[Kikarian]

What is graphic Design?

Graphic design is a creative process—most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form (i.e., printers, signmakers, etc.)—undertaken in order to convey a specific message (or messages) to a targeted audience. The term "graphic design" can also refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines that focus on visual communication and presentation. The field as a whole is also often referred to as Visual Communication or Communication Design. Various methods are used to create and combine words, symbols, and images to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. A graphic designer may use a combination of typography, visual arts and page layout techniques to produce the final result. Graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated. Common uses of graphic design include identity (logos and branding), publications (magazines, newspapers, and books), advertisements and product packaging. For example, a product package might include a logo or other artwork, organized text and pure design elements such as shapes and color which unify the piece. Composition is one of the most important features of graphic design, especially when using pre-existing materials or diverse elements.

Wikipedia = Source


Discuss everything Graphic Design


Rules:

No posting work someone else has done and claim it to be yours (unless you are showing it as inspiration).

No more OS talk now. It's going off-topic...
--

Post if you are doing Graphic Design with a company, you can state the name of your workplace if you want.
Or, are you freelance?

Do you do web, print, branding, packaging, or just for fun?

Sources:

http://www.dandad.org/

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/

http://www.britishdesigninnovation.org/

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Change your typeface to Helvetica Bold.

That'll be $5,000.

[Dennis]

I love the Neue Helvetica® font family.

I am being sincere. Its great.

Illustrator and InDesign are the weapons of choice when I have to design something.

Not a professional designer but I do have use for some of those skill for my work.

[Dreaver]

I do a bit of Graphic Design. Have been using Photoshop for years. Made tons of stuff, like this folder as example which got published.
Currently experimenting a lot with Illustrator / logo design.
Edit: I just noticed a typo lolol.
I didn't wrote the text.

[layzie1989]

So what sort of graphic design do people here do? Web, print, branding, advertising, motion, packaging? experimental stuff? editorial? Do you guys freelance or are you at a studio/firm? Are you corporate in-house? Where did you go to school/do you have a degree?

[Kikarian]

So what sort of graphic design do people here do? Web, print, branding, advertising, motion, packaging? experimental stuff? editorial? Do you guys freelance or are you at a studio/firm? Are you corporate in-house? Where did you go to school/do you have a degree?

I'll update OP with this. Thanks...

[Dreaver]

Do most of you guys work on a Mac or Windows? Most 'bigger' Graphic Designer all seem to use Apple... Does it have many benefits (for Graphic Design)? Or why do so many designers use it?

I'm tempted to buy a Macbook Pro next year. I love to do Graphic Design as a hobby.

[Jaffaboy]

Do most of you guys work on a Mac or Windows? Most 'bigger' Graphic Designer all seem to use Apple... Does it have many benefits (for Graphic Design)? Or why do so many designers use it? I'm tempted to buy a Macbook Pro next year. I love to do Graphic Design as a hobby.

I think in the past Apple were far superior for use in graphic design, but I don't think there's really much difference nowadays. You can use Creative Suite on both, and most other programs on both, so I guess it's just a preference thing. I use Windows because I always have, so I couldn't imagine using anything else. Mac's do look nice though, maybe that is part of the reason today.

[Kikarian]

Do most of you guys work on a Mac or Windows? Most 'bigger' Graphic Designer all seem to use Apple... Does it have many benefits (for Graphic Design)? Or why do so many designers use it? I'm tempted to buy a Macbook Pro next year. I love to do Graphic Design as a hobby.

It doesn't really matter that much. It just more preferred in the field. It's not a thing you will have to have.

[Snkfanatic]

I work for a clothing company/custom screen printer. I have been doing it for almost 10 years now...no degree though

PC User, my software of choice is Photoshop using a wacom tablet

[MrBig]

Do most of you guys work on a Mac or Windows? Most 'bigger' Graphic Designer all seem to use Apple... Does it have many benefits (for Graphic Design)? Or why do so many designers use it? I'm tempted to buy a Macbook Pro next year. I love to do Graphic Design as a hobby.

Back in the 90's they were superior for design-work due their standard color profiles. In modern times the advantages are non-existent (and adobe products for Mac aren't exactly up to par with their windows counterparts in stability or support.) The prevalence of the more expensive Mac hardware for use with software that doesn't perform its best on it is something I do not understand.

[Snkfanatic]

As far as Graphic design jobs and freelance goes.

