- 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 to becoming a graphic designer,
then join me as I discuss
this series of graphic design topics.
(upbeat electronic music)
So, after a successful graphic design interview,
at the design agency, one would hopefully get offered a job.
If one accepts, they will find themselves in a new job
in the design industry.
Now, like most industries,
graphic design has a position system.
This system is typically defined
by experience and ability.
Indeed, graphic design is broad
and there can be a range of specialties.
However, the position system
is pretty much the same throughout.
When entering into the design industry,
depending on education, experience and ability,
you could enter in at any level.
After accepting a job, depending on what job is undertaken,
one will find themselves at a particular point
in this position system.
As you develop your experience and build a reputation,
you can move up the career ladder.
In this video, I'm going to talk about this position system
and the typical career options within the industry.
In this video, I'll also share some of my experience.
So, in the graphic design industry,
you typically have two main role categories.
One, creative workforce roles and two, direction roles.
For the creative workforce roles,
we have intern designer, junior designer,
middleweight designer and senior designer.
For the direction roles, you have head of design
or also referred to as lead designer, art director,
senior creative and creative director.
Now, depending on the agency you work for,
there may be additional levels or, perhaps,
different terms for these.
These are the typical levels found in the industry
and can mean different things
to different agencies and designers.
The creative workforce roles will include roles
of research, creative thinking and problem solving.
The manual task of producing creative work
on computer and delivery.
In one's career, you will typically start
in the creative workforce.
And, with experience, ability and ambition,
work your way up to a directing role.
The direction roles do vary
in responsibility and specialty.
One may spend many years in the workforce as a designer
to realize what potential they have
and which directive role they may wish to pursue.
The direction roles will typically guide
and direct the creative workforce.
They will be responsible for using the skills
and talents of the creative workforce
to create a high standard creative solution.
So, now, I'm going to talk about each level in more detail.
So, first is the intern designer.
So, the intern designer role is the entry level
and depending on performance can last from a few weeks
to a few months.
This can be the first step for a designer entering
into the industry.
Internships are good for designers looking
to get crucial experience at the start of their career.
This role comes with little to no responsibility.
As an intern, you may be shadowing other designers
or helping them out with various tasks.
The type of designers that typically apply for internships
are students, graduates or newcomers to the industry.
This is the time where an agency will see
if you have what it takes to be fully employed.
If they feel you fit,
they may offer you a permanent position
as a junior designer.
When I graduated from university back in 2007,
I ended up taking a few internships.
This was good experience
and I had the opportunity to get involved in projects.
This crucial experience helped me get a job later on
as a junior designer.
So, next, we have the junior designer.
So, the junior designer role is another entry level.
The difference between the intern designer
and the junior designer level is that the junior level
is paid, whereas a lot of internships are not.
Like the internship,
this can be the first step for a designer entering
into the industry for the first time.
One of your main responsibilities will be
to be produce creative work
and help out with various design tasks.
This role comes with little responsibility
and one should be encouraged to learn
and shadow other designers.
As a junior designer,
you will be briefed by senior members of the team
and directed on what to do creatively
and encouraged to bring your ideas to the table.
As you produce your work, you will have to report
to senior members or you will be advised
on amendments if necessary.
The type of designers that typically apply
for a junior designer role
will be graduates or newcomers to the industry.
As you undertake your role as a junior designer
over a few short years,
you will learn and develop more skills
and produce more work.
With more experience, you will become more middleweight.
If you are fortunate, your employer will recognize this
and reward you with an increase in salary
and a new official title of middleweight designer.
Now, this does not always happen.
On a lot of occasions, to move up,
you have to move out.
A lot of designers will have to leave an agency
in order to practice at a higher level.
I was actually a junior designer for a number of years
in my first role.
When I realized there was no room to maneuver
in my first agency,
I decided to look for a new job.
Eventually, I moved into a new agency
as a middleweight designer.
So, next, we have the middleweight designer.
So, the middleweight designer role comes
with more responsibility and expectation.
Just like with the junior role, your main responsibilities
will be the produce creative work.
Though, at this level, you will be expected to design
and execute your work to a higher standard
and often faster.
As a middleweight designer,
you may no longer have to be briefed by senior members.
You may be trusted and expected
to deal directly with clients
or take a brief from account handlers.
As you create your work, you'll still typically
have to report and show your work
to more senior members of the team
where you will be advised on amendments if necessary.
You will still be encouraged to learn,
shadow other senior designers
and help out with various design tasks.
The types of designers that typically apply
for middleweight designer roles
are graduates or those with a few years experience
in the industry.
As you undertake your role as middleweight designer,
over a few years you will learn even more
and refine your skills further.
Perhaps, even specialize in your area of expertise.
With more experience and skill, you'll become more senior.
If you are fortunate, your employer will recognize this
and reward you with an increase in salary
and a new official title of senior designer.
Though, unfortunately, this is not always the case.
The issue in some agencies is they will already have a team
of designers, many at different levels.
If you're taken on at a particular level
and spend a few years developing your skills
and believe you are worth more
and lacking creative opportunities,
it maybe the case there is no way for you to move up
in that agency as there are already designers
in those senior roles.
If this is the case, as mentioned earlier,
you may have to leave your current agency
and apply for a more senior role in another.
I was middleweight designer at an agency
for about two years.
When I realized there was no room to maneuver,
I decided to look for a new job.
To which, I had to move out to move up.
So, next, we have the senior designer.
So, the senior designer role comes with
even more responsibility and expectation.
Just like with the junior and middleweight role,
your main responsibilities will be to use your skills
and experience to produce creative work.
