Being a Graphic Designer: Pros and Cons

Written on Tue, Apr 6, 2021

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As modern society goes digital, there are more and more occupations appearing in the global job marketplace. Nowadays, the professions which are closely connected with computers and the Internet are highly demanded in companies of any industry, so a vast number of job seekers widely consider the idea of the occupation change.

Due to this fact, the art industry has also been transformed to keep up with the times, that is why we can see the job advertising of Architectural 3D Modeler, Motion Graphics Animator and Graphic Designer experts needed.

Today, we will find out the main information about the graphic design occupation, analyze all the pros and cons of this job, and inform you about the main things you should know for mastering graphic design skills. Ready? Let's jump in!

General Information

The graphic designer occupation includes different directions, such as creative director, illustrator, art production manager, layout artist, and more. As you see, all of them are strongly connected with the art, and also apply the computer tools for its representation.

Besides, since this profession is relatively young, there are many prospects for developing yourself in this career path.

The source for a career exploration is that people start mastering their skills in this direction with a bachelor's degree and no work experience.

The training that can help you prepare for this work is the web page, digital, multimedia, and information resources design, computer graphics, and commercial and advertising art. These skills will be definitely helpful for your daily working tasks, as this occupation generally implies the layout design, created for print and Internet publications.

Also, it can be widely used while creating visual elements for different industries, including modern AR and VR.

Additionally, there are the occupations that are more or less relative to graphic design: multimedia artists, interior designs, film, and video editors, etc.

What Do I Need to Work with Graphics?

To work as a graphic designer, the primary knowledge needed can be divided into the next two categories: design basis and communications and media knowledge.

Besides, some skills will be an extra advantage while developing yourself in this occupation, such as active listening to the art of speech and critical thinking.

Design Basis

The basic information of various techniques, useful tools, and main principles are crucial for creating the drafts and blueprints, precision technical plans, and different models. The key points will significantly help you set the design specifications and generate the design concepts according to the customer's needs.

Communications and Media Knowledge

By understanding the core techniques of media production, engaging customer tricks, and the ways of visualizing the information and entertaining the final consumers. It includes presenting the information using written, oral and visual media.

Besides, there are some skills that can be supplemental advantages while developing yourself in this occupation:

Active Listening

The technique of active listening is one of the main features that can bring many advantages in any industry. For the graphic design occupation, it is crucial to listen to others: no matter colleagues or clients, so as to better understand the message which is to be visualized and brainstorm the new ideas for the conceptual representation.

Sometimes, having asked a certain question, you might come up with the idea of how to bring the message to the final consumers.

The Art of Speech

Having well-developed communication skills, you will definitely manage to find the common language with the people you are usually interacting with: the company workers you are working with and your clients.

In addition, you will manage to present the concept to your listeners more clearly and catch, thus inspiring others with your idea.

Critical Thinking

This skill can be crucial for many professions, especially for creative professions such as digital design. The main benefit you can get from it is generating different ideas and analyzing their pros and cons to define the client's needs and the overall impression it will make on the consumers.

Needless to say, the concept which is to be visualized can be presented using different methods. But the main task of the graphic designer is to choose the most suitable one that will cover all the requirements and help to demonstrate the core idea of your message.

Pros of Being a Graphic Designer

In fact, there are plenty of benefits for the successful mastering of this occupation.

Here, we would like to present four major reasons why it is a good option to start working as a graphic designer.

Find a Job in Any Industry

It goes without saying that in modern times every company wants to increase brand awareness, which usually includes the logo, pictures, and other graphic elements to show and promote the product to the final consumers, thus encouraging them to consider the purchase, which consequently increases the sales revenue and boosts the brand awareness.

Since we know that any information is mostly perceived with our eyes, it becomes clear that the content visualization will always be in trend.

That is why, no matter which industry you are planning to improve yourself in pharmacy, beauty & fashion, education, sales, and others - any of them will always have a great demand in hiring professional graphic designers.

The precious experience got from any job in this field can be efficiently applied to the other industries as well.

Get Inspired With Your Work

By applying your creativity to create a new product that will be widely used in any industry and producing a new product to complete the task, the graphic designer can use their full potential of themselves.

