Are you going to be a graphic designer or an illustrator? Or are you already in the graphic design and illustration industry and simply working to better yourself? Wherever you are in your journey, being an expert in the skills you need to succeed will always be more important than anything else. A large part of design is for more than just being satisfied with something pretty; it is problem solving, story telling, visual communication, idea communication and your imagination.
Graphic design and illustration are found everywhere; from social media to packaging to websites; it is everywhere. The design world continually grows and is changing rapidly, and knowing how to follow design is an important part of your development as a designer.
Let's look at some of the basic skills that every creative in this space should master. Let’s understand why do we care about these skills in real project-
Here's how being good at these skills will affect your design work in real projects:
In other words, developing these skills will change you from a hobbyist to a professional creative. Now, let’s focus on the top 10 skills-
Design is not art - it is communication. Either you are creating a poster or developing an application, you are, at the very least, trying to communicate something through shape, color, image, and text.
Graphic Design is primarily digital - which means you will need to learn about the relevant software used by designers and illustrators. Although there are many design tools available, you should at least know how to use the Adobe Creative Cloud package (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and a collaborative platform like Figma. If you are an illustrator, you should download software that emulates the traditional art of drawing and painting like Procreate, Sketch, or Corel painter.
An apt color makes a person feel calm, excited, or hungry. An apt font makes a design look professional or playful. Color theory and typography might seem petty, yet they greatly affect the feel of a design.
An excellent designer will victimize things like contrast, alignment, and font combinations to build clarity and visual appeal for the content.
Even for a digital designer, generating ideas quickly with a pencil on paper or a tablet is a great way to support your design process. For illustrators that are adept at drawing this can be very helpful as they can easily express their concepts, characters and emotions.
Even the most basic scrawlings can be helpful, even when you are panicking to brainstorm layout or build moodboards for clients.
The layout of your work is key, whether it is a magazine page, website, or an Instagram carousel. Composition lets you guide the viewer’s eyes and makes your message clear to them.
Work on your knowledge of grids, spacing, alignment, and visual hierarchy to create layouts that are clean, balanced, and attractive as well as very effective.
Most clients will expect you to incorporate their brand into your designs. This means understanding their voice, audience, and visual style. As a designer, you realise the value of making brand identities, with everything from logos, colour palettes and consistent design systems.
The broader your knowledge of branding, the more precious you become to every project.
You need not become a full-time UX/UI designer, but you do need to understand the technicalities of user interaction. In other words, you want to know the ins and outs of designing for how users interact with websites, mobile apps, or any sort of digital domain.
When you think about how users click, scroll, or read, you'll be able to design even smooth and smarter experiences.
Creativity has to meet some structure. As a freelancer or in an agency, more often than not you will be juggling multiple projects. For you to be effective you will need to manage your time, be aware of deadlines, and maintain an organized pace of documents and files.
Design is not a one-person show. It is a constant communication process, with you explaining your work to clients, team members, or other non-designers.
Designing is a rapidly evolving world. New tools, new styles, and new platforms come into being every day. As a designer, you are always learning, and refining.
You can stay current by following design blogs, watching tutorials, looking at other people's work, and exploring your own style - in this profession, learning is indeed forever.
There is a wide range of opportunities available in graphic designing and illustrating in this computer-oriented and digital era. Brands, companies, influencers, and even governments require visual content-well, those skilled creatives.
You have avenues in advertising, publishing, fashion, technology, e-learning, gaming and social media. They commonly want people with titles like graphic designer, illustrator, visual designer, brand designer, UI designer, packaging designer or social media creative.
Even freelancing holds a lot of promises. Designers freelance from the comforts of their gardens, furnishing the portfolios with global clients via Behance, Upwork, or Fiverr. Learning the tools well and marketing your work will offer the freedom to be creatively inclined and also ensure a healthy bank balance.
If you want to build a portfolio so read this blog : Build a Portfolio: Tips for Graphic Designers
Graphic design and illustration are not just professions, they are ways of thinking and creating. The stronger the skills, the better chance you have of obtaining high paying clients and doing meaningful work. Don’t feel pressure to learn everything all at once on day one. Build yourself up slowly. Keep moving forward, and don’t stop making! Do you want to develop your creativity into a career? Take a look at the graphic design and illustration course, where you can learn those tools, get hands-on while developing your portfolio, and receive career support from our whole team of professional practitioners.
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