Graphic designer jobs are one of the most in-demand professions that have evolved dramatically with time and age. Professionals in this area must design graphics to be used in media channels such as magazines, labels, advertising, and signage.
Who is a graphic designer?
Graphic designers combine images and texts to create layouts and presentations. It is your responsibility to create interesting designs that attract the attention of viewers and effectively communicate your message. The message can be intended for both online and offline audiences. Simply put, graphic designers take care of the appearance of objects. It’s about static designs as attractive as possible to look at. There are more branches of graphic design, and designers specialize in creating a category of work, such as movie poster designers, while others prefer to do a little of everything.
Who is the web designer?
Web designers are divided into UI and UX designers. The user designer’s interface is responsible for the way that an application or website is designed; that is, the interface looks to the audience. At the same time, user experience designers are concerned with what happens when interacts with the interface. They both work towards the product feels. Their goal must be to maximize the simplicity of the product. They refine and create the best possible experience for users.
Graphic designers are different from UI / UX designers in terms of their process and the end result. There is no doubt that currently, UI / UX designers are in the highest demand. The bridge between how things look and how they work, and they are at the forefront of creating great products for people in the technological age. On the other hand, the market for graphic designers has stagnated a bit, and the job market is shrinking for them compared to the more technologically relevant designers.
In fact, many graphic designers are making the switch to become web designers. Are you eager to make the change?
Here are tips to know when moving from graphic design to web design;
- Don’t be the expert
The best web designers are the ones who don’t have all the answers. Eh, what? The key is to understand that all customers are different, and one solution will not work for everyone. You need to understand exactly what designs they need and create them for them. Often giving them an answer will not be enough. You will have to do your research and give clients the reasons why their answer is correct. Be prepared to be stumped every day and have to work hard for every change you make, because you will need to adapt to customer needs in your designs.
Good web designers always start with the basics, always planning ahead as they work, and creating rough wireframes for their designs. Rough is the keyword here, as many designers often put too much effort into making their wireframes look good and lose focus on their purpose. It is an important point for graphic designers as aesthetics take a backseat when it comes to creating wireframes. This doesn’t mean that you should waste your creativity, but you must learn to focus and use it in the right places.
- The science as well as an art
Being a web designer, you must adopt product thinking. A web designer understands that designs overlap with product management, as no one can design an intuitive user interface for a product that they have no idea about.
Research and user testing are an important part of web design. All kinds of biases never get in the way of the design process. It means that you will have to conduct interviews, studies, consultations, and tests to validate your design and make sure it is intuitive for your users.
It’s a scientific approach, and you need to understand that in web design, the definition of beautiful is what makes users feel good while navigating their interfaces and not what is simply pleasing to the eye. To achieve that, you must not only be good at art; you must also understand the science behind it all.
- Design for information
The most important aspects of web design have to do not so much with the pixels, colors, or typography, as with the content that is within your designs. People use websites and apps, not because of their beautiful designs, but because they want easy access to content. When making the switch from graphic design to web design, one should keep this aspect in mind and ensure that the designs are as simplistic as possible. It is very important that it is as easy as possible for users to find the content they need. The interface must be logical in the arrangement and easily accessible to the end-user.
- Follow the guidelines, don’t make up your own
This sounds like graphic designers, makes perfect sense when it comes to web design. Like programming, UI / UX design has some guidelines, like Google’s Material Design for Android or Apple’s iOS Human Interface Guidelines. And following them is essential to ensure that their design does not cause confusion in the minds of users.
- Patterns
If you completely break out of established patterns, you may experience a steeper learning curve for new users. Many of them won’t bother to figure out your design patterns and will move on to another website or app that conforms to what they already know.
However, this doesn’t mean you don’t have room for customization and unconventional design solutions. It does this to an extent, but unless you work at Apple or Google, reinventing entire design patterns that your users have already gotten used to is not recommended. It is not creativity but usability that is important in this field.