What do all my fellow designs use to find freelance jobs and or find a new company to work for? I feel I have hit the ceiling at my current job and need to move on to a new place or start doing all freelance.

[Kikarian]

As far as Graphic design jobs and freelance goes. What do all my fellow designs use to find freelance jobs and or find a new company to work for? I feel I have hit the ceiling at my current job and need to move on to a new place or start doing all freelance.

Setup a website with a portfolio, then pay for advertisements.

[MacAttack]

I work for a clothing company/custom screen printer. I have been doing it for almost 10 years now...no degree though PC User, my software of choice is Photoshop using a wacom tablet

As far as Graphic design jobs and freelance goes. What do all my fellow designs use to find freelance jobs and or find a new company to work for? I feel I have hit the ceiling at my current job and need to move on to a new place or start doing all freelance.

Wow, dude. I'm in the same boat as you, 3 years at a screenprinting company not a lot of room to advance. I use Illustrator for most of my design and separations. We primarily print spot colors, do you do a lot of CMYK work?

Looking to start doing some freelance myself but also not sure how to branch out. I always feel guilty charging full rates to friends and family.

edit: Mac/PC was an issue 10 years ago today the biggest difference is the cntrl/command keys on the keyboard.

[dangrib]

I founded and design everything on www.threenil.com

Its a football/soccer-culture apparel line. Hope you guys like it!

[The Technomancer]

Wow, dude. I'm in the same boat as you, 3 years at a screenprinting company not a lot of room to advance. I use Illustrator for most of my design and separations. We primarily print spot colors, do you do a lot of CMYK work? Looking to start doing some freelance myself but also not sure how to branch out. I always feel guilty charging full rates to friends and family. edit: Mac/PC was an issue 10 years ago today the biggest difference is the cntrl/command keys on the keyboard.

Anecdote: when my father quit his job and formed his own freelance GD firm he made friends with the guys at the local print-shop so that they would recommend small clients to him. One of those ended up being a woman who later on recommended him to one of the biggest paint and paint-removal product companies in the country. Pretty much all of his new work now comes from former clients recommending him.

[MacAttack]

I founded and design everything on www.threenil.com Its a football/soccer-culture apparel line. Hope you guys like it!

I don't like it, I love it.

I'm thinking about starting up something similar (childrens clothing line). I am curious about what your inventory is like. Do you print them on demand or do you have an inventory? What brand shirts do you use? Do you use a local printer, print them yourself or do it online?

I understand if you don't feel like disclosing any trade secrets but if you do, I would appreciate it. And I would also have about thirty other questions. :D

Anecdote: when my father quit his job and formed his own freelance GD firm he made friends with the guys at the local print-shop so that they would recommend small clients to him. One of those ended up being a woman who later on recommended him to one of the biggest paint and paint-removal product companies in the country. Pretty much all of his new work now comes from former clients recommending him.

That's good advice. Connections are huge in this business, and having a good cash cow who consistently needs work done goes a long way in keeping things floating during slow months.

[Zekes!]

I founded and design everything on www.threenil.com Its a football/soccer-culture apparel line. Hope you guys like it!

I'm a soccer/football fan, but that's really cool stuff.

As for me, I'm just starting out in the world of design...I have no real idea where to start, honestly. I've just been doing little things for people I know; I designed the playoff pin for our local baseball little league, made some album artwork for a local hip-hop artist and what not. I'm hoping to get in to OCAD University in Toronto and study design and illustration there, and for now I've just been reading books I can find in my library on the subject of design and more recently typography.

[Kikarian]

Just seen this on another forum: Should help if you're wanting to do freelance.

"Ok this is common sense and don't mind my sloppy writing just wrote this up quick. Just remember there are no limits to what you can do and age isn't a factor here.

I been teaching and preaching this for a while, and it really works, I've seen some people become successful and some even running their own firm, note that type of success is rare though. So anyways I thought I'd share on here how to start freelancing as a graphic designer, photographer, or whatever it is you do.

So basically the first step is really basic, building your network. You can do this by just simply looking around your community and finding people / business who are in need of your services. For example some company has a website that looks like junk and looks like it belongs in the 90's, you can simply whois the domain or find a email or phone number on the site probably and hit up the owner and just say "hey im a graphic designer offering my services for free to start off my portfolio, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in me doing some work for you?". Now whose gonna turn down that type of deal?

So the goal is basically to do this with as many businesses or people as possible for free for about a month and continue asking them if they know anyone else who'd need your services and making sure to brand your name on the work you do because your doing it for free, and build up your portfolio as you go.

