For the past few years, the graphic design industry is growing at an enormous speed. If you want to become a reputed designer, you should possess certain skills. These can include creative, business, and communication skills.
For the past few years, the graphic design industry has been growing at an enormous rate. The reason is that this industry offers creative as well as monetary satisfaction. Studies reveal that in the year 2008, 286100 persons in USA were associated with graphic designing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, by the year 2018, number of graphic design jobs will increase by 12%.
This statistics proves the fact that graphic designers will have good opportunities in future. However, this does not mean that the industry will absorb anyone who wants to be a designer. Rather, chances are high that it will only accept those who possess certain qualities. If you want to know, whether you possess certain relevant skills and can leave your mark as a graphic designer, read on.
1. Creativity
Creativity is the most important requirement. With the help of creativity, one can develop designs that are original and unique. Remember that if you do not possess creative skills, you cannot survive in this industry.
2. Education
A graphic design company will generally prefer people who have a formal degree. Therefore, if you are an aspiring designer, try to obtain a degree or diploma in graphic designing or related field. In case, you do not have a degree, attend seminars or workshops to refine your designing skills.
3. Powerful Communication Skills
These days, any job demands good communication skills. Graphic designing is no exception. A good graphic designer should possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. You should be a good listener as well. Listening carefully to the client’s ideas is critical. It will help you to develop designs that reflect requirements of the clients.
4. Ability to Use Computers
For the past few years, experts are taking help of software programs for creating designs. A good designer should know how to use Quark Express, Adobe Photoshop, Flash, and others.
5. Business Skills
To earn reputation in the graphic design industry, you need to possess powerful business skills. You should be aware of marketing and sales strategies, database management. Remember that smart implementation of business strategies will help you to realize your potential as a graphic designer.
6. Technology Skills
Technology now dominates every aspect of our lives. To survive in the graphic design industry, you should know how to operate PCs, printers and other equipment. Additionally, if you already possess social media marketing skills, it would definitely work in your favour.
7. Project Management Skills
Graphic design projects usually come with deadlines. If you are aware of project management skills, you can complete your job within the deadline in a hassle-free manner. This will help you to earn appreciation of your clients. Also, managing time will help you to handle projects effectively and thus, impress clients.
8. Network Building Abilities
Network building abilities will help you to connect with other designers and learn from them. Furthermore, smart networking can help you to acquire more clients.
9. Interpersonal Relations Skills
This is especially important, when you are working as a team. Good interpersonal relations skill will ensure smooth functioning of the team. Additionally, it will encourage your colleagues to trust you.
10. Typography
Every design requires type. If you have in-depth knowledge about typography, chances are high that you can create interesting designs.
11. Flexibility
As a good designer, you should be flexible. You should be able to learn, unlearn, and relearn various things. Every project has different requirements. Therefore, you need to modify your skills and ideas accordingly. Flexibility will also help you to earn a wide range of clients.
12. Paying Attention to Details
Ensure that your project is perfect. Check the spellings and other important details in your designs. Before sending designs to the client, always double-check your work.
13. Problem Solving Skills
While creating designs for a particular project, you may encounter various problems. You have to solve these problems quickly, so that they do not affect quality of your work.
14. Photography Skills
As a graphic designer, you may or may not possess photography skills. However, if you do, it will act as an added advantage. By capturing interesting photos and using them in projects, you can impress your clients.
15. Knowledge about Print Design
Knowledge about print design will help you to understand how your creations would look in print. Knowing this is important, because it will help you to maintain consistency between the computer-generated works and printed products.
We highlighted certain skills that a good graphic designer should possess. However, remember that while working on a project, you may discover that a new skill is needed. In such a situation, you will have to learn it as soon as possible. For this reason, you should always possess an open mind for accepting challenges and overcoming them.
Great thoughts on how to stick to a graphics designer job. I’m just a novice and I learn as I go. So far I’ve had a couple of clients and they seem to find my work ok.
I guess, skills with creativity and passion would be the primary key to be in the industry of graphics design. All the other factors in your could be studied and learn in time but the inborn skills and passion are hard and takes TIME. Great thoughts!
hmmm 15 things to remember and creativity is on the top of it. This should be put as guidelines for success. Paying Attention to details also is important as many clients is particular to what they want to happen.
That’s really a great post to learn a web design.creativity is very important to be a good web designer.
Graphic designing is not easy it needs creativity and passion for the work. Great list to be followed.
Great blog, yes, the more skills you have the more you’ll get employed.
The graphic design is my hobby… I am really interested in this sphere. Thank you for sharing of 15 things we should now! It is great work!
yeah Graphic and web design would become one of the most required services in upcoming years. Both are related to advertising and promotion of business for improving its effectiveness which would require at every new promotional event by different business. Graphic Designer with above skills would survive quickly.
I personally feel that skills, logic and creativity are three important essentials of a Graphic Designer. Many in this field with apt degrees fail due to sheer lack of creativity, confidence and a will to accept changes.
I agree this steps which you say in your post. I thing the Graphic Designer will become take a vast place as a career for upcoming generation. But i can include one thing
in this that if someone wants to go in this field he or she should have a general senses about the design field.
I did a graphics course last year as I was always fond of computer graphic editing and I agree with these points. Communication was especially important when we had to work on a project as a team. If the vision is not properly described then the outcome won’t be as good as it could be.
