Graphic design is the field that is being discussed everywhere in every corner of the world. Graphic design visuals are needed by everyone in Pakistan as well as in the whole world as the world needs to promote or advertise visual content.
Visual content like images, and videos is the top consuming content on the internet by both old and new generations. At this point, the companies want the attention of their customers or want to attract new customers by providing visual content to them.
So, what is Graphic design basically? Who can design? What is its Scope? From where can you learn Graphic design? and Why should you learn Graphic design? All these questions are answered in this blog post.
What is Graphic Designing
Graphic Designing includes Graphics, Images, Videos, and other visual things to design for a purpose.
For example, a Business Card is an example of a visually designed thing. Similarly, Poster design, UI design, LOGO design, Menu design, packaging design, and a lot more designs are part of Graphic Designing.
Graphic design is simply one of the design fields in which a designer creates digital as well as printable designs. These designs can be anything according to the client or what you want to design.
Some of the examples and sub-fields of Graphic Designing are:
- Typography
- UI designing
- Packaging design
- Motion Graphics design
- 3D designs
- Infographics design
- Web design
- Icon design
- Illustrations
- Poster design
- Business Card design
- Digital Art Design
and there are a lot more categories in graphic designing that you can explore and can learn or focus on one thing first then broaden your learning in this field.
In short, Graphic designing is field of digital and printable designs that you see in your daily life on bill boards, video ads, display ads, restaurant menu, designs on the product packages, and etc.
How to Become a Graphic Designer
So let's come to the point and discuss becoming a graphic designer this year. How you can become a graphic designer? What education or degree is required to become a designer? What is the scope of Graphic designing? How much time is required to become a graphic designer? Answers are given below:
Becoming a graphic designer requires artistic skills, flexibility to learn new trends and unlearn old things, and a passion for learning more and more to become a professional in Graphic design.
Here are 10 simple but practical steps to become a Graphic Designer:
1- Learn the Basics of Design
First thing first, the journey to Graphic design starts with the basics of design. You need to learn the foundations and fundamentals of Graphic designing.
In graphic design fundamentals, you need to have basic knowledge of
- Color theory
- Typography
- Composition
- Balance
- Contrast
- Alignment
- Spacing
All the above-mentioned skills are easy to learn and most of the people already have these skills. Just touch these skills and move on.
2- Gain Proficiency in Design Software
If you are starting to learn graphic design, after learning the basic theory, you will surely be curious about sketching and drawing, making shapes and illustrations about what you have learned.
For this purpose, you need to learn Graphic Design software to practice your skills. Some of the popular and well-known graphic design software and websites are listed below:
Paid Software:
- Adobe Illustrator (popular)
- Adobe Photoshop (popular)
- Adobe InDesign
- Figma
- Sketch
- Canva.com (popular)
- Viseme.co
- Gimp
- Photopea.com
3- Course in Graphic Design
After learning the basics of design, and selecting a software or tool for practicing, you now need to take a course or formal education in Graphic Designing.
I do not recommend you to take high-end and expensive courses for the first time. Just explore this field and gradually enter into this.
You can start from free resources like YouTube. There are a lot of channels teaching graphic design for free. Some popular and top-rated YouTube channels teaching graphic design are listed below:
- GFXM (Urdu/Hindi)
- Satori Graphics (English)
- Nikhil Pawar (Urdu/Hindi)
- Tutvid (English)
To know more about YouTube channels to learn Graphic design you can visit these channels check their playlists and start learning what fascinates you.
Some graphic design channels teach to operate software, some teach the theory of design, and some teach practical skills like poster design, logo design, and more.
A bachelor's degree or a long diploma is not recommended to start learning graphic design. You can start from free online resources, and if you want to be professional in this skill then make a decision for a degree.
4- Specialize in a Niche
It is very important to know about the categories or niches in Graphic Design as mentioned at the start of the blog post.
You need to identify a niche that attracts you and you want to pursue that niche and become a professional in that skill.
For example, when I started learning graphic design, Poster and Banner designing fascinated me and I started learning these skills. After that, I also learnt about Magazine design and book cover design.
So, in short, first, find your niche by exploring and touching all the popular niches in graphic design, and then specialize in one.
After that enter the market, and start working for your own brand, your friends, or your clients, wait wait wait, there are 6 more steps to becoming a graphic designer, don't miss them.
5- Build a Portfolio
I am letting that you have specialized in a particular niche in Graphic Designing. Now it is the time to build a nice portfolio so that you can showcase your work to others.
A portfolio impacts the chances of getting good clients and customers. Whenever you are looking for a client, you can showcase your work to others.
To build a portfolio, you can work for others for free (in the beginning only) like volunteer work for an organization, or a company, or even for your friends or parents.