Now here's where you shift gears, because here's the end game, making money off what you do. So after people have been using your services for a while, they probably trust you and all and all you really gotta say is, "hey I'm getting a lot of work now and I gotta start charging", and that's a pretty reasonable request as long as your price is right.

Now for finding the right price to charge you should take a look at the firms or other graphic designers in your area and see what there charging and basically charge half of what there charging, and slowly adjusting your prices up as you go.

That's pretty much it, its just all about reaching out, building up a reputation, and making what you do into a business."

[The Technomancer]

That's good advice. Connections are huge in this business, and having a good cash cow who consistently needs work done goes a long way in keeping things floating during slow months.

Pretty much. In addition to short term clients he's also been the consistent designer for a major self storage firm for about...ten years now. It really helps to have someone who will just send you work consistently.

[effingvic]

favorite books?

i really love noma bar's negative space. dudes a genius.

[dangrib]

I don't like it, I love it. I'm thinking about starting up something similar (childrens clothing line). I am curious about what your inventory is like. Do you print them on demand or do you have an inventory? What brand shirts do you use? Do you use a local printer, print them yourself or do it online? I understand if you don't feel like disclosing any trade secrets but if you do, I would appreciate it. And I would also have about thirty other questions. :D

haha all good. thanks for the kind words though.

i use threadbird.com to handle my manufacturing. they ship to me (in australia) and i send the shirts out to their respective buyers all over the world.

each design is a limited edition set of 50 shirts so thats how i handle inventory! i use American Apparel shirts and the printing process is screen printed rather than digital.

[dangrib]

I'm a soccer/football fan, but that's really cool stuff. As for me, I'm just starting out in the world of design...I have no real idea where to start, honestly. I've just been doing little things for people I know; I designed the playoff pin for our local baseball little league, made some album artwork for a local hip-hop artist and what not. I'm hoping to get in to OCAD University in Toronto and study design and illustration there, and for now I've just been reading books I can find in my library on the subject of design and more recently typography.

Thanks mate. I had no idea where to start either but I just jumped in and went for it. If your work is any good it'll stick. Find something you love (like i did with football) and just work on that. Other people out there will appreciate it!

[Devolution]

favorite books? i really love noma bar's negative space. dudes a genius.

Getting it Right with Type
Typography in Magazines
Any of the 1000s series
Package Form and Design
Lettering and Type
Geometry of Design

[Jostifer]

Loving this thread already!

I work as a graphic designer/illustrator at a small firm in the norwegian capital of Oslo. I started out as an assistant at a local printer, then went to school for two years before ending up working freelance.

I mainly use Illustrator and indesign, and my workstation is a MacBook Pro.

Since I don't have a degree, many of my friends told me that finding work in the field of graphic design would be difficult. But in my experience, hard work, dedication and skill seems to be more important to some firms rather than a fancy degree.

I consider myself very lucky to be working with a variety of brands and a wide range of categories including print design, logo design, clothing design and package design. The latter is the one I'm most excited about since my experience with it is rather lacking. While on the subject, could any of you recommend any litterature and/or websites where I could learn more about it? Anything from the absolute basics to more advanced stuff. I would really appreciate it :-)

With regards to inspiration, there is a couple of sites that I visit daily (I hopes it's okay that I post these):

http://dribbble.com/
http://www.behance.net/

And please excuse my english :-)

[neptunes]

I am considered a "pre-press" technician at a Screen printing company.

My work consists of colour separations, logo/image recreations, and creating proofs/mock-ups.

I primarily use Illustrator and sometimes Photoshop, and the odd time a client would send us a .cdr file I would have to use Corel Draw.

[soultron]

Needs more Draplin Design Co. mentions.

[neptunes]

As far as Graphic design jobs and freelance goes. What do all my fellow designs use to find freelance jobs and or find a new company to work for? I feel I have hit the ceiling at my current job and need to move on to a new place or start doing all freelance.

I take it you're a color separator like myself, but I haven't been doing this for``10 years, and I see the ceiling.

I'm planning to do color separations as freelance.

[JJDinomite]

I'm the layout editor for my school's newspaper/magazine. Self taught in Adobe Indesign. I'm really bad. I'll probably post a PDF of the latest issue later.

[effingvic]

Getting it Right with Type Typography in Magazines Any of the 1000s series Package Form and Design Lettering and Type Geometry of Design

love the 1000 series, used to check them out in barnes and nobles every time i was there. thanks for reminding me i need buy some of them!

