Hi everyone, this is Anne for Graphic Design How To, and today I'm going to talk about
what graphic designers actually do.
So this is actually a really broad topic because there are so many things that we do as graphic
designers.
So I'm going to kind of just break it down into a few little pieces.
First, I'm going to give you kind of a broad description of what graphic designers do.
Then we'll talk about a lot of different types of projects, and I'll show some examples of
those.
Then we'll talk about the types of designers that there are, and finally, I'll just tell
you my own personal process.
So a kind of broad description is: graphic designers create marketing materials for companies.
So they might be a digital graphic designer or a print graphic designer.
Now let's go over some of the projects that a digital graphic designer might do.
A digital designer works with website design.
So this is an example of a site design I actually created, and this also had branding involved
with it.
So it's got a little bit of that too.
Also, as a digital designer, you'll probably be doing infographics.
Here's an infographic about Instagram and the best way to build your audience there.
You'll also be doing social media graphics.
And this is a set that I found on Behance, and it's a really nice example of social media
graphics.
Gorgeous stuff right here!
Ebooks are also something you'll probably find yourself designing as a digital graphic
designer.
And this is just showing how the ebook will look on the iPad.
Down here are a few spreads.
I also found this on Behance - it's not my own work.
So you would be doing layout some of the time.
You'll be creating web ads.
These are Google ads.
And they're all going to look pretty similar, but there'll be different sizes and stuff
like that.
These are pretty nice.
Then there's a print designer.
You can possibly work on branding.
This would be logos, business cards, letterhead, possibly a website
(if they're wanting that), envelopes.
Just a lot of different things to represent a business.
Print designers also do newsletter designs, flyers.
They might do brochures like this.
This is actually just a template that I got on Behance.
But I thought it was a really nice layout.
Print designers also do magazine layout.
And we also do things like billboards, signage.
packaging, newspaper pages, even.
It just depends on the type of designer you are.
There are a few different types of designers.
There are agency designers, in-house designers, there are freelancers and then, like specialty
designers.
I used to be a t-shirt designer and that's all I did, all day long, was just designed
t-shirts.
So you can really specialize in that way and only do one type of thing.
But most designers do so many different things.
You'll do web design, you'll do, you know, product, or...not product, print design.
You'll do infographic design, ebooks, and just a lot of different things.
As far as my own personal process as a graphic designer, I worked in an agency for a couple
years, but now I'm a freelance graphic designer.
So usually a project will come to me, let's say it's an infographic.
And I'll have just a Word document.
So it's up to me to kind of concept that out and and figure out what I want to do with
it.
So first I'll do a lot of rough sketches and just kind of figure out what kind of layout
I want to try with this one.
I'll get on Pinterest, I'll get on Behance, and look at a lot of other designers' designs,
get inspiration, and then I'll sit down and get on the computer.
So that would be like Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign, and start creating this infographic.
And once I have everything the way I like it, I'll send it off to the client.
And then they send back changes and it's usually a couple times back and forth before the client
is happy with whatever I've created.
That's just the way it goes with graphic design.
So that's basically my process for everything.
I do sketches first, I do concepting...well, I do concepting and then sketches, and then
I'll sit down to the computer, get on Illustrator, Photoshop and start fleshing things out and
actually get the graphic design completely finalized.
I hope this has helped you to realize what we do every day as graphic designers.
If you have any questions about design or if you liked the video, please leave a comment
in the comment section below.
And I'll see you next week for another graphic design video.
Thank you!!!