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Graphic Designer in Depth
Graphic designers come up with visual ideas for media companies using software such as computers to communicate an idea or message to the audience. They can create print media designs such as posters, leaflets, and magazines. However, they also work online with things like social media and websites. Graphic designers need to be in constant communication with the client to ensure their ideas are what they envisage for the product. They will need to refer to the client brief and focus on things like colour scheme, font, images, and target audience factors. They will often be given a time scale they have to work within, which means they have to set milestones for themselves to guarantee the product is done when the client needs it. The graphic designer will have to come up with a variety of ideas to give back to the clients, which means they have to be open-minded when it comes to outsider ideas. They have to constantly be researching trends online within the target audience to allow for the product to be successful.
Behaviour and Attributes
Criticisim: Graphic designers will have to be good at taking criticism, as it can be given quite harshly and directly by the client. They will also need to be able to understand and take criticism as a positive thing and make changes accordingly, as the client is the top priority and their feelings should be taken care of and completed. Failure to do so could result in the project being terminated and the company losing out on money.
Problem-Solving: Good problem-solving skills are a good skill to have as a graphic designer, as the client may not like a specific aspect of the product, leading to changes needing to be made.
Consistency: This is important when it comes to the job of a graphic designer, as the client may have a specific brief that will need to be stuck to, and keeping consistent with it will ensure the client is happy with the final product.
Patience: Graphic designers will need to be patient with clients when it comes to talking to them about what they want, as they may not have every detail thought about. They will also need to be patient with themselves, as coming up with ideas can be challenging.
Creativity: Creativity is the most important attribute when it comes to graphic designers, as they need to be able to come up with a range of ideas for each client. They may also have multiple clients at once needing different things, meaning the graphic designer will need to be creative to come up with different ideas instead of repeating them.
Time Management: Time management for a graphic designer is vital because if they fall behind on the design of the product, it means the rest of the team cannot complete their part, leading to a fallback in production.
Career Development
Becoming a graphic designer can be done through many routes; the most common being through a University course. These courses include things like Illustration, Art and Design, Graphic design and Communication design. These courses help build knowledge in the field of graphic design and help build skills needed. Although some of them do not directly correlate to the specific job role it allows the individual to gain skills surrounding the topic. It also allows people to know if there is a specific part of graphic design they wish to focus on such as web designer, print media, copywriter and many more.
Personal attribites play a big part of any job role including graphic designer. Being a creative person with a strive for pefection is a very positive trait to have. Being creative allows for a variety in ideas that can be forwarded to the client and producer for review and can, in turn, gain feedback and can make adjustments where appropriate. Striving for perfection is also good as it means every detail of each idea has been thought through and have been planned according to the brief. Having the ideas align with the brief allows the client to see their original plans come together visually and can make sure that is what they want before production goes ahead. However, perfection is not always good as it means the ideas the graphic designers sees as less than perfect do not get submitted and the overall time spent on the designing will take longer. They will also need to be a good communicator to ensure they can get the message they are trying to portray to, not only the audience, but the company wanting them to produce the idea.
Ensuring time management is a key part of the job role. Companies will set a specific deadline that the individual will have to meet. Good time management skills will ensure the individual has their work presented and finished within the time frame. Graphic designers may choose to use a gantt chart to visually represent the deadlines they need to hit. Gantt charts include coloured blocks to represent time passing. It allows the individual to ensure they have time for designing, feedback and adjustments with chance for a contingency plan in case anything is delayed within the making process.
Graphic designers will pick up a varity of skills to allow them to progress to better and more advanced roles. Graphic designers involve a variety of types of roles and the skills can be easily transferable. For example, a web designer will learn how to use technology to produce ideas effectivily and manipulate using online platforms such as photoshop. These skills can be transfered to roles such as photo designer. They can use the online skills developed within their first role to continue to grow and develop their skills.
Etiquette in Graphic Design
Etiquette: The set of rules or customs that control accepted behaviour in particular social groups or social situations
Etiquette and professionalism is something that is required in most job roles. Being a graphic designer can be lenient with this requirement in some scenerios.
