What is graphic design?

Graphic design is a type of visual communication that uses images, graphics, colors and other visual elements to tell a brand’s story in an attractive and captivating way. Graphic designers use various design tools like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign to create various digital and print advertising materials, like billboards, product packaging, company logos and websites. They use creative elements like colors, shapes and typography to educate and entertain an organization’s target audience.

Importance of good design for business

Good design is important for an organization to have as it helps a brand stand out from its competitors. A captivating and professional design grabs the attention of consumers and piques their initial interest in the company.

This often makes them want to learn more about the company by exploring its website further or reading valuable content the organization creates. This eventually converts them from leads to customers. Strong design engages customers and tells the story of your business and its products before they even start reading your written content.

Six types of graphic design

There are many types of graphic design that employees can create for their organization. Here are six of the common types of graphic design:

1. Website

Web design involves building pages for your website that are both visually appealing and easy for users to navigate. Designers will use elements like page layout, typography and compelling images to attract users to the site and to convey their brand’s story and messaging. Many of them also study user interface and user experience design best practices to make the site easy to navigate.

2. Multimedia, motion and videos

Multimedia design involves designing moving graphics that tell a story through video or animation. These designs are an effective way to communicate with, educate and entertain audience members. They’re often available in multiple forms, like video tutorials, animated websites or GIFs. Basic video design is also used to teach audience members about a certain subject or to promote an organization’s upcoming event.

3. Advertising

Advertising and marketing design is an effective way to attract consumers through digital and print promotional materials. These designs usually support an advertisement’s copy and capture the attention of consumers. Advertising and marketing design is often found in formats like social media, content marketing and email marketing. They typically design logos, brochures, infographics and other promotional materials for companies.

4. Packaging

Packaging design is commonly used for businesses that sell products directly to consumers. These designers focus solely on creating entertaining and attractive product packaging that sticks out to customers and causes them to impulsively want to purchase it. Different types of products they design for vary from food to makeup to basic retail and merchandising products.

5. Environmental

This design type uses various elements of different design habits, like architecture, landscape, industrial and interior to improve the viewer’s experience and make their environment informative and memorable. It often features signage and other visual cues to communicate a brand’s story or provide a meaningful message to audiences.

6. Corporate

Corporate design is often used by larger companies to express their brand’s identity. The common goal of these designs is to communicate the organization’s personality, voice and tone through its images and graphics. Designers properly depict this through using imagery, shapes and colors to help bring out certain feelings and emotions in their audience. These emotions often provide the audience with a need to purchase from the company and support its brand.

Types of designers you can hire

There are many different types of designers. Some of them serve in a more general role, creating designs for a wide variety of campaigns and companies. Others specialize in a specific industry or type of design element. Common types of designers to consider hiring include:

Graphic designer

Graphic designers perform a wide array of tasks for either one individual company or for several organizations in an agency setting. They often serve on the marketing team, creating promotional materials to help advertise and market a company. Common designs they create include business cards, logos, brochures, postcards, flyers and presentations.

Web designer

Website designers work primarily on companies’ websites, building designs that are easy for users to navigate and are attractive to look at. Some web designers are also trained to build mobile apps and optimize a company’s website for mobile phones and other devices. Many of them have extensive knowledge of front-end web development and know various coding languages to optimize a website according to visitors’ needs.

Web designers can work in a general setting, performing a wide variety of different website design tasks. Others may specialize in certain web design jobs. User experience designers focus solely on the experience users have on certain websites and applications. They regularly add updates to ensure their experience is entertaining and easy to use. User interface designers focus solely on how visitors navigate through a website or app. They use elements like menus, colors and buttons to make it simple for users to browse.

Related:How to Hire a Web Designer

Motion graphics designer

These designers create many different videos used to educate or entertain audiences. They make anything from long-form video content to quick motion graphics used to tell the brand’s story in a short and simple way. Motion graphics designers bring life and movement to illustrations, images and text. They often build storyboards and scripts to map out the scenes in their upcoming videos.