Recently, the Ministry of Culture has advertised a 2-year stint as a Social Media – Graphics Designer for social media campaigns related to the celebration of 75 years of India’s independence as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. They expect graphic designers to craft high-quality graphic content, posts, pages, and apps for the ministry. If you love to be a part of such projects too, perhaps a career in graphic designing might be your calling.

Here are some quick questions to ask yourself to decide if graphic designing is the right career choice for you:

1. Do you love watching and creating visuals? Does the idea of communicating messages through colours, shapes, images, and font get you excited?
2. Do you often find yourself drawn to imperfections in a design and long to correct them?
3. Have you dabbled with software like Corel Draw and Adobe Creative Suite and love to check out the latest graphic designing tools and trends?
4. It’s not only about talent and graphic designing skills. If you want to make a career in graphic designing, you need to be able to take constructive criticism from the clients and work on your designs several times to achieve the final design clients want. Do you have that level of patience and persistence?
5. If you want to become a successful graphic designer, you need to be able to balance beauty, art, and aesthetics with the practicality, functionality, and needs of the client. Are you ready to persevere for this balance?

Here are the top 5 tips on how to become a graphic designer who’s successful and sought after:

1. Learn from the masters to make a career in graphic designing:

Some of the best jobs for graphic designers expect candidates to have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with specialisation in Graphic Design, UI/UX Design, or related fields. 

Some of the most sought-after graphic designing skills include a strong knowledge of responsive design principles, colours, layouts, and typography and familiarity with front-end technologies (such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript).

Expert-level knowledge of industry-standard tools, such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma, etc., can increase your chances of getting the best graphic designing jobs. If you know how to make professional PowerPoint templates, edit videos, and create stunning animations through Adobe Premiere and After Effects, it will be much easier to put a foot in the industry.

2. Make a perfect portfolio to showcase your graphic designing skills:

As a college student, do not wait for freelance work to include in your portfolio. Create personal projects instead that showcase your graphic designing skills in the best light. Experiment with different styles and mediums to showcase how versatile you are.

There are tons of graphic designing portfolios online and standing out among them takes effort and time. To attract your first client, make sure your portfolio has a well-designed cover page with your name, contact information, and perhaps your qualifications. You might want to attach a brief description for each design (including names of other people involved in making the design).

A good graphic designing portfolio website showcases your work in progress. You could start with the brief you worked with, sketches and early concepts, how you revised them, and the final product – to give the idea to your prospective clients how you work.

Three mistakes to avoid while creating your graphic designing portfolio are:

• Don’t include too much information. The portfolio should be more about your artwork than you.
• Designs based on other people’s works are a big turn-off in today’s times when copyright infringement is considered a serious offence. So stick to the original work only.
• Presenting limited designs, styles, and mediums may mean missed opportunities for you. Show off your graphic designing skills by working with as many different styles and mediums as you can handle.

Your portfolio is the face of your graphic designing career. So make it as interesting and eye-catching as possible.

3. Network with the best in the industry:

At SMS Varanasi, we regularly conduct workshops, seminars, and industry events where you can connect with some of the best designers. You can also connect with reputed graphic designers online through LinkedIn and niche online communities.

These veterans in the field can not only guide you on how to become a graphic designer but can also point you to some excellent internship opportunities, gigs, and jobs.

4. Practical experience is irreplaceable:

To gain practical experience, you can look into volunteering and internship opportunities. You might also offer pro bono design services to local organizations, businesses or self-help groups. They will appreciate your contribution and you will get valuable samples to share with your prospects.

Many institutes in Varanasi offer graphic design courses. You may attend these courses and also do a part-time teaching job there to get on-the-job experience. Many online platforms also offer free or very affordable graphical designing courses that you can attend at your own pace, such as Coursera, Skillshare, and Udemy. 

You can find freelance opportunities on platforms like Fiverr, Behance, or Upwork. Or you can volunteer free services to student clubs, college events, or local NGOs. 

If you have the will, you will always find a way.

5. Stay updated about the latest graphic designing trends:

Last year, in 2023, some of the graphic designing trends that dominated the industry included:

1. Future Fusion: A balance of futuristic, cutting-edge designs and a more relatable and grounded feel. The colour palette here is usually deep browns, blues and blacks as the foundation with neon purples and pinks as highlights. Sharp edges, gritty textures, and digital fonts are often used here.

2. 3D Hyper-Surrealism: Hyper-realistic and surreal 3D designs with experimental fonts, vibrant colours, and organic and abstract shapes attracted a lot of attention too.

3. Bento Box Grids: Traditional Japanese bento boxes of varying sizes are arranged artfully to present information graphically in this style. Minimalism, geometry, textures, contrasts, and narratives make it so distinctive and creative.

4. Cluttercore: Bold, loud, and colourful, this graphic design trend is all about thick strokes and a deliberate overlapping of graphics. 

5. Inflatable 3D: Often using bubblegum pinks, blues and iridescent colour schemes, this graphic design trend uses bubbly inflatable 3D fonts and shapes.

6. Digital Destruction: A rebellious designing trend to counter the flawlessness of digital art, this trend is all about intriguing compositions that are pixelated, distorted, and use fractured typography.

If you want to become a graphic designer, you need to keep an eye on such design trends and incorporate them into your designs.

If visual communication is your passion, hone your graphic designing skills and be ready to make it big as a graphic designer. 

Need help? Contact us at the Centre For Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Skill Development (CEISD) for the best resources and guidance.