The job requires the individual to be professional and hold themselves to a high standard when presenting their ideas and having informative meetings with the client surrounding the brief and the feedback. These meetings will need to be met with high standards and will require good etiquette. Poor etiquette in these situations may lead to the client losing trust and hiring someone else. This also may lead to a bad reputation which will be damaging to their career.
Advertising companies will ensure a positive work environment and encourage friendships to be made. This may lead to the professionalism and etiquette dropping slightly in the work place. This is not a bad thing for graphic designers as it means they may feel more free and open to share new ideas and come up with ideas out their normal comfort zones.
Different roles within graphic design will require different levels of professionalism and etiquette to be shown. Managers and supervisors will be required to show professionalism and have high levels of etiquette when speaking to their staff and clients. The employees of the company, however, are able to show lower levels of etiquette as they may not be communicating with the client directly and instead be working behind the scenes. They will be able to make friends and speak casually to them within the work place without it being frowned upon and damaging the business as a whole.
The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) ensure that all companies keep to a high standard with their products and their individual work environments. If these standards slip it may lead to legal damage being taking which will lead to customers becoming apprehensive to work with them.
Examples of Real Job Roles in Graphic Design
Similarities and Differences in Description
The first job role I found was a Senior Graphic Designer. The role states that the individual will lead creative output within the studio and deliver how-quality designs and unique concepts for branding and campaigns. They will be required to collaborate across teams and mentor beginners as they learn the basics of their roles and how to work as a team on projects effectively. They require strong time management skills and confidence as they will be required to share ideas in front of large groups of people.
The second job role I found was a graphic designer for a company in Liverpool. The role requires someone creative to be responsible for communicating with clients and understanding the information given to them and effectively relay this information to their team. They want someone to be able to work quickly and precisely to ensure every client is happy.
Similarities:
They both require creative and strong individuals who are able to create and design ideas under the clients needs and wants.
They both require people who can use their creativity to design new and exciting campaign and branding ideas to pitch to clients.
They both require positive communication skills as this is somehting that they will need to be able to speak to, both, the client and their team
Differences:
One of the roles is a senior position meaning they will have power and authority over a team of individuals whereas the other role is a team member meaning they will need to be able to communicate with their team and listen to management when needed.
They both require the individual to communicate with clients, however, the senior member will need to work closely with them as they will be the main point of access for the client. The other role states that the individual will need to meet with the client to understand the requirements but will not be the main point of access.
Qualification Requirements
The senior position requires a lot from the individual when it comes to qualifications and experience. The secior position requires educuation at degree level and a portfolio of work that shows the company the type of work that the individual produced. This allows the employer to gain a better understanding of the type of work that the individual specialises in and allows them to fully understand the level of work that the individual produces. The experience required for this role reflects the level and power that the individual may have when joining the team. The role requires experience in a similar position. This means that the individual will have experience in how managing a team works and how this can be done effectivily. They also require the individual to have agency experience to ensure they understand tight deadlines. This type of experience is necessary for the role as this is something they have stated they will have to deal with in the description of the role.
The education and experience required for the second role is a lot less as they will have less power and will be lower down in the ranks at the company. There is no specific requirement needed for the role but a Bachelors is preferred. This means that if the individual did not attend University or gain a similar qualification they will not be disregarded from the role. This shows that a less education individual is able to get this role and further shows that this role is a subordinate to their team leaders. The role requires at least 3 years in Graphic design to be able to get the role. This shows that the company is looking for well experienced individual to be able to carry out the role. This shows that the role is an important part of the team and shows that the company is looking for someone to be able to carry out the responsibilities of the role effectively. It also shows that they want someone who knows how to overcome challeneges and how to communicate with their team effectievly.
Senior role:Senior Graphic Designer - Colchester CO5 9SE - Indeed.com
Team memeber: Graphic Designer - Liverpool L20 8DT - Indeed.com
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