Design something for someone that fulfills their expectations from you as a graphic designer. Understand the requirements of the client and show them what they are expecting.
After working for some clients for free or paid, you need to publish that work with the permission of the client on your profiles. For publishing your graphic design portfolio consider the following websites:
- Behance.net
- Dribble.com
- Coroflot.com
- Fiverr.com
- Facebook.com
- Linkedin.com
6- Work on Real-World Projects
After making a very nice portfolio, and publishing it everywhere on relevant groups and websites, there are very high chances you have gotten a client or maybe clients.
Now what? The clients will give you the professional work to do.
You have to give your 100% and make a good impact by showing them your good work.
The main purpose of becoming a graphic designer is to get clients and then get paid by them. You can get clients from social media, your local area, and from freelance websites.
Some popular freelance websites where you can get a lot of clients are:
- Workchest.com
- Toptal.com
- Upwork.com
- guru.com
- freelancer.com
Similarly, there are a lot of more websites for freelancing available for graphic designers. You can find clients and work with them on real-world projects.
7- Get Feedback
After working for a client you need to get feedback from the client. Ask the client how was my work, did it fulfilled your expectations. Is that the expected output?
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This will help you understand the client's point of view (POV). If you have done exactly what the client wanted from you, then Congrats.
Feedback can be a positive acknowledgment from client or it may be a criticism. You just need to admire it patiently.
Criticism does not mean you have failed. Learn from your mistakes and upgrade yourself. It is the key to a successful Graphic Designer.
You can also get feedback from your colleagues, mentors, and friends. Use the feedback or criticism to improve and refine your skills.
8- Stay Updated with Design Trends
It is very important to know that at the time when you learned graphic designing, the trends were different, now by the time they have changed.
Every graphic designer needs to be stay updated with design trends, as it the key to being a graphic designer for a long time.
If you design like an old man, using old techniques, colors, spacing, and mode, then nobody is coming to you for work. You will throw your clients away yourself.
How to stay updated on graphic design trends? Follow design blogs, listen to graphic design influencers, and watch webinars to stay updated. In this way, you will be continuously learning or upgrading yourself.
9- Develop Soft Skills
The importance of soft skills cannot be denied. You need to develop soft skills, especially communication skills. You must be able to communicate clearly and in a way that attracts customers.
You must be able to attract the clients, negotiate with the clients, and let them with you for long-term projects.
Communication skills are also important in presenting your work. If you have done something amazing, but you are not able to present this in such a way that it looks amazing, then you have messed up.
Similarly, you need to learn project management skills, so that you can manage the projects, their prices, and time required for a specific project. You have to learn this or you will automatically learn by time.
10- Develop a Network
Develop a network with other graphic designers. It will help you in a lot of ways. You can stay updated with market strategies, client-hunting techniques, and new tools coming to the market.
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How to network with other graphic designers? follow the given steps:
- Join design communities
- Participate in challenges and collaborate
- Engage in discussions
- Follow relevant #tags on social media
- Write guides for others
and many more steps that you can take to network with other graphic designers. Don't forget to guide your junior graphic designers when you become a senior. This will also help you understand the point of view of others.
Time required to become a Graphic Designer
How much time is required to become a graphic designer? The answer to this question lies in the quality of work you want.
Beginner Graphic Designer: You can become a beginner graphic designer in 2-3 months.
Intermediate Graphic Designer: You can add some extra skills and become an intermediate graphic designer in 4-6 months.
Professional Graphic Designer: The professionalism lies in the skills you have learnt as well as the number of clients you have worked with. However, a designer can become a pro designer in 1 year or may be 2.
Graphic Designing Salary in Pakistan
You must be thinking what is the average salary of a graphic designer in Pakistan? So the salary range can vary based on your experience, location, and the company you are working for.
The average salary of a graphic designer in Pakistan in 2024 ranges from 35,000 to 75,000 PKR. (Glassdoor).
If you compare it with the global salary or salary in the United States, the average salary of a graphic designer in the United States is $57k - $97k per annum.
Scope of Graphic Designing in Pakistan
A true graphic designer in Pakistan has artistic thinking and creativity from a design perspective. One who can enter the brain of clients and design the required things leaving tools used behind.
The graphic design field is emerging at a very high and unimaginable speed in Pakistan. The young boys and girls learning this skill and mastering it.
Graphic designing has scope not only in Pakistan but worldwide. There are a lot of companies as well as online agencies looking for graphic designers not only in Pakistan but globally.
So, master your skills and you will find opportunities in Graphic Designing in Pakistan as well as in the world. Nowadays, companies hire graphic designers but also work on a contract basis with them remotely.
In the last, I would say, the world is open for the graphic designers. As social media and digital media is increasing day by day, the need for the designers is also increasing.