If you have made up your mind to become a graphic designer, then the next logical step would be to attend a good, accredited design school. The important thing to remember here is that it is very difficult to get a good job in design without a 4 year bachelors degree in graphic design. It may not be easy to find a school that is suitable for you, however with patience and proper research it is possible to find one. The easiest and quickest option is to join a college that gives a certificate program, as opposed to a 4 year degree program. However as mentioned before this may not look good on a resume.

It may not be fair, but most design firms look for candidates who have attended reputable schools. Most universities and colleges nowadays offer a graphic design course. The first thing that needs to be done is to collect as much information about the school. This means looking at course catalogues. By examining these catalogues it will be possible to tell if the program is right for you. This way you will be able to compare between schools and choose the right one. It is better not to choose one based solely on cost and location. For this kind a vocation going to the right school will pay of in the long run.

There are other ways to find a good graphic design school such as asking around at the local chamber of commerce or the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Nowadays with the help of the internet there are many good online schools that offer courses in graphic design. For those of you wanting to go for another career this may be an excellent idea. The main benefit of online graphic schools is flexibility of time.

Please find here more information http://www.find-graphic-design-schools.com

By: Emanuele Miglioretti

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In order to participate in a graphic designer course there are certain requirements that a person will need to meet. So before a person can actually look for a course they first need to understand what graphic design course requirements they will need to have. In this article we will take a look at the various requirements people who wish to study and earn a certificate or degree in Graphic Design will need to meet.

For entry onto a graphic design course many Universities, Colleges as well as online courses require their students to show a commitment to learning about all aspects of art and design. It is best if a student has obtained an advance understanding of everything to do with art and design which they would have to learn both through theory and practice.

But for all students whether do a basic graphic designer course or one which will lead to them obtaining a degree they need to be able to sustain high levels of research for an MA. Plus they need a mind that is not only imaginative but is open and willing to accept new ideas.

The basics of any graphic design course is to help its students to learn and understand the importance of planning and then executing any designs that they have. These designs are then used to communicate a message according to the particular wants and needs of their client.

However when looking at graphic design courses it is important that you do not get this muddled up with graphic art ones. Graphic art courses generally teach the students about the technical side of graphic matter s relating to printing or electronic pre press. Rather than actually teaching the students the things you need in order to produce a design and then execute that design.

Through out the course as part of any graphic design course requirements the students will need to learn not only technological skills, but also conceptual and formal ones as well. Parts of their course work will cover foundation art matters such as drawing, colour and how to use 3D. Whilst in other parts of the course they will learn about the history of graphic design along with some elective subjects as well.

If you are someone who is able to meet al or most of the graphic design requirements that we have mentioned above you can then start to look at the various courses that Universities and online centers have available. But be prepared if you want to obtain a professional degree in graphic design you will need to allow 4 years in order to do so.

By: Paul Abbey

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Everyone from president of a company to part-time admin assistant has been graced with the burden of designing a flyer, post card, poster, etc. Most people are pressed for time, so they begin working on the computer with their favorite graphic design program. Little do they know, this actually lengthens the required time to complete their graphic design.

All designers will tell you to brainstorm, sketch, organize ideas, and so on, and I say the same thing. There are many things that I do before designing anything, but I have created a table that helps me organize my ideas. This table will help anyone that is faced with a graphic design project, so please put this to good use, before you go to the computer to create your masterpiece!

An explanation of each line is included below.

Graphic Design Pre-Project Checklist/Table

Title: Budget: Format: Purpose: Target Audience: Call To Action: Delivery Time Frame: Response Time Frame: Elements To Include:
Title – Give your project a title. This will help you organize files on the computer and find them at a later date, because you will always come back to an old file.

Budget – You must determine what the total budget of this project is. Establishing a budget will help you determine the best way to start your design and what special elements and features you can put into it.

Format – What will this project look like? Is it a 4×6 postcard or tri-fold brochure? How will it be distributed?

Purpose – List here what the purpose of this piece is. List why you are creating it, who it is for, why they need it, and what they are supposed to do.

Target Audience – Expand on who this project is intended for. Detail demographic, sociographic, and psychographic details about your target. This will help you in determining what the piece will look like and what kind of style it should have.

Call To Action – Explain exactly what you want the target to do. (i.e. Call Now – 1-800-555-5555, Visit Us On The Web!, or Return The Enclosed Card)

Delivery Time Frame – How long will it take to design, print, and deliver this piece to your audience? This makes you analyze what will be required to for delivery.
Response Time Frame – How long do you expect the target to take before taking action? This is useful when determining wording, call to action, and delivery methods. This will also establish a point in time to start return analysis.

Elements To Include – This should be the longest item in your table. You need to list everything you want in your piece. You don’t have to write out every bit of text, but I include at least sub topics. Also include address info, pictures, tables, requests, logos, etc. Anything that you want in your graphic design project should be included here. If you are working with a team, you will be able to review these elements and eliminate several revisions later.

Feel free to copy and distribute this table. It has been invaluable to me on every one of my projects, and I think you find your projects take less time, look better, and are more effective.