That means, every time you face the challenge of making a unique product, it is demanded to brainstorm all the methods available that can be utilized for the outstanding, competitive, and absolutely new way of presenting the core item or message.

There is no doubt that this fact can bring great inspiration to the creator and help him to show all his best for completing the task given.

Remote Work With Multiple Companies

If we look a little bit deeper, it is obvious that the profession of the graphic designer is required not only in every industry in general but also in any of the companies connected with a certain product or brand production and development.

This means that the visual content can be significantly used to increase brand awareness, widen the audience, or increase the sales income, and that's the exact task graphic designers can easily work with.

Earlier it was mostly used for the ads creating, but since e-commerce popularity has been rapidly growing, content visualization is now significantly important for boosting online purchasing.

Due to the present global changes in our society, many companies are now focusing on online commerce and remote work, and the first thing that meets the customers as soon as they click on the store link is the web page design. That is another thing visual designers are mostly working with.

The major task of any graphic designer is to get the customer interested in buying a certain product, in presenting the main benefits of any of the products, and in convincing the client of this brand's superiority.

Also, the content visualization can greatly boost the competitiveness of any product or brand, thus assisting it to stay on the top among the others in any aspect.

Prove Yourself as a Professional

After mastering the skills of a professional graphic designer, you can not only create the products for your company and become self-employed, and start your own freelance business.

That means you can use the graphic skills while opening your own coffee shop or establishing a new brand with the products of yours.

Cons of Being a Graphic Designer

Having found out the main advantages of this occupation, it's time to see the weak points of it.

Today, we would like to stress the criticism and deadlines, non-stop computer working, and needing to renew the information about the latest trends in this occupation.

Deal With Criticism

Though this profession is still comparatively young, the people who have chosen graphic design and their occupation can often encounter lots of criticism.

The challenging tasks and the need to work with the clients' seeing the product presentation require a huge effort. Additionally, there are budget limitations, which can greatly constrain the ability to both meet the needs of your consumers and your clients.

That is why, the final product might differ from how you wanted to show it, which means you will be dissatisfied with the work done.

Furthermore, if the client didn't approve the product, you have to account for all the criticism and redo the work even if you disagree with some points of it.

Sticking to the Deadlines

Another thing that can become a stressful point of this occupation is that you are always limited in time. Consequently, you are always in a hurry to both complete the task in time and present a highly professional product for the client.

Besides, any company expects the digital designer to complete the task from the first attempt. That is why it is sometimes really challenging for the person who was entrusted to make it.

Mostly, the time which the client sets is too short, as they can't realize the amount of the process which should be done. That is why, once you have learned the detailed information about the task, it seems to be unreal to complete it. And, if the task wasn't done in time, the employee can penalize you, so you will become less motivated for doing your job.

Inseparable Work With Your Device

As the occupation of digital designer implies the work which is done with the help of digital technologies, it can create additional inconveniences connected with the lack of free communication and even health problems. We should keep in mind that a long time working in front of the screen can really spoil your eyesight and cause problems with your back.

Furthermore, if you are not doing any physical activities in your spare time, you might have problems with the overweight. To reduce the harmful impact on your health, we still remind you to take regular breaks and spend some time exercising so as not to get sick because of some serious diseases.

The Necessity to Keep Informed About the Trends

Last but not least, it is increasingly important to update your knowledge to keep up with the pace and to learn about the main trends of the digital design occupation and other technologies. If you don't, then your product won't catch people's attention, and the client won't be satisfied with your work.

What is more, you have to keep in mind big data and always be ready with the various ideas of presenting your product to the client, to find out the direction you should improve your concept on.

If used thoroughly, the leading trends will help you to prove yourself as a professional graphic designer and get new orders to complete.

Final Thoughts

Despite everything, a lot of analytics are still confident about the vast prospects of this occupation.

The art is immortal. Thus the companies and brands will look for new views on successfully presenting the product to the consumer, especially using the latest technologies. And the very first person who may be helpful to in completing such a complex task is the graphic designer.

Such a detailed analysis may provide you with some thoughts on choosing the right occupation, which can not only bring money but also happiness and career development.

Until next time, Be creative! - Pix'sTory made by Eliza Medley

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