Graphic design, often referred to as interaction design, involves creating visual concepts to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, or captivate audiences. Graphic designers are visual communicators who use manual techniques or computer software to produce physical and digital art forms, including images, words, and graphics.
The primary goal of graphic designers, such as those at graphic design companies in Los Angeles, is to make the businesses they work for prominent and recognizable. They use various media—such as fonts, logos, animations, photography, print designs, images, colors, shapes, and billboards—to convey a specific identity or idea for promotions and advertising. Graphic designers often collaborate with artists, multimedia animators, and other creative professionals.
Every graphic designer is a visual-thinking problem solver and communicator, tasked with addressing specific communication challenges and achieving creative outcomes. Depending on their role, a graphic designer might be:
Roles of a Graphic Designer
- Creative Director: Manages a creative team to produce visuals for product branding, marketing campaigns, and more.
- Art Director: Coordinates with production artists and illustrators to ensure projects are completed on time and meet client expectations.
- Art Production Manager: Oversees the production aspect of art creation, focusing on improving efficiency and reducing costs.
- Package Designer: Creates and designs packaging for advertising and products, addressing both physical construction and aesthetics.
- Brand Identity Developer: Develops brand identities for various businesses.
- Visual Image Developer: Produces designs and images through 3D modeling, photography, and image editing.
- Visual Journalist: Creates informational graphics, such as infographics, for print or digital applications.
- Broadcast Designer: Designs visual and electronic media for television productions.
- Logo Designer: Crafts the visual expression of an organization’s core message or value, a key component of brand identity.
- Interface Designer: Develops graphical user interfaces, often for web development companies.
- Web Designer: Creates pages, layouts, and graphics for websites.
- Multimedia Developer: Applies graphic design skills to sound or motion content.
- Content Developer: Produces written, graphical, video, sound, or other multimedia content based on project requirements.
What Does a Graphic Designer Do?
Graphic designers combine art and technology to communicate ideas through images and layouts for online screens and printed pages. They use various design elements to achieve artistic or decorative effects, creating the overall production and layout for advertisements, magazines, brochures, flyer templates, and corporate reports. They work with both text and images, selecting fonts, colors, sizes, and layouts, and determining how text and images are integrated on a page or screen.
Key responsibilities include:
- Meeting with clients or the art director to define the project scope.
- Advising clients on strategies to reach a specific audience.
- Determining the message the design should convey.
- Creating images that identify a product or convey a message.
- Developing graphics and audio or visual assets for product illustrations, logos, and websites.
- Designing manually or using computer software packages.
- Selecting colors, text styles, images, and layouts.
- Presenting designs to clients or the art director.
- Incorporating client feedback into the final design.
- Reviewing layouts for errors before printing or publishing.