Essential Knowledge for Graphic Designers
In the competitive world of graphic design, having a strong portfolio is just the beginning. Employers are increasingly seeking candidates who possess a combination of technical skills, soft skills, and a keen understanding of design fundamentals.
A High-Quality Portfolio Matters
A small, yet high-quality portfolio is recommended over a large one with poorer work. The key is to showcase a diverse range of projects, including single page large format designs, advertisements, magazines and multipage work, photo compositing, basic illustration, web pages, social media campaigns, and product design comping.
Soft Skills are Crucial
Beyond technical skills, employers highly value soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, empathy, and cultural fluency. Candidates who can articulate and justify their creative decisions, collaborate effectively with others, manage feedback, and align work strategically with brand goals are highly sought after.
Communication Skills
The ability to clearly explain design choices both verbally and in writing is essential, facilitating teamwork and client interactions.
Teamwork
Collaborating well with others, whether within a creative team or cross-functionally, remains essential, even for remote work.
Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking
Designers must navigate creative constraints and resolve technical or conceptual challenges with resourcefulness. Employers want evidence of this in past work experiences.
Adaptability
The capacity to iterate work based on feedback, adjust to changing project scopes, and stay current with evolving design trends shows flexibility and growth mindset.
Empathy and Cultural Fluency
Understanding target audiences and respecting diverse perspectives enhances the relevance and impact of design solutions.
Time Management and Organization
Balancing multiple projects, meeting tight deadlines, and maintaining productivity under pressure are highly valued for reliability and workflow efficiency.
Strategic Thinking
Designing with a clear understanding of how work drives business goals like engagement, brand recognition, or conversions is increasingly important.
Growth Potential is Key
Employers also emphasize qualities tied to growth potential, such as openness to learning, experimentation, and the ability to contribute novel ideas within a team environment.
Design Fundamentals are Essential
Important design fundamentals include composition, colour, typography, hierarchy, sketching and concepting, general aesthetics, presentation skills, design process, photo retouching, photography, colour adjustment, photo compositing, vector illustration, basic copywriting, marketing (CTA, active voice), and a knowledge of design history.
The Demand for Specific Skills
There is a higher demand for social media, video production, social photography, and SEO skills. Additional software skills such as AfterEffects, Lightroom, and Bootstrap are beneficial.
What Employers are Looking For
Employers are looking for graphic designers with attention to detail, good communication skills, the ability to get along with others, a willingness to learn and try new things, and an awareness of pop culture and trends. When presenting a portfolio, it's important to demonstrate the ability to edit, as letting in poor work may indicate a lack of listening to advice.
Portfolio Presentation
It is suggested to present your portfolio without any prior context. A unique leave-behind that is useful is recommended, and a handwritten follow-up thank you note is appreciated.
Experience and Education
Entry level junior designers are required to have 3 years of experience and a degree. The institution's online degree and certificate programs in graphic design are reviewed annually by a veteran group of design industry educators and hiring managers to ensure they adapt to changes in the market.
Where to Find Opportunities
Employers in tech, retail, PR, small firms, and big corporations are hiring graphic designers. In cover letters, resumes, and portfolios, spellcheck and proofreading are essential, and less is often more. Avoid infographics in resumes, and use hierarchy instead. Necessary software skills include Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, HTML, CSS, and XD.
- To stand out in the competitive graphic design industry, it's important to focus on both technical skills like photo retouching, illustration, and design fundamentals, as well as soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, empathy, cultural fluency, time management, strategic thinking, and a growth mindset.
- In addition to having a strong portfolio and technical skills, employers in the graphic design field also place a high value on education and self-development, as demonstrated by the annual review of online degree and certificate programs in graphic design by a panel of industry experts. Career development and job-search strategies, such as staying up-to-date with industry trends, networking, and effective portfolio presentation, are crucial for success in the field.