By: Nate Stockard

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Introduction

So you want to hire a graphic designer? For any clients out there i just want to let you know that every graphic design project is unique. It might sound confusing at first but it is difficult to perfectly predict how the process will unravel. While many projects out there will go through a similar process to reach the final result, the truth is that every project will develop uniquely, and may take varying amounts of time and work to complete. This is a walk through of the graphic design process that i used when creating a design for one of my clients. I have outlined the basic steps that i went through and you can take this as an example of the general stages a designer uses when designing, to end up at a final design visual. This article is a guide for clients wondering about how a graphic designer creates a design and will also give an understanding of why clients must pay what they do for graphic design work. After reading the article you will have an idea of how much work is involved, because there are many parts of the process that clients will not get to see first hand!

Stage 1: The brief

The first stage of any graphic design project is the brief. The brief outlines in words the purpose of the design, the application type and the ideas that it is supposed to represent. At the beginning of the project the client and the graphic designer must communicate ideas back and forth about the design, so that the designer is well informed about it, and can then start the project and take it in the right direction. You can communicate ideas over the phone, via email, or in person, or you might use all of these methods. All in all, the better that the idea has been communicated, and the more information a designer can get about the design, the better he or she will cater for the clients needs. Just remember that information, and lots of it, is the key to a successful design!

Stage 2: Referencing

Its often really helpful for the client to provide some examples of what kind of designs and styles they like at the beginning of the project. Its not a necessity but often this can cut a lot of time from the design process and save money. Its not really cheating if you are not stealing the design. Good referencing is a way of getting ideas for the project from other successful designs without stealing. A reference should be clear, exhibiting either the colour scheme, style or feel of the desired outcome. It is often a great idea to borrow from other successful designs, because there is nothing better than growing and learning with the help of your top competitors. Every design process is unique. You might use a reference, none at all, or maybe even introduce one in the middle of the project. Every design journey is different, and every destination unique. The positive side of using a reference is that the designer will not have to spend hours creating new ideas, doing layouts and changing the design numerous times before coming across a design that both of you are happy with.

Stage 3: Concept visuals

Concept Visuals, or rough concepts are just a very simple representation of the components of the design. You can do a simple drawing or generate some quick ideas with adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. I generally like to use what i will be using for the final design.

A note for unsatisfied clients: Sometimes when a client is given the concept roughs, they will tend to have second thoughts and become afraid thinking they might have gotten themselves into a dodgy deal with an unqualified designer. My advice is: DON’T WORRY! Please don’t judge the book by its cover and assume that your designer is an amateur and that you are paying for someone who is going to mess up your job! This is just the beginning! The concepts and the roughs are meant to be of a really rough quality! The idea is to get many concepts out on paper in as quick a time as possible. If you are truly not sure about the person you have hired, at least you can have a look and judge their standard by looking at the other jobs they have done for other clients. If you are seeing that most of their work is of a high quality you can just relax and take the process as it comes. Just because the concept roughs don’t look amazing, doesn’t mean that the end result will not be! I promise that if you are patient until the end your design your graphic designer will create an amazing piece of art and design into fruition for your company! Its up to you but just be aware that if you decide to go with another designer its an infringement of copyright to take the designs and have them reproduced by the first designer and hand them to someone else. Your new designer will have to start again from scratch and might take extra time and money. Just be aware.

For clients without a reference: Some clients may not have a reference or a fair idea of what they want the outcome to turn out like. That is understandable, after all you have hired the designer, for a reason. Because they are talented at representing ideas visually and know what they are doing, right? In this case the designer will probably get to work and produce a variety of concept visual responses to the brief, one of which will be chosen to develop further. Concept visuals can be really simple, such as a few 5 minute line drawings, or some computer generated ones as well.

Often the designer will get straight to work churning out idea after idea for the design. This is usually how it works, as a designer tries to get all of their ideas out and ‘on paper,’ at the beginning. After the designer is happy with the amount of satisfactory options they have come up with, they will usually send them to the client to be viewed. It’s good for the client to have some options when choosing a design especially if they are still at the ideas stage of the process themselves.

Stage X: Revison

I call this stage X because a revision can happen at any time! While it is more desirable for a revision to happen at the early stages of the project you never really know when it is going to come up. A revision is essentially a change that needs to be made to the project which moves it in another direction or replaces one of the main elements. A designer will usually offer a certain amount of free revisions before the client will need to start paying to make any more major changes.

Stage 4: Rough Visuals

Rough’s or rough visuals, are an important part of any project as they help to map out the various elements of the design and are use to experiment with layout, colour and the rest. In most projects there would normally be a couple of roughs done to show the client. At the end of this stage the client will discuss the project so far with the designer and choose the most suitable option for them. The designer can then begin to work on the final design. By this stage most of the thinking and conceptual work should be close to resolved and the project should be heading in the right direction.