[Kyaw]

Not sure if this is considered Graphic design but here goes:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...postcount=2210





Just some non-professional designs/scoreboards for racing leagues.

Do you guys know of a software package that allows you to do what Excel does but prettier like those scoreboards?

[ConvenientBox]

Graphic and web designer here, for about 8 years now. Love it.

I've worked for worldwide corps and small startups, and for myself. When I'm not at work, I'm freelancing so I'm busy maybe 80% of the time.

I'm a diehard PC user and will always use a PC - Discussions with young gd's get heated when I get involved lol. Though I will use a mac if I have to. I have a wacom but I actually work faster with my 10yr old dell mouse, which amazes me sometimes. Maybe I need a bigger tablet.

[amitaiwinehouse]

I founded and design everything on www.threenil.com Its a football/soccer-culture apparel line. Hope you guys like it!

Are you planning to get any of the other sizes of Totaalvoetball in? In love with that shirt but could probably do with a medium/large.

[Kikarian]

Graphic and web designer here, for about 8 years now. Love it. I've worked for worldwide corps and small startups, and for myself. When I'm not at work, I'm freelancing so I'm busy maybe 80% of the time. I'm a diehard PC user and will always use a PC - Discussions with young gd's get heated when I get involved lol. Though I will use a mac if I have to. I have a wacom but I actually work faster with my 10yr old dell mouse, which amazes me sometimes. Maybe I need a bigger tablet.

I can't understand in this day an age, people are complaining about PC or Mac. They serve the same purpose! I could understand maybe 10 years ago, but now?

[Ollie Pooch]

Do most of you guys work on a Mac or Windows? Most 'bigger' Graphic Designer all seem to use Apple... Does it have many benefits (for Graphic Design)? Or why do so many designers use it? I'm tempted to buy a Macbook Pro next year. I love to do Graphic Design as a hobby.

double post. woops.

[Firestorm]

I can't understand in this day an age, people are complaining about PC or Mac. They serve the same purpose! I could understand maybe 10 years ago, but now?

Yeah, people and their hangups... I use a Windows 7 desktop and MacBook Pro to work on. I prefer the desktop only due to screen resolution. They're identical otherwise.

I actually do keep Application Frame enabled on my Mac though as I can't stand the disjointed look it has by default. I like the way it's done on Windows. Was so happy when I discovered the option.

[The Technomancer]

The one good argument I've heard for Macs over PCs for graphic design in this day and age is those fucking incredible displays on the iMacs. But you can buy comparable screens for PC of course.

[Ollie Pooch]

Do most of you guys work on a Mac or Windows? Most 'bigger' Graphic Designer all seem to use Apple... Does it have many benefits (for Graphic Design)? Or why do so many designers use it? I'm tempted to buy a Macbook Pro next year. I love to do Graphic Design as a hobby.

I'm primarily on a Macbook Pro with external monitor - I do a lot of packaging stuff and for what i do i much prefer how Macs handle characters with the keyboard (trademark, copyright, degrees, middle dot etc) than Windows. Saves me heaps of time when laying stuff out - it all adds up. Plus the 'recent folders' drop down really helps me.

I do also have a Win7 tablet pc with digitizer that I got dirt cheap on eBay for my illustration stuff. Done it for about 13 years now, working in and out of agencies. Freelancing at the moment with a few clients - leaves more time for chilling out and playing Skyrim :P Office - never again.

Also, Proxima Nova ftw.

I can't understand in this day an age, people are complaining about PC or Mac. They serve the same purpose! I could understand maybe 10 years ago, but now?

They are really similar - I prefer different things from both. But like I said above, some stuff on Macs i just prefer for my workflow.

[Firestorm]

The one good argument I've heard for Macs over PCs for graphic design in this day and age is those fucking incredible displays on the iMacs. But you can buy comparable screens for PC of course.

Yep. Dell makes affordable IPS monitors.

[HTuran]

Freelancing at the moment with a few clients - leaves more time for chilling out and playing Skyrim :P Office - never again.

Amen, although you know what they say about too much of a good thing! Playing catch-up on a few jobs as I type, heh.

For those Wacom users, do you use it for navigating the OS alongside actual work? I could never get the hang of navigating the Finder using it, but some people swear by it for everything.

[JasonMCG]

Awesome thread - subscribed! I work at an agency in Denver. I'm a full-time designer and handle all the in-house motion design.

