Important skills that Designers need
This is really an exciting time for you to learn about graphic design and choose the right career for you. The rise of digital media has created a lot of new opportunities for designers to sharpen their skills, adopt new technologies and experiment with new product design ideas.
There are many ways to specialize in this field and a wide range of skills to master.
In this post, we'll break down the most important knowledge and specifications needed to become a successful graphic designer.
Our goal is to help future design students understand what they will learn in class (and do on the job) if they decide to go this route.
These are the top 10 important skills for graphic designers.
1. MAKING ADOBE DESIGN SOFTWARE
Almost every graphic design job out there requires proficiency in Adobe design software. We're talking about tools like Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. These are fundamental principles for every designer, and are the backbone of graphic design training programs.
Your first step as a budding designer is to learn these apps and start using them to create projects.
If you sign up for a graphic design training course, you'll find your courses revolve around practicing design software by creating a wide range of creative projects — in all areas of design.
You will practice product packaging design, banners, logo and brand design posters, website design, print, digital advertising, posters, and more.
2. SOME COOKING SKILLS
You don't have to be proficient in programming to succeed in graphic design. However, knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is considered a big asset in the field — and increasingly needed for jobs in the design field.
In a recent interview with Creative Bloq, designer Mike Brondbjerg offers the following advice:
"Learning to code on some level - even if it's scripting in Illustrator or Sketch - can help designers generate and iterate ideas faster, and open up a world of complex design. which cannot be done manually."
3. SITE DESIGN
Graphic design and website design go hand in hand. If you plan to work for a marketing, advertising or design company, you will probably spend a lot of time working on websites.
This is where your HTML and CSS skills come into play. No one expects you to build an entire website from scratch, but front-end developer skills come in handy when creating designs.
Graphic design plays an important role in the website design process. They decide where elements are placed and how users interact with the site.
4. GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF USER EXPERIENCE (UX)
With the rise of digital graphic design and design for websites and apps, it's become more important for designers to understand the principles of user experience — or UX.
This refers to the part of your design that the user actually interacts with. The goal is to make this interaction as easy and pleasant as possible.
It involves understanding how people connect to digital interfaces on a cognitive, emotional, and physical level.
UX is its own area of expertise within the vast digital realm... but understanding some of the basics will set you apart as a graphic designer.
5. PRINT DESIGN
Contrary to what you might think, graphic designers have not given up on the world of print design.
Most design firms will want you to be flexible and willing to tackle projects like product packaging, posters, billboards, business cards, and other common print materials.
You'll need to know about the paper stock, printing process, finishing, color use, and more. Remember: graphics aren't everything digital. A balanced skill set means better job opportunities.
Print design including posters, book covers, album covers, product packaging and business cards
6. LEARN & TEST CONTINUOUSLY
Graphic design trends change by the minute. There are always new fads, techniques, tools and technologies emerging.
To stay on top and really thrive in the field, you'll need to embrace the idea of continuous learning and professional development.
You may have your own tastes, heroes, and design styles — but you shouldn't be afraid to stretch yourself and experiment with new ideas. Regularly visiting DafontVN to stay up-to-date with new design trends is one of the great ways to keep up with the times.
7. CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Renowned UX designer and expert, Steve Fisher, reminds us that “Design is about solutions, not images”.
Good design always solves a problem. And it does so in a way that is innovative, unique, and engaging.
Every client you work with will need you to meet certain goals with your design. Some of these will be related to driving sales, click-through rates or brand awareness.
Whatever the challenge, you need to be creative about how you approach and solve it.
The ability to think critically, stay calm under pressure, and see problems from different angles are key to this job.
8. PASSION AND PROFESSIONAL
Design projects rarely go according to plan. It's quite normal when a deadline is approaching, a team member is slow to contribute their work, or a client is constantly asking for a change.
Patience is a key virtue in the field, as you work through obstacles, appease clients and bosses, and work towards the best possible design for each brief you receive.
After all, this is both a technical and creative process. Great ideas can take time to develop, and bringing those ideas to life with design software can be a meticulous process.
You'll need to stay grounded, diplomatic, and undaunted by setbacks as you go through the inevitable ups and downs of each project.
9. COMMUNICATION, NEGOTIATION AND COLLABORATION
The three pillars of successful project management in graphic design are communication, negotiation, and collaboration.
You will build on all of these skills, every time you work on a new design project. It's the first stage, where you'll listen to your client's goals and preferences, ask questions to clarify what they want, and share your preliminary ideas.
And then there's phase two, where you'll present your model, listen to feedback, and negotiate changes.
And along the way, you'll regularly collaborate with other professionals — developers, content writers, your boss, and more. — to gather ideas and create the final product.
Bottom line: You'll need excellent interpersonal skills to excel in this field. You must be able to work with a team and accept criticism gracefully.
Skills are essential for you to pursue this subject. Graphic design was born to meet the needs of beauty and aesthetics in conveying information and messages for many different fields to everyone.
Graphic design is the combination of images and information to create impressive and visually stimulating products. Learners in this field of graphic design are often creative, sensitive to color and images. If you are not confident in your ability but still want to join this field, what do you need to do? Please refer to this article.
Love the creativity
When you come to the profession, the first thing you need to have is a passion for unique products. When you like, you are already among the people who can participate in this study program, you do not need to be too sharp or able to judge beauty, the other is harmonious.
Love the beauty
When you always love beauty, soulful pictures from newspapers or magazines, ... but you see that beauty is great, you should study graphic design. The love of beauty when participating in the graphic design and creative industry will help you succeed.
Eager to learn new things
This graphic design industry always requires new things to not be outdated, you must update the trends of the times to capture the needs of this market and in the future.
Mastering the design tools will make it a lot easier for you to pursue a major in graphic design
Define your own style
When you decide to pursue this industry, the first thing you need to do is to have a style for yourself. This is the key point so that viewers can know whose product this is at first sight.
Text and font layout
This is an industry that uses images to convey information, so graphic design products need to use words to describe the content that images cannot replace. When creating designs with images, designers are very limited on the above words, but when using typography, it always has to be expensive and beautiful, to be able to meet aesthetic needs you need to know how to use it. use fonts. In the process of attending schools, you will learn about the best and most beautiful font sizes.
Always be creative and learn
When the graphic design industry is not coincidentally becoming popular in the current 4.0 technology era, besides the development of technology, people have become lazy, especially in the process of learning information. People will always find ways to capture information without spending too much time, graphic design has met that need for you.
Print design
You need to understand the printing process such as color, layout, effects, .... in which color is the thing you should pay attention to most in printing products.
Sketching skills
This is the technique where you create a graphic design product, you have to shape your final product to present to your guests and management. If you do not write your outline in advance, it can easily lead to spontaneous work and not good results. When you have sketching skills, you will also save the ideas that flash up suddenly.
However, if you want to enter this field of graphic design, you need to have a thorough training process to have solid knowledge when entering the profession in the most professional way.