So you’re interested in becoming a Graphic Designer but aren’t sure what the career involves?
With the advice of an established graphic design professional, this article will walk you through the best pathways into the industry, the roles and responsibilities of a graphic designer, the highlights of the job, its future growth, and much more.
Let’s dive in!
认识劳伦
什么是图形设计师？
Steps to Becoming a Graphic Designer
Future Outlook
最好的事情和最糟糕的事情
Advice for Aspiring Graphic Designers
认识劳伦
劳伦Babulais一个multi-disciplinary designer who specialises in graphic design，并且位于新南威尔士州。她工作branding, publication, illustration，并且有一个客户列表ranging from boutique brands through to large corporates。
劳伦是regarded for her她的设计高度创造性和周到的方法，并有previously tutored and lectured在大学的大学里！
How did you end up in this role?
劳伦was对年轻的艺术充满热情，并在大学学习设计一个fter graduating from high school. She had the opportunity to engage in a6-week internship program with Indesignduring her degree — one of Australia’s leading design software companies in commercial architecture and design — shortly after which she was offered a full-time role by the company.
劳伦rose to the position of Art Director for Indesign，她全职工作了两年，然后转换为更灵活的工作程序。她现在为各种公司和品牌开发各种设计项目！
研究和经验
劳伦研究了悉尼美术学院的物体，内饰和图形设计（现已整合到UNSW艺术和设计教师），，，，during which time she engaged in her 6-week internship with Indesign.
What made you want to work in this industry?
Additionally, as a practical person,graphic design is a field that allows Lauren to make a living while still enjoying what she does!
什么是图形设计师？
A graphic designerplans, designs, develops and prepares information for publication and reproduction using text, symbols, pictures colours and layouts。这通常是为了实现商业和对客户指示的特定受众量身定制的沟通需求。
角色和责任
图形设计师具有各种角色和责任，而不仅仅限于设计自己。
一些主要角色包括formulating design concepts and presenting them to clients through sketches, illustrations and diagrams，，，，一个ndusing digital design software(mainly Adobe Creative Suite) to produce commercially suitable designs to fulfil client briefs.
However, other responsibilities of a graphic designer may include:
-
- 研究和分析项目的功能通信要求
- 谈判和与客户和利益相关者就其目标和约束进行谈判和沟通
- Attending meetings
- 操作专业的社交媒体帐户（例如Instagram）
- Managing one’s finances (i.e. invoicing, accounting)
可以在哪些行业找到哪些行业？
平面设计师s are needed in a wide range of industries! Some of the main ones includemarketing, advertising, publishing, textiles, commercial interior design, manufacturing,一个nd计算机系统设计。
What jobs do people sometimes confuse this with?
插图画家
While both graphic designers and illustrators use visual art to communicate a message for a certain purpose,graphic designers primarily mix and generate digital images, text and layouts using editing and design software, while illustrators work with what they can paint or draw(both digitally and physically).
Because of this, illustrators may find graphic design work more profitable due to the range of growing industries it is highly demanded in (particularly marketing, advertising, publishing, etc).
网页设计师
虽然图形设计师专注于消息的视觉通信，但web design emphasises the functional impacts of digital design.
Web design is also a more动态的medium than graphic design; while a graphic designer may create elements of a website,网页设计师的域是人们与网站互动的方式，以及系统如何流动在一起（例如导航，菜单，按钮等）。
特征和素质
创造性地思考并通过有意义的设计来传达您的想法is one of the main skills that a graphic designer develops over their career. Lauren says that educating people on什么是良好的图形设计以及如何变得强大is particularly important today with the multitude of pre-made graphic design templates online.
图形设计师的技术技能，例如Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign,也很重要，您可以随时通过在线教程开始学习这些内容。
Knowledge
图形设计师熟悉technical design— things like design techniques, tools, and principles used to make detailed technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models. They are also familiar withcommunications and media的媒体制作、沟通和dissemination — mostly with visual media.
Other knowledge they have includefine arts一个nd使用计算机和电子设备用于计算机设计和编辑软件。
Skills
To be a graphic designer, one would need to have excellentreading comprehension- 主要用于阅读简介，并根据这些要求有效地塑造设计。Critical thinkingis an essential too, in order to problem solve.
设计ing doesn’t only mean having the technical skills, but also being able tocommunicate with clients and stakeholders.This entails active listening and learning.
能力 ＆Activities
Working within graphic design involves a lot of集思广益，口头理解，口腔表达一个ndoriginality!
你还需要创造性地思考，，，，keep your knowledge up-to-date(technology and ideas),build good relationships，，，，plan and prioritise work，，，，一个nd与公众交流。
Steps to Becoming a Graphic Designer
What should you study?
您通常需要一个Bachelor’s degree or a Diploma in graphic designto work as a Graphic Designer!
劳伦recommendsenrolling in a university course as opposed to a TAFE or private collegecourse if you want to go into graphic design, she says.
大学课程将help you develop the thinking skills of design and thus provide you with more longevity and edge in your career，而TAFE或私立大学课程则更多地关注“执行”的机械过程（即软件技能）。
悉尼最受认可的图形设计课程之一是UTSBachelor of Design in Visual Communication。
成为图形设计师需要多长时间？
完成图形设计university course usually takes around 3-4 years，，，，while aDiploma of Graphic Design at TAFE takes around 34 weeks.