[sophora]

Lately been trying to build up my experience, just was an amateur artist who did little sketches until this year. Been really wanting to get into graphic design. Trying to balance building up my portfolio, life and full time job on the side. Kind of hard to keep everything rolling and mostly I'm busy all the time, finding myself always drawing at work during downtime though.

Not really confident in my work though, I guess I would really need that sort of confidence if I'm going to try make a career in graphic design...would formal education be needed? It's mostly portfolios right?

[Squash]

As far as Mac vs PC argument is concerned, I much prefer Mac for small UI reasons. Things like Photoshop not having a mandatory background and being able to click files open behind Photoshop and not having to switch out of Photoshop or dragging files to the object bar or even having an object bar in general, among other things that I can't remember. Oh and the ultimate awesomeness that is apple/command key over ctrl. I guess overall it's more of a workflow preference I guess outside of apple key.

Most people will say "well are those small preferences worth the premium?" and it probably isn't but Mac OS is also a lot cleaner and nicer to look at imo and for a graphic designer how is that not important lol. I do work on both PC and Mac, PC more since my PC is faster and doesn't waste my precious battery cycles being that my Mac is an older Santa Rosa MBP.

[Eight Diagram Bat Fighter]

As far as Mac vs PC argument is concerned, I much prefer Mac for small UI reasons. Things like Photoshop not having a mandatory background and being able to click files open behind Photoshop and not having to switch out of Photoshop or dragging files to the object bar or even having an object bar in general, among other things that I can't remember. Most people will say "well are those small preferences worth the premium?" and it probably isn't but Mac OS is also a lot cleaner imo and for a graphic designer how is that not important lol. I do work on both PC and Mac, PC more since my PC is faster and doesn't waste my precious battery cycles being that my Mac is an older Santa Rosa MBP.

I use whatever gets the job done. All those points you made about the mac can be easily done in windows. I wish people would get over that pointless argument of mac vs pc when it comes to photoshop.

[layzie1989]

Awesome thread - subscribed! I work at an agency in Denver. I'm a full-time designer and handle all the in-house motion design.

do you have a website for examples of your work/your agency's work?

[Squash]

I use whatever gets the job done. All those points you made about the mac can be easily done in windows. I wish people would get over that pointless argument of mac vs pc when it comes to photoshop.

Because you don't have a preference it's pointless? Right. And since when did I say it anything couldn't be done on Windows? I said it makes my workflow easier and is why I prefer Mac.

[Devolution]

Can we just have one graphic design thread without the OS bullshit.

[Chittagong]

Some advice to starting designers, this would have saved me years of doing pretty shit design I can't use in my portfolio.


1. Your intuition will be to try to put in too many things. Fight it.
Too many elements. To many effects. Too many quirks. It makes the whole thing gimmicky and amateurish. Focus on getting the basics right, and have one quirk or effect per execution is a good rule.

2. Learn the basics of type and grids and even setting your name and address on a paper looks pro.
Understand grid systems and typography. This is the single most important thing you can learn. Read this classic book on grid systems.

3. Get a couple of great reference books and look at websites.
Look at Wim Crouwel's work, realize it was done in the 1950s and 1960s and understand how long way you have to go in being a creative visionary. Look at Experimental Jetset and realize how little you need to do cool things one you understand points 1 and 2. Look at the work of greats like Bond, North, Kin Design, Ora-Ïto... get inspired.

4. Understand that your materials matter as much or more than your design.
Making gorgeous designs won't get you very far - you need to obsess on materials, reproduction, inks, cutting, foiling, embossing, window vinyls, laser cutting wood - the real impact of your design comes via the context. This was the hardest lesson for me to learn.

5. Make it your mantra - master the basics, keep it simple, obsess on materials.

[Toppot]

I studied graphic design for two years, then moved into advertising.

I do 'artwork' mainly these days when inspired. Some freelance on the side for friends and friends of friends. Plus a fair amount of avatars in the GAF avatar thread =P.

Use to be hardcore Photoshop guy until I learnt the precision and crispness of vector design in Illustrator <3 Now most of my design work is done in Illustartor with any bitmap work done in Photoshop. Also learnt InDesign, but don't have much use for it, and recently learned a bit of Flash.

I also agree pc vs mac is overdone. Macs are a tiny bit better for workflow but the difference is so small these days, certainly not worth the price difference. It doesn't matter which you get, you can do the same job in both just as good.

[Chittagong]

here is a random sampler of my freelance designs from a few years back









I like centered things with their mouths open.