a great portfolio and getting a new job
and earning more revenue very rewarding.
Number nine: Collaborative.
As a designer you will be required to work alone.
but you may often have to work with other
creative professionals as part of a team.
It can be a great experience and really rewarding working with other passionate people.
Collaboration can lead to amazing work. Everyone sees things differently,
when you're bouncing ideas off another designer
some amazing ideas can be generated.
Number ten: Career prospects.
As you mature as a designer build your experience and reputation.
You can move into more senior design roles and look
to become maybe, an art director or a creative director.
You may wish to become freelance and work for yourself
or maybe start your own creative business.
In graphic design there are a lots of opportunities
to further your career.
So a lot of pros to being a graphic designer there.
On a whole graphic design is a really interesting
and fulfilling career to get into.
But like any job it's not all perfect.
So now let's talk about some cons to be a graphic designer.
So number one: Location specific. If you want to become a graphic designer
you will have to accept the prospect of having to move where the industry is and
today that's typically a city. Graphic design is not all commercial work but
a lot of jobs and a lot of well paid jobs exist in cities. So to get work and
start out you may have to move to where the work is.
Number two: Competitive.
Graphic design is very fulfilling creative and it's fun you are basically
being paid to be creative. Because of that a lot of people want to do it which
means there's a lot of competition. When starting out and looking for jobs it can
be really tough. You'll be up against lots of other candidates
which may often have more experience than you.
Number three: The road is long.
A lot of people pursue graphic design but not
everyone becomes a graphic designer or stays a designer. The path to become a
successful graphic designer can be a long and expensive one.
Unfortunately today it's not all about talent and skill, it's as much about
attitude, discipline, application and determination. Everyone's path is
different some take longer than others to get to where they want to be.
Though if one stays highly motivated disciplined and applies themselves they
will eventually achieve. The industry is competitive and one will have to keep
learning and building a better portfolio if one wishes to progress and succeed.
This may mean having to sacrifice a lot of time to achieve this.
Number four: Learning creative software tools.
To work in the design industry you will need to
be proficient in essential creative programs. There are lots of software tools
out there today and each one has a steep learning curve.
Number five: Finding the right job can be hard.
In the industry finding a job can be tough
but what can be even harder is finding the right job.
The job where you will be happy.
The job where you will get creative satisfaction. The job where you will
potentially develop your career. Some job vacancies can be pretty vague
it is only when you attend an interview you can get a good vibe for the job you are
applying for. It can be disheartening attending interviews only to learn
it's not right for you. More often than not until you are working in that role for that
agency or company you will never truly know what your role will be.
So finding the right role can be hard especially when starting out.
Number six: It's a desk job.
One of the biggest downsides to graphic design is that most
of the time you will be seated at a desk in front of a computer for long hours
so you will need to get that gym membership!
Number seven: Long hours.
Graphic design is commonly not a nine to five job.
if you're working on a big project a pitch or you're facing a tight deadline
you may be expected to work long hours
even weekends to get a job. Now if you're lucky this may not
happen very often. But if you find yourself working
for a busy agency this may be the norm.
Number eight: Working under pressure.
You may not always have as much time as you want to fully research and develop
a piece of work or simply enjoy the job. There will be times when you will have
to work the tight deadlines. This can put a lot of pressure on you and be stressful.
Number nine: Have to do things you do not want and working under others instructions.
Working in the industry you will not always get
the creative freedom you want on a project.
Sometimes you may have to take creative direction from someone more senior to
you or even the client. This can be very good if the person is willing to
collaborate and has great ideas. But can be bad if they do not. Sometimes you may
find you don't agree or even like what is
asked of you but still you will have to do it.
Number ten: Dealing with bad clients.
As a designer dealing with clients can be
really rewarding or a bit of a nightmare.
They can either let you do what you think is best, work and collaborate with you.
Or simply try and make you do what they want and this can be pretty bad if they
do not listen to you, have no good ideas or any grasp of what makes for good design.
It can be really tough on a buzz kill having to implement someone
else's bad design ideas. More often than not working with clients can be a really
positive experience but they can be times it can be a nightmare.
So there you have it those are some pros and cons to being a graphic designer.
If you'd like to take a closer look at the list discussed in this video you can
find out more in the description and in the PDF document that accompanies this
video series. The download link is in the description.
So what do you think?
Are you put off or are you inspired?
For you current designers do you have any stories
to share of your progress? Be sure to share your comments below.
Well I hope you enjoyed this video if you did hit the like button on my facebook page.
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and you can also follow me on twitter at TastyTuts.
Now some of you have asked the question should I do graphic design
and how do I know if it's right for me?
So in the next video I'm going to discuss just that.
So see you in the next video!