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| Home >>Graphic Designer |
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| Graphic designer |
Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The graphic designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. Web graphic design is the process of communicating visually using text and images to present information. Graphic designer web site practices embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. |
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| Like other forms of design, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated. |
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Web graphic design is the process of communicating visually using text and images to present information. Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Like other forms of design, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated. Graphic designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs. Graphic designers develop the overall layout and production design of magazines, newspapers, journals, corporate reports, and other publications. They also produce promotional displays, packaging, and marketing brochures for products and services, design distinctive logos for products and businesses, and develop signs and signage systems—called environmental graphics—for business and government. An increasing number of graphic designers also are developing material for Internet Web pages, interactive media, and multimedia projects. Graphic designers also may produce the credits that appear before and after television programs and movies. |
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Image-based design |
| Graphic designer web sites develop images to represent the ideas their clients want to communicate. Images can be incredibly powerful in graphic design and compelling tools of communication, conveying not only information but also moods and emotions. For example, you know that a chili pepper is hot, and this knowledge in combination with the image creates a visual pun. In the case of image-based graphic design, the images must carry the entire message; there are few if any words to help. These images may be photographic, painted, drawn, or graphically rendered in many different ways. Image-based graphic designer web sites are employed when the graphic designer determines that, in a particular case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. |
Type-based design |
| In some cases, graphic designers rely on words to convey a message, but they use words differently from the ways writers do. To graphic designers, what the words look like is as important as their meaning. The visual forms, whether typography (communication designed by means of the printed word) or handmade lettering, perform many communication functions. Graphic designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs. |
| When you look at an “ordinary” printed page of running text, what is involved in graphic designing such a seemingly simple page? Think about what you would do if you were asked to redesign the page. Would you change the typeface or type size? Would you divide the text into two narrower columns? What about the margins and the spacing between the paragraphs and lines? What other kinds of treatment might you give the page number? Would you change the boldface terms, perhaps using italic or underlining? What other changes might you consider, and how would they affect the way the reader reacts to the content? Designers evaluate the message and the audience for type-based design in order to make these kinds of decisions. |
Image and type |
| Graphic designers often combine images and typography to communicate a client's message to an audience. They explore the creative possibilities presented by words (typography) and images (photography, illustration, and fine art). It is up to the designer not only to find or create appropriate letterforms and images but also to establish the best balance between them. |
| Symbols, logos and logotypes |
| Symbols and logos are special, highly condensed information forms or identifiers. Symbols are abstract representation of a particular idea or identity. Logotypes are corporate identifications based on a special typographical word treatment. Some identifiers are hybrid, or combinations of symbol and logotype. In order to create these identifiers, the graphic designers must have a clear vision of the corporation or idea to be represented and of the audience to which the message is directed. |
Web graphic designer —or graphic designer web sites—plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications problems. They decide the most effective way of getting a message across in print and electronic media using a variety of methods such as color, type, illustration, photography, animation, and various print and layout techniques. |
| A graphic designer must be able to synthesize feedback from a number of different sources into a distinctive image; use research prepared by a marketing department and cost specifications determined by a budgeting department; and produce a variety of sketches and models that demonstrate different approaches to the product. This takes a person who can listen to comments and has a good eye for aesthetic design, a flair for color, and a solid understanding of the needs of the corporate world. “Graphic design isn't one job. It's 20,” wrote one overworked designer. When projects are under way, graphic designers can expect to work long hours brainstorming and meeting with executives to discuss ideas. The job is highly visible; successes and failures alike are recognized and are put on display. Individuals who are insecure about their skills or their ideas have a hard time accepting the amount of risk and rejection this career entails. A successful graphic designer has an enviable life, choosing clients and earning significant amounts of money. However, be warned: An artist's style may be very hot one season and turn into a parody the next. People who are unwilling or unable to change could find promising careers declining. Of the nearly 25,000 people who try to enter the field of graphic design each year, only about 60 percent last the first two years, and about 30 percent remain in the field at five years. |
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