To most young people nowadays, Graphic Design is nothing more than a 20 minute Photoshop job with a slapped on font. At first, those were my thoughts exactly. At the tender age of thirteen, I was under the impression that anyone with a copy of Photoshop could be a designer. In years of reading magazines and blogs, and also from experience, I now know that that is simply not the case.
Photoshop is nothing but a tool, one of many tools in fact. It’s a shame to see people think as I did, only a few short years ago.
Graphic Design is art. The beauty of a well designed piece is astounding and can be well appreciated by all. As a new type of art form (by new, I speak in relation to art that has been around thousands of years) some people may not realize that this is art. Traditional art is done on a canvas, or with sculpting tools, and even on city streets. Design is a digital artform, which gives naive people the misconception that anyone can be a Graphic Designer and create ‘designs’. Unfortunately, the term ‘design’ is thrown around so loosely that Graphic Design nowadays has seemed to be ‘dulled down’. In fact Graphic Design origniated without the use of computers, years and years ago. Thanks to technology, designers’ jobs have become much easier. Before it was creating fonts from scratch. Now, we can download a font with ease.
To me, Graphic Design is the ability to release my creative energies. To apply elements of design, such as typography, proximity, color, alignment and so forth, to create a piece of art. I am not the best designer out there, but then again, there was only one DaVinci. I make an effort to constantly learn more and more, so that I can call myself a designer. I’m at the point where I know I can. Mastering your tools (Photoshop, PC/Mac, tablets, Illustrator, etc) and knowing your skills (elements of design) is a must for anyone wanting to be in the field. Anything less, is not design.
A situation that really stood out to me was this: Someone I knew posted on Twitter or Facebook that she loved creating ‘graphic designs’. This was in reference to hacking some google images together onto a low res t-shirt design, with Paint Shop Pro. This, is not Graphic Design. This is learning and exprimentation. In no way shape or form would I ever call this person a Designer. Not to judge or put anyone down, because that is not what I am doing here, but this person knew nothing about design, nor did they want to. They simply wanted to finish the task at hand: design a shirt.
It’s things like this that really make me reevaluate my thoughts on Graphic Design. In reality, it is what it’s always been: an artform that not everyone can master. Simple.
What are your thoughts on this? Tell us what Graphic Design means to you!
This is the exact way that I felt when I was ten and first started graphic/web design!! After a while, however, I learned more and more, and THEN after at least 4 years I started calling myself a designer. Even if I’m nowhere near mastering it. In my view, web design isn’t someone EVERYONE can master. Since the world of web design is always changing, no one can really completely MASTER it. Who knows? In 20 years, we may be coding in a COMPLETELY different language than the current language we know now. Heck, we may be having to learn all of our old tricks over again!
Glad to know I’m not alone! You’re right, design is not something everyone can do (I feel a ratatouille reference coming along here
). The web is constantly changing, and all we can do is hang on for the ride!
I agree with Savannah, I started graphic “design” at the age of 8 or 9, I’m now 14. Though I still think I have a long way to go to be a designer, I think I’m on the right track. (: This article was very refreshing, and I’ll definitely be forwarding it to some of my friends.
Glad that you enjoyed it
i also love design. at first, when i was 14, a bit older than you guys, i really like experimenting many things. but the most thing that i enjoyed and get really on well is graphic designing. its like my passion.
and just like savannah and you said, designing is not everybody can do and no one is capable to get the title sort of ‘KING OF DESIGNS’ because design is not something static and it will keep changing and evolve.
design is not just some sort of art, its a WORLD.
When i was younger(below 17…) , i always thought, as soon as you start making money, it means you’re a graphic designer. But looking at the kinds of things being sold nowadays, it just doesn’t seem like that’s the case. I’ve been learning to do graphic design for two years now, and I’ve made some money, but i feel like, money has nothing to do with graphic designing, and it’s not as much about the skill, there’s a certain level of maturity, technique and passion ( if you would call it that) which is required to call someone a graphic designer. I’ve still got a long way to go and i currently don’t really consider myself a true graphic designer because there’s SO MUCH more to learn.
Anyways, great article