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Do You Think With More Young People Learning Graphic Design Skills That There Is Less Demand For Qualified And Experienced Graphic Designers?
We searched the various design job sites and read through a plethora of different posts to find out what companies are looking for, whether the positions are studio-based, in-house, or freelance. We have compiled a handy graphic design abilities list that includes all of the technical knowledge you will need to become a full-fledged Graphic Designer. You can learn these abilities through Blue Sky Graphics online graphic design course.
Technical Capabilities
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign, which was first launched over 20 years ago, is a graphic designer’s closest friend and most important piece of software. InDesign is a desktop publishing and typesetting software that is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud and is used by designers all over the globe. When it was originally launched in 1999, it supplanted Quark, which had received harsh criticism, as the industry standard.
Although a little perplexing at first, if a designer is thoroughly educated in InDesign, it opens up a whole new universe of possibilities.
It may be used to produce posters, flyers, booklets, and magazines, among many other things—all of the things that come to mind when you say you are a graphic designer.
In all honesty, you will not find a graphic designer that is not both an InDesign expert and continuously learning new tips and tricks on the software. It is one of the most important talents for a graphic designer to have.
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop is the world’s most popular picture editing software and is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud (which, if you have not guessed, you will become quite acquainted with as a graphic designer). It was originally released in February 1990, 30 years ago. But wait a minute. What about photo editing? We are not professional photographers! We know what you are thinking—Photoshop is that and much more.
As a designer, you will use Photoshop to edit and alter raster/bitmap graphics (aka JPEGs, PNGS, and GIFs) for use in your designs—in other words, it creates pictures using pixels.
Cropping, colour correction, resizing, and altering pictures and photos are all possible with the software.
It may also be used to remove the sunburn from your vacation beach photos. It is also used for a variety of other tasks that a designer could do, like as overlaying text onto an image or mixing photography (yours or someone else’s) with graphics.
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator, the third and final member of the Designers Triumvirate that is Adobe Creative Cloud (there are additional CC applications you may learn, but these are the basics), is a vector graphics editor that was originally published in 1987. Vector images, as opposed to raster graphics, are made out of pathways rather of pixels and can therefore be scaled considerably more than raster graphics. Illustrator works with vectors, while Photoshop works with images.
Do not be scared off by the name; you do not need to be an expert at drawing to utilise Illustrator.
The software may be used to generate a wide range of digital and printed graphics, including logos, charts, drawings, cartoons, graphs, and diagrams—basically anything that needs to be printed or presented in various sizes or formats.
The true beauty of InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator is that they can all be used together to produce designs seamlessly—the file formats can be opened in the other applications. As a result, they are high on the list of important graphic design talents.
Digital (UI, UX, Sketch)
Despite the fact that it would have raised eyebrows only thirty years ago, digital design is today perhaps the most interesting, fast-moving, and essential aspect of the business.
Digital design is usually divided into two categories: UI and UX. UI, which stands for User Interface, is concerned with the visual experience—how a piece of digital design appears. Meanwhile, UX (User Experience) is concerned with usability—how a piece of digital design really works.
Though positions for UI or UX designers are often offered, it is critical for all digital designers and all designers in general to have a solid knowledge and abilities in both areas. How can you create a good piece of UI if you do not understand how UX works?
Sketch, the industry standard digital design software, is the most essential tool in a digital designer’s toolbox. Sketch is a complete digital design tool that includes both UI and UX, as well as the ability to create websites and mobile applications, prototype, and collaborate. With this in mind, it is simple to understand how digital, which includes UI, UX, Sketch, and other tools, is an essential component of a graphic designer’s skill set.
Typography (Typesetting etc.)
It is not exactly breaking news that typography is an important element of graphic design, but that does not mean typography skills should be overlooked—they are an essential part of any graphic design skills list. When we mention typography, we mean any typographic abilities that a graphic designer may employ, from selecting the appropriate font for a project to delving into the fine gritty of typesetting with alignment, kerning, and leading. If you want to learn more about any of these concepts, check out our in-depth look at typography and this explanation of what kerning is. The majority of these typography-related abilities will be useful while working in InDesign, but they will also be useful in any other software that a designer utilises.
In addition to technical typography abilities, designers should have a thorough knowledge of typography so that they can explain why they chose particular typographic decisions and that those choices have a theoretical foundation rather than being simply aesthetic. “Good” typography can make or break a design; it may establish meaning, remind you of a certain brand, or even elicit an emotion (ask any graphic designer how they feel about Papyrus or Comic Sans). “Bad” typography may be startling, distracting from the design, and cause visitors to look away. At its worst, it may render a design illegible. We cannot overstate the importance of excellent typographic abilities to a designer.
