So...What IS Graphic Design? Part 2
- brittanybecker
- Sep 20, 2024
- 5 min read
Image by Bratus - Logo Sketching - Dribbble.com
In my last blog, Part 1 of this series, I explained what graphic is, gave a brief history of graphic design, and gave a short description of what graphic designers do. In this second part, I will be diving into the main categories of graphic design, as well as a description of the 5 main steps in the design process.
Different Categories of Graphic Design
There are two main families of graphic design: Print and Digital. Within those families are a variety of different categories, some of them very similar to each other, and several of them belong in both Print AND Digital. Imagine a plate of spaghetti, and you’d have a visual of graphic design categories!
Below is my own list of what I consider to be the main 10 types of graphic design, and examples of design work within them. Keep in mind the examples I give are not exclusive!
Branding and Visual Identity: How a company presents itself visually to potential customers. Logos, stationary, colors, fonts, business cards, vehicle wraps…etc! Companies will also often have what’s called a “brand book,” which is an organized list of the logos, colors, and fonts that the company will use across all elements of their business.
Publication and Editorial: Long-form texts that are publicly distributed. Book covers, book interiors, magazines, manuals, newspapers, catalogs, white covers. This is the category that I personally focus on.
Packaging: The design of the encasement or wraps on a product, used to catch the attention of customers, and convince them to purchase the product. Shoeboxes, tea bags, cereal boxes, soda cans, plastic bags. This kind of design is very, very important for selling products.
Web Design: The overall look, feel, and usability of a website. Most websites need designs for a home page, showcasing products or services, traveling around the website itself (menus, links, etc.), banners along the top, bottom, or side, and a way to purchase items.
User Interface (UI): How a user interacts with a device or application. App buttons, tracking charts, information boxes (“please type your name here”), how pages change as you swipe. Designers in this category are often hand-in-hand with software engineers and designers, and it is highly recommended that they know coding as well.
Environmental: The design of a physical location or space that can create memorable connections, navigation, or interactivity for viewers. Office murals, event spaces, art galleries, store interiors, stadium banners. Designers in this category often need interior design or architectural/industrial experience to truly understand what visuals the space needs.
3D: Using 3D modeling software to create 3D images or animations. Architecture and engineering visuals, interior design simulations, packaging examples (like above), viewing videos of a yet-to-be-built space. This is a pretty new category because the technology to create 3-dimensional artwork in a 2-dimensional space, or even 3-dimensional space like a virtual reality environment, is recent and continuing to grow.
Motion Graphics: Graphic designs in motion. Simple as that. Moving/morphing type, animation, videos, GIFs, visuals for tv shows or sports events. Knowing 3D modeling is helpful, as well as storyboarding.
Graphic Art and Illustration: Art and illustrations, created either by hand or digitally, used for graphic design applications. Cartoons, technical illustrations, graphic novels, textile prints, album art, video games. Though not technically graphic design, artists of this category are often tasked with creating illustrations for commercial, editorial, web, and social media projects.
Marketing and Advertising: Designs, both digital and print, that promote products or services to customers. This category is at the end because every other category above can fit into this one. Everything from vehicle wraps and packaging, to website banners and menus, and almost every other design example I listed above. Graphic design and marketing are used together so often, it is not uncommon for a graphic design student to have either a minor or a double-major in marketing as well.
The Designer and Client Process
Creating designs for clients is an involved, detailed process that includes research, customer service, communication, hours of brain-storming revisions, revisions, and more revisions. Oh yeah, and some design work in there too.
There are 5 (and a half) main steps in the design process:
Step 1: Creative Brief. This first step is one of the most important in the design process. The designer and client discuss the goals of the project: brand guidelines, target audience, budget, timeline, etc. Designers need to ask a lot of questions here, because the more information you have, the better! Once the designer has everything they need, they create a ‘creative brief,’ which is a document for both the designer and client that lists all the details and expectations of the project.
Step 2: Research. The next step is for designers to research similar projects, designs, audiences, and trends. Knowing what other similar designs are out there, and especially which ones work and which ones don’t, is important knowledge for the designer. Having a better feel for the target audience and what visuals speak to them is also helpful.
Step 3: Brainstorm. Now to get the artistic juices flowing! Conceptualizing, sketching, doodling, experimentation, mood boards…all of these are within this stage. Shocking as it sounds, designs do not grow fully formed within our brains right away. Think of it like a hose that’s been turned off for the winter; when you turn it on again, it sputters and squirts for a while before the water flows out in a smooth stream. I have personally found that my first three to five sketches are almost always terrible. But once I get them out of my head and onto paper, the better designs begin to flow fast and furious!
Step 3.5: Proofs. This step is between Steps 3 and 4 because it belongs to both. Here, the designer sends the client 3-5 rough design ideas, or “proofs.” Those sketches need to be cleaned up before they are sent to the client for their revisions, but they don’t need to be “pretty.” I usually create either detailed drawings (with colored pencils, if needed) or quick digital designs. This step helps save time by narrowing down the Refinement step to only 1 or 2 designs, instead of 5 or more.
Step 4: Refinement. At long last, we are at the stage of “make it pretty.” NOW is the time for detail work, color and font choices, textures, correct text information, and so on. This is my favorite step!
Step 5: Final Production and Delivery. The design is completed, and the customer is happy! This step is polishing up all the non-design details; preparing the design for print or digital production, sending the final files to the client, invoices, payments, perhaps asking the client for a review or feedback.
I hope these last two blog posts were very educational regarding graphic design. Or at least, I would be happy if you learned one new thing in the plethora of information I threw at you. There is more, a LOT more, that pertains to design work, and I plan to discuss bits and pieces of it as I continue my blog posts. But hopefully this is a good start for anyone who is curious about this career!
Do you have any questions or thoughts? Do you want one of my blog posts to go into more detail on a specific topic? If so, comment below! I would love to hear from you.
All the best,
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