Industry Knowledge
You will most likely need to have a solid technical understanding of some or all of the main computer programs used by graphic designers:Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.
将来这个职业会是什么样？
How in-demand is this career?
Graphic design exhibitsstrong future growth。这可能是由于increased emphasis of social and digital platforms in all industries and our everyday lives。
In particular, demand for graphic designers is growing in一个dvertising and marketing industries.
Are there opportunities to grow or specialise?
平面设计师scan specialise in a vast array of different industries and areas， 就像之前提到的。这可以像食谱或汽车手册的图形设计一样具体。
The demand for visual communication is only随着公司在线移动，变得越来越重要。Some areas graphic designers might specialise in include:
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- Brand graphic design (logos, business cards, etc)
- 营销和广告图形设计（海报，信息图表，传单等）
- 出版图形设计
- 包装图形设计
- Environmental graphic design (wall murals, public signage, work spaces)
Salary
| 年薪 | Future Growth | Skill Level Rating |
|---|---|---|
| $ 69,000+ | 在接下来的五年中很强 | Very high skill |
有影响力的趋势
Graphic design isbecoming increasingly accessible for a larger number of people with access to the internet and cheaper versions of professional software可供下载。
尽管模板站点通常可能会扭曲“好”图形设计的实际是什么，但当今的技术还以高数字素养暴露了许多年轻人to the possibility of a graphic design career by providing a leaping off point for growth.
The Future of this Industry
For graphic designers, the prominence of online platforms also means a shifting work landscapewhere graphic design is increasingly being viewed as something ‘anyone can do’.
劳伦（Lauren）指出：“这是营销和图形设计的繁荣时间 -visual communication is just evolving so much。我认为要削减there will be more value on meaning.I think to stand out it has to be pretty good, it’s easy for people to use things like Canva these days.为了使它变得良好，必须对此有更深入的思考。透明
最好的事情和最糟糕的事情
您最喜欢这项工作吗？
“我真的很高兴解决问题…这不是我的最终产品，它是关于working out what the problem is and solving it, which happens to be in a visual way.It’s really satisfying when you feel like you’ve got it, and everything flows easily after that,” says Lauren.
What do you feel is the worst part of this job?
“成为平面设计师的令人沮丧的事情之一是production is a lot more valued than creative time.So your output — what you’re able to do — how many ads you can do or pages you can layout,the mechanical process rather than the higher thinking process.And that’s pretty common in creative industries,” says Lauren.
Advice for Aspiring Graphic Designers
What do you wish you had known before you started working in this career?
在传达您的想法时自信is one of the main skills Lauren wishes she had developed earlier, one of the things that comes with experience “in any career”!
It’s also important tovalue yourself and your work so other people do as well(even if you aren’t charging a lot for it), a key part of any creative career. “You’ve got tolearn not to be exploited，但是如果我相信它们，我仍然可以免费做事，只要它被重视。”
她一个dds that she also在计算机后面花费更多的时间比她预期的。
Why should people consider taking on this career?
Graphic design is an excellent career option if you享受解决问题，视觉创造并与团队中的其他人合作（无论是客户还是创意团队）。
It also allows you towork within an industry or area that you’re already interested in。For Lauren this has always been architecture, furniture and object design; “There’s sort of more joy than if I was designing a car manual or something.”
此外，如果您想拥有一个灵活的工作，不一定局限于办公空间或9到5个工作日的图形设计may provide you with flexibility of hours and a constantly changing variety of projects to keep you engaged。
工作灵活性
平面设计师s may potentially have一个highly flexible lifestyle。“ [有可能]如果您向员工展示了可以扮演角色，并且随着您建立更多的经验。我现在认识的大多数图形设计师manage to balance lots of different jobs and family，，，，so it’s great,” says Lauren.
她predominantly works from home, and also has young children.劳伦（Lauren）说，她在项目上工作了四个小时，通常每周休息一天来填补其他活动。
“当您一直试图从事新作品时，会有很多波动和回旋处。她还说：“很难保持工作流程。”Although consistency of workflow can be difficult to sustain through a project-based job, it is possible to do so by engaging in longer-term projects像杂志出版设计一样。
What is the workplace culture like?
Like every industry, there are positive and negative sides of the graphic design work culture. Oftenproduction can be under-valued,says Lauren, withtough time-frames that don’t provide space for deeper thinking and creativity.
However,也可以结交一些了不起的朋友和共同创造者。“I’ve worked with some really lovely people who have gone on to become friends… you’ve got to try and find a workplace that values your contribution, and they’re not [all] equal.”
Zara Zadrois a Content Writer for Art of Smart and a current undergraduate student at the University of Sydney. She studies a Bachelor of Arts/Advanced Studies majoring in Media & Communications and English. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music and discovering new parts of Sydney. She has also written for the student publications Honi Soit and Vertigo. After she graduates, Zara hopes to do a Masters in creative writing and live overseas, which she cannot wait for!