At this level, you will be expected to design and execute
your own ideas to a high standard.
At this level, you may also be in part responsible
for the development of a project
and oversee junior designers
and other creative professionals
working on a project such as, motion graphics designers,
photographers, web developers and so on.
As you create your work, you will still typically
have to report and show your work to more senior members
of the team like a creative director,
who may advise on amendments if necessary.
The type of designers that typically apply
for senior design roles
are those with years of experience in the industry,
have a high standard of work with good references.
Now, generally, the senior designer role
is the highest you can achieve
in the creative workforce category.
As you undertake your role as a senior designer,
over years of practice and experience,
you will learn even more and refine your skills further.
Perhaps, even specialize in your area of expertise.
The next step for a senior designer
is into a more director role.
Now, if you are fortunate enough,
your employer will recognize this
and reward you with an increase in salary
and an opportunity for a more senior direction role.
Though, if there are no opportunities,
you may have to consider leaving your current agency
and applying for a direction role in another agency.
So, those are the main levels that exist
in the workforce category.
Now, typically, the role of a junior, middleweight
and senior designer are the same,
to produce creative work.
The main difference is between them are the expectations
of experience, quality of work and speed.
As you become more senior, you may be encouraged
to oversee other members of a creative workforce
and make important creative decisions.
The more experience you get with this,
the more you will find yourself moving towards
a direction role.
So, next, we have the head of design or lead designer role.
In my experience, I have found that this role
is not particularly common to design agencies,
but more so in in-house design teams.
I have been to some agencies where this role exists
and to others where it does not.
And, where it does the head of design or lead designer
will typically be responsible for a creative workforce,
that deadlines are met
and to maintain overall creative standards.
In my experience, this role is like a creative director,
but with more administrative responsibilities.
The type of designers that become head of design
or lead designer are those with years of experience
in the industry,
leading projects and overseeing the workforce.
The head of design or lead designer
will distribute design tasks down through the workforce
as they see fit
and oversee and direct the team.
During the course of a project,
the creative workforce will submit ideas and designs
and the head or lead designer will direct accordingly,
make creative decisions and work together
with the workforce to refine
and produce a creative solution.
Like the creative workforce, the head of design
or lead designer will still be involved
in the creative process.
But, due to increased responsibility,
may need to rely more on the production from the workforce.
A good head of design or lead designer
will not see themselves as superior to the workforce,
only, perhaps, more experienced where they can guide
the skills, talents of the workforce to produce
the best results.
So, next, we have the art director role.
So, the art director is a common role in large agencies
to create work for magazines, newspapers or packaging.
The art director will typically be responsible
for a visual style and image
and report to senior members of the team.
Unlike the head of design or lead designer role,
the art director is generally not responsible
for the workforce or to meet any specific deadlines.
The art director is free of this sort of responsibility
and is often
out on location directing photo shoots or films.
It's up to the art director to create the overall design
and direct others in a creative workforce
to artwork or layout ideas.
As a creative solution is being developed,
the art director may have to report to senior members
such as the head of design, lead designer
or creative director for approval or guidance.
The type of designers that become art directors
are those with years of experience in the industry,
have a good eye for composition and style
and like to direct photo shoots for magazines or film.
So, next, we have the senior creative.
So, the senior creative role is usually found
in large, prestigious creative agencies.
The senior creative will typically be responsible
for the concept or idea for a project
and report to a creative director.
The senior creative will often develop ideas
and draw them as scamps
which are submitted to the creative director.
These could be magazine layouts, packaging design,
photo compositions, ad layouts and storyboards for a video.
If a concept or idea is agreed on,
the creative workforce will be called upon
to develop the idea.
If there is artwork or layout to be done,
the designers will do this.
If there is a photo shoot required,
the art directors will lead this.
As work develops, it will be overseen by the senior creative
and the creative director to ensure the creative vision
is being met into a high standard.
The type of designers that become senior creatives
are those with years of experience in the industry,
have good conceptual thinking,
are good at generating original ideas
and good at communicating those ideas.
So, the last role which is the highest role
you can get in the creative industry
is the creative director.
The creative director is responsible for using the talents
of the creative workforce to create a solution.
The creative director will work with designers, artists,
copywriters, sales teams and marketers
to create a vision for a project.
Where it is the role of the designers, creatives
and art directors to design and produce ideas,
it will be for the creative director
to shape these into finished campaigns.
To become a creative director,
is not just a natural progression of the designer.
It requires a lot of experience, skill and talent.
The type of designers that become creative directors
are those with many years of experience in the industry
and demonstrate the skills of all the previous roles.
They are visionaries.
They are very good at working with people.
Talking to people and selling an idea.
They will be good conceptual thinkers,
good at generating ideas
and good at communicating those ideas to an audience.
A good creative director will never see themselves
as superior to the workforce, only, perhaps,
more experience where they can guide the skills and talents
of the workforce to produce the best results.
So, those are some of the positions
in the graphic design industry
and some of the career options to aspire to.
If you would like to take a closer look
at the list discussed in this video,
you can find out more in the PDF document
that accompanies this video series.
Download link is in the description.
So, what are your experiences of the industry?
Are you currently a designer
and what position would you say you're at?
Do you have any stories to share of your progress?
Be sure to share your comments below.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this video.
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So, once you're settled
into your first graphic designer role.
If you're ambitious, you may be wondering
how you can become a more professional designer
and how you can develop your career.
One of the key ways to progress
is through career development.
In the next video,
I'm going to discuss some of the options
you can consider to take your career
in a new direction.
See you in the next video.
(upbeat electronic music)