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My 3 year old daughter said to me recently ‘Daddy do you draw and do colouring in at work’. It reminded me that for years people have had the misconception that Graphic designers sit at their desks in their ripped jeans, listening to loud music and draw and colour in all day.
Two out of the Three may be true, however Graphic design is more than just creating pretty pictures. Great artists create unique pictures that divide opinion and let the viewer explore their own interpretation of what it is and what it is about. A Graphic designer on the other hand needs to create a piece of work that communicates to the viewer how they are supposed to be feeling and how we want them to interpret the information. We are problem solvers and use shapes, typography, colours and images to communicate what our clients want their customers to do and how they want them to interact with their brand or product.
How we do it
Before we even put pen to paper or turn on our fancy mac computers we need to work out what the clients problem is and how we can solve it. We do this by getting to know and fully understand our clients and their company. We then find out what their competition is doing, what trends there are in their industry, what their target market is etc. Then we can start to work out the type of message we need to portray to make them stand out and start to sketch out and develop the graphical elements that will help identify a product or convey a message.
Once we have all this information, we create and put it all together in a visual way using a range of software and technologies available to us. It is then presented back to the client for review and often tweaked before it gets signed off.
Is that it
No, our job is not over then either, once signed off we then need to check through a document and get it ready for print and/or web based applications and must select and liaise with appropriate third parties such as printers, web developers and marketing departments to ensure our work is executed in the right way. If it is a printed brochure for example, we also need to look into ways we can strengthen the design and message by choosing the right type of paper to print on and the right finish.
Choosing your designer
So when you are next choosing a graphic designer for your business it is worth spending a bit of time finding the right one for you as a good graphic designer is for life. The more you use the same designer or design agency the better they will get to know you and your company and will not only provide clearer messages within the work they do for you but also will ensure you have a consistent message, tone of voice and appearance across your brand.
