In recent times, people are on their phones, laptops and social media more and more. Apps and websites are connecting people in so many ways, with this increase means more graphic designer jobs, for websites companies and shops, this is the most important way to get a brand out there. This article should help you decide on should you be a graphic designer in 2023 and have you got the skills and qualities needed for the role.
What is a Graphic Designer
Graphic designers create visual forms of communication in order to broadcast, engage and overall attract customers for the brand. They use both physical art and virtual, both can be photographs, artwork, drawings, words ad even AI-generated art, with any form of graphics they feel will gather more positive engagement.
Day-to-day life as a Graphic Designer
If you are considering a role as a graphic designer, then you may when to know what they do daily, and what tasks you would have to complete as part of the job.
- Create strategies for a suitable audience
- Meet and discuss projects with clients
- Create graphics
- Use computer software for new ideas
- Present designs
- Edit and examine your designs before publishing them
These are just a few of the tasks you will have to complete. If you have different skills you may want to show them off, if you are an excellent photographer, that may be your speciality. Of course, with any job, you may have different ones with different companies, or you might want to become freelance meaning you will have to keep yourself ahead and make sure you meet your deadlines.
Graphic Designer Qualities
If you like the idea of being a graphic designer but aren’t sure if you fit the role, here are some qualities and traits that many designers hold and make their job the best fit.
Creativity
Being creative is probably one of the most important and obvious personality treats for a graphic designer. Making art and coming up with new and imaginative ideas is the whole job, so if you are creative, then you will have a good shot at being a designer.
Communication
Having good communication is a great quality needed in many jobs, however, when you are pitching ideas to clients and proving your ideas are the best, then communication is incredibly important. Having good relationships with your clients can make or break a deal.
Punctual
Having different clients means that your schedule and deadlines can be all over the place. If you are an organised person and get everything in on time, then you will make your clients happy and hopefully get you more work.
Keeping ahead of the game will make you even an even better graphic designer
Flexibility
Being and wanting to be flexible can be a great asset for a graphic designer to have.
Clients and your own creative ideas can change in minutes, being able to change up a whole post will show your clients that you can be dependable and can adapt to any situation they throw at you.
Ahead of the trends
If you want to become a graphic designer, staying on top of trends is extremely important. Trends don’t just change every year but can be changed within a month. This means you have to keep track of what is popular and try to figure out what may be coming next, for an idea of graphic design trends, here are a few for 2023, to get you thinking:
- The 90’s
- Punk revival
- Bold colours
- Vibrant colour schemes
- Animation
- Maximalism
- Retro
Having these traits will help you with your career as a graphic designer but you may feel as though they might not come naturally to you. That is okay, you can learn and practice your skills and you shouldn’t feel as though not knowing what trends are coming can hold you back. You will easily learn new abilities are your career progress and are not expected to know everything when you are new at your job!
Freelance or Employment?
Once you have decided that graphic designing is the job for you, you then have to think about whether you want to be freelance or go into employment with a company.
Freelance Pros:
Work from anywhere you desire – Being freelance means that you can work from anywhere. As long as you have everything you need you can work anywhere you need and want.
Make your own schedule – Along with working anywhere you want, you can also work any time you want. Along as you are meeting your client’s deadlines, you are the one who creates your timetable, since you don’t have a boss to tell you when.
Decide your own clients and projects – You wouldn’t have to do work you don’t find interesting or work with people who don’t agree, you can pick your own people and projects meaning you should find things so much more interesting and have enjoyment in your work life.
Pick your price – Again, you aren’t just on a salary with a boss like a full-time job. You can decide whether a project is worth the price and decide if the value is right for the amount of work.
Gain new skills – Although you will see that becoming your own admin, marketing, accounting and hr team can be a con, it is also a way to open up to a whole new range of skills. These new skills keep you learning how to make your business better and how to keep your clients happy. It can also give you expertise for a new job or a side hustle if you desire.
Freelance Cons:
In charge of admin – Unfortunately, freelancers do everything themselves. You do your marketing, invoices, HR, and any form of admin work you will have to do for yourself. This may not seem that bad, but it means you will have to put in more hours or take away from the hours you would be being creative and earning money.
Working alone – For some, this may be a pro. Since your freelance, you will work from home or anywhere but you won’t have work colleagues to go to lunch with or chat with day to day. So other than discussing the projects with your clients, you will have a lot of alone time.
More hours – Since you would be a one-man team, you will have to put in more hours than a 9-5. Of course, you can limit yourself but freelancers often find themselves doing work whenever they are in front of their laptop, even in bed.
No sick pay or holidays – Again, since you don’t have a manager, you don’t get paid for when you are sick. You don’t really get days off and people who run their own businesses or are freelance can find themselves even doing work on their holidays. As you have no salary, you only get paid directly by clients, so you have to do the work.
Choosing to work with a company and manager or freelance is a tough decision, both have pros and cons which are opposite to each other. At the end of the day, you have to figure out whether you prefer to be your own boss but can manage deadlines and admin or would prefer to just focus on the creative side and have the rest done for you, with a guaranteed salary.
Moving on from graphic design
If you choose to be a graphic designer, it doesn’t have to be your job title forever, there are many different jobs that the graphic designing field can take you into:
Project manager – every project needs a manager, with your experience in graphic design you will understand different projects and how to manage different deadlines for them.
Book cover designer/illustrator – designing book covers is much like graphic design, trying to figure out what is best for the audience and which cover they are more likely to grab. If you have preferred the drawing and hands-on part of graphic design, then illustrations could be a good job for you.
Digital marketing – marketing involves a lot of creativity and is much like graphic design. Making sure an audience is reached in the right way and your engagement is increasing is similar to the qualities of design
Fashion designer – if you want to stay in a creative field and have a keen eye for fashion, then designing may be for you. Much like graphic design, you need to have the creative skills to capture an audience and inspire along the way.
Teaching – once you have been doing graphic design for a while, you will know the ins and outs of the business. You can and should pass on your wisdom to other people, hopefully inspiring them as you go along.
Becoming a graphic designer may not be for everyone, but as long as you have the skills and creativity needed, along with the motivation and passion, then you should have no problem with becoming a graphic designer in 2023.