Graphic Design Process: The Basics Laid Out


Graphic design is the artistic process of creating nearly any type of digital designs, which are often used as some type of promotional materials. Individuals, small organizations, and large companies can use graphic designs that contain carefully-chosen text and images to share an event, promotion, or similar idea with a particular audience. Here is an overview of what graphic design is and the graphic design process!

What is graphic design?

Simply put, graphic design involves creating visual content that typically includes both text and images. These artistic designs are often used as a form of branding or advertising, and they aim to capture the personality of a particular company and its goals for the finished piece in a design that is visually appealing and conveys the intended message.

Nearly every logo, billboard, magazine ad, online banner ad, and similar content is a form of graphic design. These creations help the company that designs them or has them designed by a professional share information about the company with its target audience.

What steps are involved in graphic design?

The timeline of creating your graphic design project largely depends on its complexity. Some simple social media posts may be created in less than a day, while large marketing campaigns will take much longer to complete. No matter what type of graphic design project you are working on, it will begin with considering what you want and end with approving a final product. Here is an overview of typical graphic design process stages!

Creative brief

Every successful graphic design project begins with determining what you want and sharing as much information as possible with your graphic designer. Your creative brief should include details about your company, branding, target audience, budget, and timeline, as well as a detailed description of the type of product you want. This section can also include examples of your company's previous designs or other examples of what you like or don't like.

Graphic design research

Creating a graphic design that accomplishes what you want it to involves taking a look at what is already out there. Knowing what your competitors are doing and studying what your target audience prefers at the moment, especially on social media, can help you determine current trends and important points to include.

Brainstorm ideas

Not every idea is going to work perfectly, and it may take time to create a graphic design that is both visually appealing and instantly conveys the promotion, event, or other message you are sharing. Be sure to include enough time to adequately consider colors, fonts, images, sizes, and other elements of graphic design and try a variety of options before selecting a tentative design to be sure that you come up with the final product that best conveys exactly what you want it to.

Create and edit

Editing often continues throughout the creation process, which can be a good thing as long as graphic designers and the companies that hire them communicate closely throughout the process to make sure everyone is on the same page. Ideally, graphic designers should check in with whoever is drawing up the guidelines for the project when it is approximately 10 percent and 50 percent finished to make sure it is on the right track, as well to make any last minute tweaks when it is close to finished before receiving a final approval.

Share final product

Once the final graphic design has been completed and approved by everyone who is part of the decision-making process, it can be shared with a target audience. This can include posting it on social media, putting up a billboard, publishing it in a magazine, printing it on promotional materials, or other distribution methods.

Conclusion

At CorelDRAW, we are passionate about helping both beginning and professional graphic designers hone their skills and find new tools that will assist them throughout the creative process. Contact us today to learn more about our new graphics suite or to download your free trial!


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