-Jean
I think creativity is something we are born with. I believesome people are born creative and some are not. Some of the skills above can be learned but creativity, either you have “lots” of it or “little” only. This is just my opinion. 🙂 BTW, I am not creative.
Your blog hits the spot very much and also very good solid information I will apply info to my new and upcoming website thanks again And please contact me if you add more information to this topic.
I’m a graphic artist with over 8 years of design and print experience. and think Creativity, Typography and Project Management Skills are very important. I use almost all the listed skills everyday. Great blog!!!!
The more technical skills the better for this kind of market. These fifteen skills are a must for a graphic design professional. In addition, to stand out, one can hone their programming skills. Learning Javascript and PHP has helped me get more projects and have an edge. So, highly recommend to get some programming skill as well.
Hi,
I like your writing on 15 Skills that will Sustain You in the Graphic Design Industry. Its very helpful for my business as I want to traffic my site on Google. Keep such writing.
Thanks
Learn,unlearn and relearn that is some thing isnd’t most people get settled with their comfort zone of learning alone.
Learn the basics and move on from there. Nobody starts out as the best but if you keep practicing your craft and evolve, you’ll be surprised at what you can achieve. The tips were helpful but you need to learn the basics first because everything else becomes useless.
I am new in that area,i am using adobe cs5 to create diff. templates but not sure if my client will pass that portfolio.
After learning the skills to do graphic design, you might need to practice a lot too.
Nicely laid down tips. I must also add that it is important to keep one self educated and updated with everything (and this includes people that are really talented). Constant learning keeps business stable.
I started as a freelance graphic artist and still working with my designs for improvement 🙂
I’m not a professional graphic designer but some time works on that so this post is really helpful for me, thanks for sharing this informative post.
Organized content is the best way to display or post an article, thank you for making it easy to digest your post.
Network Building Abilities.
The most important thing on the list IMO. Great list either way.
This is good stuff,I’m starting to get an idea of what I’m looking for now.
I just read through the whole article of yours and it was quite good. This is a great article thanks for sharing this informative information. I will visit your blog regularly for some latest post.
Creativity combined with business skill will surely help you sustain you graphic design business.
Great set of tips you have here. I’ll definitely share this with my friends who are into graphic design. This is a good resource for people who are just getting into it.
You will go far as a graphic designer if you have creativity. You may have the skills to become a graphic designer but your creativity will make you stand out.
When you are planning to be graphic design artist it is really needed that you possess these skills and talents that way you will not have a hard time looking for work. Remember that graphic design is the face of the business that is why it is very needed that you create designs that are unique.
There are several skills you need to improve if you want to be a professional web designer. First, you need to improve your layout skill because it is considered as the most important thing
You forgot one important skill, lack of social life due to tight deadlines, & friends/family wanting free or ultra cheap work done. Oh and learning web design is never ending, there’s new browsers/operating systems plus a myriad of portable devices that your web sites need to work on, not to mention getting it on search engines & then the customer wants to add something like a picture of their kid in the banner……………..you try to explain that little Jack has cute as he is, has nothing to do with car repair not to mention his round little visage now ruins the banners look & feel, but then they are paying for it. Also if you’re client is bi-lingual & want you to basically do 2 web sites with a choice of language at the top of each page, so now you have to make sure your web site will load in ‘Dara or Gaelic or Farsi or Gujarati/Punjabi……..aaaaarghhhhhh! Thats when you envy your friends who have mundane 9 to 5 jobs.
Also some people really resent me when I mention what I do? They must assume I just sit in front of a PC making nice pictures with my tongue sticking out like a little kid using crayons.
Communication skills truely are key in, well, any industry really. You need the stock-standard skills that an employer has listed and requires but unless you’ve brushed up on at least the basics of selling yourself and presenting yourself in a confident manner then you’ll really struggle to get the job you’re after if you’re up against other application whom – while sharing the exact same skill set – may present themselves and communicate slightly better.
In few point, you have described very deeply about Graphic Designer. But I think Creativity, font style and Project Management Skills are also very important for Graphic Designer to become ideal.
Web design entails a lot of different disciplines and often, a team of creative and skilled individuals that is working together to accomplish a collective output.
According to many job and employment surveys, one of the fastest growing areas for jobs is in the field of graphic design. Being this popular, many people wonder about what skills they should have in order to attempt finding a job. This post gives a lot of these answers with a list of 15 skills you should have.
Some of these are exactly what you might expect, such as creativity and education. However, a good graphic designer must also be well versed on how to use computers and the required software programs, since so much of this business is done by machines.
Having business skills will also help. The ability to understand what a client is hoping to achieve can go a long way when you are working on designing a campaign or ad. In fact, many other designers who lack such business sense will be left eating your dust!
Most of these are skills that would be useful in just about any other field as well. These are some pretty important things to learn if you want to be successful.
Thanks for sharing these valuable tips for sustaining a career in graphic design! As someone who’s just starting in the industry, I found your insights on communication, time management, and flexibility particularly helpful. It’s great to know that success in this field isn’t just about technical skills, but also about being able to work well with clients and adapt to changing demands. I’ll be keeping these skills in mind as I continue to grow my design career.