Let’s admit it, Graphic Designing is not a straightforward career path, unlike Doctors and Lawyers. And if it was, it would just be as common as other professions. You might envy your friends in the Medicine and Manufacturing fields, but what you should be proud of is the fact that you’ve chosen one of the most creative careers one can progress in.
Whether you are kickstarting your graphic designing career fresh out of college or planning to switch your career path, you are at the right place. This sought-after profession has never been more competitive than today as there is already a high demand for graphic designers from employers. Worry not, you’re not alone. It takes a strong character to stand out from the crowd to make it big in this profession.
Although there is no standard guide to kickstart your career in graphic designing, information is still available in bits and pieces everywhere, on the web or in the books. So here I am with an ultimate guide to help you kickstart your career in graphic designing. But before jumping to the graphic design tips for a successful career in 2021, let’s take a look at the job responsibilities of graphic designers.
A graphic designer creates visual arts to convey a specific message using creative designs, posters, billboards, and more assembling typography, motion pictures, images, and other vital design elements.
The key responsibilities include determining client requirements, briefing the planned design style to clients, creating graphics for product illustrations, logos, invitations, and determining the typography.
Now that we covered the basics of graphic design, we’ll dive into the best graphic designer career tips for 2021.
Take A Graphic Design Course
This one goes without saying. One cannot become a doctor without taking a medicine course, lawyers aren’t made by practicing law at home, the same follows with graphic design. I agree some really good self-made graphic designers didn’t undergo any formal education. But a varsity degree provides for safety and reliability to progress ahead in this path.
Honestly, getting a job isn’t that difficult. But what you need to understand is just getting a job is not the ultimate objective, isn’t it? To excel in your career, to create your own identity, it requires basics and theoretical knowledge in design theory to be strong. This will enable you to practice the hard-earned knowledge and earn yourself some reputation in the industry.
Even though a degree is the most reliable start to secure a graphic designer career, it comes with no guarantee of a job. Many graphic design graduates lack the basic design skills and aptitude required to work in today’s design trends.
Also, not many can afford such high-priced full-time design courses. Online design schools have got you covered in this regard ー shorter duration graphic design courses at affordable pricing, you can rest assured that these courses would make you industry-ready and help you excel in this discipline.
Upskill Your Software Skills
During your formal education, you’d have learned the problem-solving methods and basic principles and theory of graphic designing. Industry-best software training remains uncovered in most of the university courses.
This skill gap ought to be filled by upskilling yourself on the software front. Most graphic designer job ads demand the applicant to possess a firm grip on any of the top graphic design software- Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel DRAW, Autodesk Max, and many more.
Learning software has been so easy these days, the software package comes with a beginner’s tutorial deck to aid you to use the software effectively. If you plan to use a free version, YouTube can prove to be a gamechanger. Lots of video tutorials are available out there on the most popular design software.
No matter which software you choose to learn, practice your learnings by creating compelling visual designs for you to self-check your progress and show off during job interviews.
My advice to you is to work your way through the software on design tablets. Flexing your artistic muscles on paper could be a tough job, especially when you have to meet the deadlines.
Editing is not as easy on paper and can be time-consuming. High-quality design tablets allow you to edit your art with the click of a button and makes designing fun with better access, responsiveness, and a digital way to draw and create.
Create An Online Presence
Just like any business or an influencer, creating an online presence is a must. Online platforms like Instagram and Facebook are solid means to express yourself and interact with your art lovers and peers. Beginners can learn a lot from the way how top graphic designers manage their Instagram accounts.
Not only it helps you initiate a dialogue with them and present your work, but also keeps you engaged with the design community and keeps your learning curve growing.
Don’t restrict yourself to only social media, my dear friend. Imagine people visiting your website and loving your artworks, receiving their appreciation for your works. Sounds great, right?
Create your portfolio to demonstrate your skills, talents, and artworks to potential clients. As portfolios have already become a thing of late, it’s high time you create yourself one right away. Behance, Adobe Portfolio, and Squarespace are some of the top portfolio creator tools you can make use of in 2021.
Reach Out To Wizards
We all like talking to our heroes, don’t we? Just their few words can change our lives, their tips can change the way we work, and their presence instills confidence and motivation to do something great. Reaching out to our wizards can lead to opportunities we would have only dreamed of.
Show respect to them and their work, tell them how in love you are with their art, what aspect of their art motivates you, tell them your strengths, ask exclusive industry-related questions you always wanted to get answers for ㅡ in essence, awaken that curious mind with you.
You may not know you are the one they are looking to work with. If they are impressed with your work, you might help yourself with an opportunity to collaborate with them. Keep writing to them and send out your best arts, don’t forget to follow-up.
Extend Your Service To A Charity
Working as a graphic designer for a charity is in my opinion the best thing you can do while planning your career in graphic design. Firstly, you would be doing it for a noble cause which would personally satisfy you. It might be just art for you, but a service for them.
Based on my personal experience, it gives oneself immense pleasure to be associated with and extend the service to a non-profit organization and work towards a common righteous goal. When the artwork gets noticed by the community and they sincerely praise you for it, no better feeling than that.
Another great advantage of working for a charity is that it becomes an exceptional value addition to your portfolio. It could also potentially lead you to paid-work for a profit organization, as in freelancing.
Summary
All these tips are futile if you are not bold and patient enough. Just like any other career, a successful graphic designer requires a lot of patience and a strong character. These tips are a good head start to advance your graphic designing career. Keep faith in yourself, because the impossible is just an opinion.