Graphic Design

Graphic design is a creative visual arts discipline that encompasses many areas. It may include art direction, typography, page layout, information technology and other creative aspects. This variety means that there is a fragmented landscape for design practice within which designers may specialise and focus....

The graphic design process involves all the steps necessary to produce a piece of printed or electronic work – from agreeing a brief with the client to sketching conceptual ideas for design development and liaising with those involved in the production process, such as printers and programmers. How this process is structured and undertaken is dictated by the complexity of a job, the range of media it is being created for and the number of other people involved in the process.

Working with large clients and agencies may entail more steps than working with smaller organisations, and each job requires a different combination of design skill sets....

A designer has to select from numerous choices available ... typography is not just a bunch of letters and fonts, but elements that are selected with reference to their historical or philosophical origins, and how they look, fill and colour a space. Colours evoke different emotions and bring a host of meanings and references. An image may be a straightforward representation of an object or it may represent something totally different depending upon how it is treated, and the relationships it enjoys with other design elements. Initially, a client may not make all the connections and interpretations that a designer has instilled into a job.

Presenting work often requires a designer to explain the thinking behind the choices made in order for the client to understand its merits.

This text has been extracted from:
The Fundamentals of Graphic Design by Gavin Ambrose
It is reproduced with kind permission from AVA Publishing