Most Important Phases of Graphic Designing – How The Final Design Comes Into Shape?
Graphic designing covers many areas. Most of the times, a designer has to interact with people from many other fields. This profession requires creativity, adeptness in technical as well as communication and presentation skills. There is a common perception that a graphic designer just sketches a visual message from nowhere. This is actually not the case and like many other professions there is a set pattern of actions that need to be taken for getting an appealing design. As a graphic designer you need to complete many tasks using round about the same approach; which is as follows:
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Understanding the Design
The most important phase of graphic designing is to understand the basic idea behind what you are going to design. The whole design revolves around this “understanding”. Think, write, sketch whatever comes into your mind, never neglecting the “problem”. Get into the crux of the design, as you cannot get the desired solutions until you get the understanding of what you are designing.
Planning
Before embarking on any project the first action is to plan. Set priorities for projects. Finalize deadlines with the clients by looking at the amount of work that needs to be done. Always gauge the time requirements in worst case scenarios. Set a daily timetable to complete the different stages of the project.
Agreement on Design Parameters
Consider the target audience, the environment in which the design will be used and the priorities of the clients. Examine the dimensions of the design and visualize major components. Ask the client for a confirmation on all these parameters.
Creative Work
Here comes the stage which will differentiate your design from the competitors. Every designer has a unique aesthetic sense and his own priorities. Try to add something different to your design. Get inspiration from your surroundings, the TV shows, commercials, internet, country side and even clothes… Anywhere you find that spark of uniqueness. But mind you it should not clash or over rule the real message you need to deliver. Sometimes, brainstorming technique works wonders. Sketch down as many ideas as you can, because in graphic designing, more is less!
Make a Rough Sketch
Jot down the sketch which comes in your mind. Start studying it from the audience’s viewpoint. Consult the people around you for an opinion. It won’t be a bad idea to ask from client of his approval because after this you would start the arduous task of putting your design on software. And then you won’t have many options to modify your design.
Choosing the Software
The next stage comes where you transform all that you have visualized into reality. You should be expert in using at least one of the graphic designing software. The choice of the tools you use depends on what area you will be working in. If you are going for a logo design then it is better to use vector based software like Adobe Illustrator/ Freehand or Corel Draw. If your work involves digital images then Photoshop is the right choice.
Selecting Colors & Typography
The choice of colors is very important. If your final design will be in print then CMYK color model needs to be followed or else it will be used in electronic form, RGB model should be put into use. After choosing the right mode it is necessary to select the right color combination. Colors should not only satisfy the aesthetic sense but also other constraints such as the environment the design where it will be used and the demographics of the audience.
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Font size, shape and color are also very important in a number of graphic designs. For example you need to care about the size of the message you are conveying and whether there is enough contrast from the background and most important of all how easy it is for the viewer to read and memorize it. You can consider typography in the previous stage when you made a rough sketch but it is easy to modify and observe changes in the software.
Printing
As mentioned earlier, graphic designing is a very vast field. Some of the applications of graphic designing include logo, icon, business card, brochures, newsletters, flyers, monograms, websites or animation. Barring the last two all other applications will need to go through a print process. Although you would have worked on all the parameters of print designing earlier it is still essential to see the final outcome. In some cases like newsletters or magazines binding is also important. All your hard work can go in drain if this stage is not executed correctly.
Graphic designing is by no means a piece of cake and all those designers are getting paid for a lot of hard work and struggle, not to forget many sleepless nights.
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