The creation of a rough image: Use a reference, save the file numerous times (if using a computer), and try to get it to the highest professional standard that you can at this stage. You can use your hand drawings in combination with or simply just use Photoshop and Illustrator (or whatever other program you are using). Make sure to create a couple of options if possible so that the client can have a browse and choose the one that they like best.

working with text: Use whatever program that suits you. I usually use Adobe Illustrator or InDesign and import the text into Photoshop for the final blending and style options. Text from Illustrator turns out much clearer/professional than when done through Photoshop. Play around with many of the fonts and settle down to at least three that you think work best. Make sure that they match the style of the company or design that you are making. Be careful with certain jobs for example: posters, to not use more than three different fonts. Work with the fonts and blending options and styles and create a couple of examples for your client to have a look through.

Putting it together: Work with text in conjunction with the image to create a logo that looks ‘right,’ ie: the colours and styles match, and has an overall unique impact that is aesthetically pleasing to look at and advertises they type of business it is designed for well.

Stage 5: The Final Design

For the final stage of the design, the graphic designer is required have a look and re-asses the project as it is so far. Are there any typos? Do the images look as professional as they can? Do the styles match? Do the fonts work? Are the layouts mathematically perfect and everything aligned? Are figures in the right pose or have the right facial expression? Does this truly represent the company as they want to be represented? Will this design suit their demographic? And can i do it any better than i have done? A designer must put together all the pieces so far and really take a look to see if anything should be changed or improved. Trust your designers eye for details and intuitions to help you along with this. Then when it is all looking right, you can call it complete! When you present it to the client, if you are doing it in person it always helps to have the designs printed on professional looking paper and put into a display folder for viewing. If you are doing it online, make sure that you send a low quality and small file, which is still visible if you are unsure about whether you are going to be paid. Not everyone tries to get something for nothing, but you never know. It is wise to protect yourself and get down to settling the contract first by filling in the final parts of the contract such as final payment figures and copyright information. Make sure that it is signed and agreed to by both clients, and then you can finish off the deal by giving the client what they hired you for! The designs.

At the end of the project the designer will be required to send, via post, or electronically the final version of the project in whatever formats are needed. Usually jpeg and pdf is sufficient, of 300dpi or more quality, of the right size for print or other media, and in cmyk and rgb color versions. Depending on the job the client may want you to seek printing services and send the final product directly to them. In this case you should arrange additional costs for the printing process. Make sure that you inform your client of the copyright information that you have asked them to agree to. Most designers will ask for extra payment for licensing copyright on top of the project, or for giving the client extra rights to the artwork or image. There are usually certain restrictions such as the the type of media it can be used for, amount of prints or time in which it will expire.

I hope that all designers and clients out there will get the best out of their client/designer relationships and that many new projects can blossom from this unique process. It is also important to be prepared in case something goes wrong, and a contract will usually solve many problems. Happy designing!

By: Elly Klamo

About the Author:

Graphic design covers a wide range of areas. It covers the Internet, brochures, leaflets, branding, and all sorts of advertising. Below are some graphic design principles.

EVERYTHING SHOULD BE RELEVANT

Everything on the page should have some relevance. If an item is not necessary to put across your message then it does not need to be there. The fewer items there are the more there is for the audience to make sense of, so they are more likely to focus on what is there. A few relevant items will work much more affectively than a large number of irrelevant items.

DESIGN REPETITIVENESS

There should be a consistency throughout design materials. This is more relevant for media with many pages, such as websites, brochures and leaflets. If design is similar throughout then it gives a campaign a theme and therefore helps the audience connect. If a campaign has a website, print advertisements and a brochure then they should have similar design features so the public see the connection. This is all part of successful branding. The more the audience sees the same message and design the more likely it is to be at the forefront of their mind.

PROXIMITY OF RELEVANT ITEMS

Items that are related should be place close to one another, while items that are not should be separated. This allows the audience to see the relationship between items and get an idea of their relevance towards each other. This is something that plays on the subconscious mind of the viewer. If they see items together they subconsciously think of them as being important to each other.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Simplicity is key. You cannot afford to overwork the view as they will get bored. You need to catch people’s attention by being simplistic but convincing. You don’t have long to get your audience involved; you need to get their attention quickly as they may not have time to read and take in a complex graphic. You shouldn’t overdo the detail.

TEXT

Text needs to be easy to read. To use the example of a poster, the viewer doesn’t want to stand in front of the poster intensively focusing to read the text. (S)he needs to be able to read it quickly and easily. The text should be fairly consistent throughout, although larger text for important parts of the message can make it stand out.

LANGUAGE

You should use similar language throughout. Don’t’ talk in the present and then in the past as though it is the same thing. Another thing you should avoid where possible is referring to things in the first, second and third person at different times. Speaking to the audience means using language they will understand, and not language you would use within your industry. The language will depend on who your audience is; professional language might be relevant in the business world.

PLAY ON EXPECTATIONS

If people expect something to be associated with a certain design, use this to your advantage. For example, people expect red to signify danger, to if you are trying to use the thought of danger in your campaign, you should use red.

Andrew Marshall ?

By: Andrew Marshall

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