Design your way

No matter what career path you are going to choose for sure you are going to have your drawbacks and benefits. Depending on the job that you are going to pursue it is important to understand what you are going to get yourself in. If we speak about graphic design there are many advantages, especially for creative individuals.

Is graphic design a good major is a good question that we asked ourselves. For sure this domain has become a big part of the online and the future is going to have a role for it. So, we explored more details about what this field really requires from a person and if it can be a good choice to follow as a carrier. Let’s discover more details together.

What exactly is graphic design?

This is probably the best way to start if we want to understand better what we are talking about. Is graphic design a good major? One myth about graphic design is that the sole purpose of it is to make things look good.

In fact, the design is about solving complex problems and communicating important ideas. Yes, you might want for sure that your work looks good but your work needs to go far beyond the goal.

Think of it like this, if someone is going to hire you to produce their logo you as a graphic designer need to make sure that the final product is going to reflect their brand and is going to meet their business goals. Pleasing yourself with how the design looks is not the goal you need to make sure that the work you will do is going to satisfy your client.

Usually, individuals that go for graphic design majors have already some kind of artistic talent and computer skills as well that make them the right candidates for pursuing the graphic designer title.

However, you should know that this is not for everyone and a designer needs to consider both the pros and the cons that this career can bring.

The Pros of Graphic Design

Creativity

If you are a creative individual then you should stop asking yourself is graphic design a good major. This is because probably creativity is the foundation for any good designer.

What graphic designers do is to solve problems by meshing concepts, discovering new traditional branding and finding ways to accommodate the needs of multiple parties like marketing. They need to use their imagination in order to solve problems that can appear.

Most graphic design needs can be accomplished at home

Is graphic design a good career? Depends, for example, some designers take their work from home. There are many programs that you can get as a graphic designer and you can start working as a freelancer if you want. Even clients that need graphic design work sometimes outsource the task instead of hiring somebody because they save money.

So, starting your graphic design major funny enough sometimes can require just a computer and an internet connection.

Plenty of Job Options

As graphic design can have different applications in many industries people need to know that there will be a lot of career choices and opportunities in this domain. So, for any young soul out there that needs to know the answer to is graphic design a good major, probably the answer is yes.

Graphic designers can switch from one type of design to another one when they feel they want a change in their job. An example could be of switching from logo designs to designing an advertisement for a different type of business. Or if you want even industrial design it has its interesting work like product packaging and many more.

The skills that are gained in one setting can apply to others and it gives graphic designers various and interesting potential career paths to take advantage of.

Here are some of the jobs that you can apply at after you have a certain graphic design major:

Creative Designer/Consultant/Artist
Illustrator
Consumer Goods Manufacturing- Advertiser/Designer
Marketing and Sales Coordinator/Designer
Art/Creative Coordinator
Art/Creative/Product Designer
Multi-Media Consultant/Designer
Photo Editor

Graphic design provides structure

If you put a lot of focus on the visual structure it means that people that are going to check the content are going to be able to receive a complete message. Without graphic design done in a proper way, people might skip all the information that is thrown at them.

Graphic design adds an aesthetic appeal

Using graphic design, you can make a message mower powerful and ensure that it is going to fulfill the purpose of the organization. Most of the times the designs are related to a call to action that is being requested.

Graphic design done in a serious or fun way can be the option to go with in many projects and we can see them daily all around us. The images that need to be created don’t only complement the other forms of media but make it visually enticing that people want to check the image instead of wanting to move away.

It captures the focus of the viewer

Is graphic design a good major should be the thought that many creatives have when choosing their professional focus.

What is also cool about graphic design is that the elements that are being constructed are going to catch the eye automatically and that they can be used to draw people toward the most important elements that you want to see on your page or another content form.

It’s easy for people to appreciate your work

Let’s be honest, graphic design is a visual form of expression and people that think in images for sure are going to get attracted easier by these types of graphics. Chances are quite big that when a designer does a great job, he is going to get a lot of recognition for their work.

No matter if you are doing medals for marathons, a new logo or some packaging design chances are quite high that people will like what you have done. So be prepared to be acknowledged from time to time.

The Cons of Graphic Design

Constraints

Some designers are not happy because of the gap between what they were expecting and the reality that they have. Going to graphic design majors and expecting creative freedom and room to try something new might not really work that way.

This is because graphic design is focused on the client’s need so a designer needs to adapt his work to what he is being told to do so that the results will please the asking people.

Design is subjective

Everyone has their own opinions when a student ask is a graphic design a good major. As design itself is subjective the same goes to the answer for the above.

When you are working as a graphic designer sometimes you need to make sacrifices and create stuff that doesn’t look the way you feel it would have looked better.

Graphic design needs to be constantly updated

This is almost true because sometimes certain organizations want to keep the same classic style. Each brand has its own message and all the graphic design elements around them must be updated so that the visual impact remains relevant. Sometimes even content that was created one year ago might be considered out of date by some people and that can impact the profitability of an organization.

Instability

A lot of graphic designers work sometimes on different projects at the same time especially when they are self-employed. On top of this, many in-house graphic designers that have steady jobs for major agencies and companies discover that during times of economic crisis or financial instability.

There is also a big wave of freelancer graphic designs that are impacting the way the pricing goes. Just be aware that as other domains graphic design has some strange particularities sometimes.

Graphic design can be a competitive market to break into

If you check a graphic design job outlook that somebody might do you will see that the skills relevant for graphic designers have remained the same for quite some time.

We already mentioned the idea of competition and how this is impacting the designer world. Being so many agencies and freelancers means that you will need to invest a lot in your craft and have a great portfolio when you are starting to hunt for projects.

In conclusion, is graphic design a good major? Well, you had a look at the pros and cons that we found for this particular career type. Again, it comes to your personal preferences and what you are trying to build for yourself when deciding to go into this domain.

Chances are quite big that you will enjoy being a graphic designer especially if you are a creative individual. Probably the next step from here is why not talk with some senior level designers.

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