When people think of graphic design, they typically think of illustrations, colour schemes, or infographics. They think of the creative stuff. But truth be told, graphic design is far more than just sketching and colours. For instance, if you’re a freelance graphic designer, you also have to know how to market yourself and how to price and invoice for your services.
Similarly, commercial designers must also have a strong knowledge of industry standards and practices. Logo designers need to know patenting and copyright laws. And all graphic designers have to know how to use specialised programs and software.
And all this is just the tip of the iceberg too. Here are some of the other top technical skills for design students to know when developing a career in graphic design.
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1. Mastery of Design Software & Shortcuts
Many designers will already have a program or two under their belt – or at least the basics – but a professional designer is well-versed in all the tools and shortcuts available in the major programs.
Aside from this, you’ll need to be able to present these multimedia projects correctly, in professional and transportable formats for your lecturers. So you must be able to change JPG to PDF files in a second using tools like Adobe Acrobat, to make your work accessible across all devices and platforms.
And speaking of Adobe, it’s important to keep in mind that proficiency with tools across the Creative Cloud suite is generally considered to be foundational for graphic designers today. Did you know that Ctrl+Shift+R can be used to rotate images in Photoshop? How about that Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E merges selected layers? Taking the time to learn and ingrain these shortcuts will pay off endlessly when you’re using them every hour of every workday. It’s minutiae like these that show your mastery, and there are plenty of tutorials and guides online to teach them to you, you just need to set aside the time to absorb them.
2. Understanding Design Principles
Design principles are used not only to elevate your work but also as shorthand in the graphic design industry. Knowing the terms and their uses will allow you to communicate smoothly and understand your fellow students (and future colleagues) better.
Examples of design principles include colour theory, typography and its visual language, and composition. Of course, they all have more intricate theories within each umbrella topic that you’ll learn more about throughout your studies, but there’s no doubt you’ll need to know them by heart to work in the industry. Think of these design principles like the key algorithms of your subject: to have a successful career, you need to understand them inside out.
3. Efficient Workflow Management
It’s easy to be stuck on an issue or concept and let it burn through your day, but you rarely have that luxury in the graphic design field. Aside from the shortcuts above, you can save time and boost your productivity by organising your work into actionable tasks. Brainstorming, prototyping, sketching and colouring are all parts of the process, and once you know how much time you need for each, you can plan your day with these blocked out.
Beyond this, you want to be able to multitask. Learn to switch between tabs during rendering or exporting to work on something else without losing concentration.
Practise these skills with your course learning materials and assignments, so that you’re ready to transform them into the workplace straight away. When you start your career, you’ll need an organised filing system for your style guides, invoices, client information, reference materials, and anything else you need during your work.
4. Ideation & Problem Solving Tricks
Though graphic design may seem like a creative skill, you’ll want to get to grips with ideation and problem-solving tricks when inspiration doesn’t strike. For example, you might need to design a logo. Some would start by sketching shapes, but if that fails you can jump to a mood board, check competitor logos, or fuse two to create a new concept.
Having these rote methods that you can pull out to brute force creativity is essential to a fast-paced work environment, so take some time to learn and write down methods that work for you during your projects.
5. Branding & Marketing Skills
So many of today’s designers work in marketing teams. Dip into their expertise and learn the terms and tricks they use. In fact, there are many overlapping concepts – such as colour theory – but there are also unique marketing concepts such as the Decoy Effect.
Read marketing books, watch videos, and learn how to advertise. It’ll pay off even if you don’t end up working in marketing – a freelancer has to advertise their graphic design services too.
6. Business Acumen
Basic business knowledge is necessary to charge properly and know the value of your services, whether you’re working for a company or as a freelancer. This includes understanding how to make the most of your time and cost estimations, intellectual property laws, and effective negotiation skills.
It’s a good idea to brush up on your spreadsheet skills too, whether for documenting your hours worked or keeping an inventory of your project progress, as you’ll likely be working with multiple clients at once.
There are endless resources available for you online, so don’t be intimidated. Start with the skill you find most accessible – like Harvard’s principles for negotiation – and go from there. Your tutor or lecturer will also be able to answer common questions about working in or setting up a business.
7. Handling Feedback & Criticism
Certain emotional skills are necessary to work in the design space. Knowing how to respond to feedback and criticism with a level head is one of the most important. Because rarely will a client have the same concept and execution in mind as you.
It’s important to learn how you can improve your communication skills, as well as be able to accept that your graphic designs are ultimately there to please the client’s tastes, not yours.
You have to be able to share your plans ahead of time and to explain and justify your decisions afterwards. Taking criticism on board or even on the chin will come in handy during your studies and later in your career. Engage in emails with your professors, tutors, and other academics, and mimic their tone of voice to develop your professional style.
Creative & Technical Proficiency in Tandem
Ultimately, creative skills are supported by technical skills. And technical skills may not be able to do the design work, but they can speed it up, and make it more comfortable for the people involved.
So, whether you’re reaching the end of your education, or you’re thinking about taking a course in graphic design, don’t neglect the technical aspects of this industry. The sooner you learn and master them, the more successful you’ll find progress in your exciting career in design.
