A challenging trend across the design globe is the inability and ineligibility of designers in remote and underdeveloped regions to land remote Jobs to help lift their financial health both for their businesses and personal goals.
This forum is a privileged matrix for some designers, as signing up here could link them to jobs
My question is:
Has this forum the potential, if yes, how can the forum be of help to designers and creatives?
C I Arts
There are a lot of people in remote and underdeveloped regions that latch on to graphic design as a career and expect great things. The truth of the matter, and I say this at the considerable risk of sounding harsh, is that graphic design doesn’t owe you anything. In other words, just because you decide this is the career path for you doesn’t mean you’re automatically guaranteed work and success. The graphic design market, at least in the U.S., is flooded with talented and not-so-talented designers. Point being, there is a ton of competition out there. This, I’d say, is largely due to the low bar for entry into the field — which is probably the reason you’re considering graphic design as a career path.
I don’t know you. I’ve never seen your work. You might be wonderfully talented or you might be spectacularly mediocre. I’m not saying you can’t have a career in graphic design, but you will have to work your butt off to get it. Spend a couple of hours scrolling through Behance. There are some nice portfolios on Behance. There are also thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of portfolios that are completely forgettable. This is who you’re competing against.
Now, to address your real question, this forum is largely made up of working, professional designers. Occasionally, people show up looking to hire designers, but that is rare. So, no, I would not count on Graphic Design Forum as a key part of your marketing strategy.
The ability of any designer to land remote work, regardless of how remote and underdeveloped their region is, depends mostly on their skill level and ability to deliver. If “remote and underdeveloped” means lack of consistent and fast internet service, that’s a huge detriment. If it means differentiating yourself from spammers and scammers, that can be a huge issue too.
I would not hire a local city person to work remotely if they did not have the skills or the ability to deliver.
As already mentioned, this forum is primarily frequented by established professional designers. However, we often see individuals who come and go from the “remote and underdeveloped regions” you mentioned.
During the ten-plus years I’ve been on this forum, I’ve only had one company hire me for a job based on my presence here — a consulting project. The purpose of this forum is for designers to talk shop. I doubt many potential clients drop by to look for designers.
Perhaps if we had a portfolio section and actively promoted the site as a resource, it would be different. However, that would put us in competition with Behance or LinkedIn, and would require a significant investment of money to make happen.
Thank you very much for the helpful response. In deed, Graphics design owes no creative anything just like any other profession.
The point is that creatives join up communities not only to feel connected to their disciplines but also get updated with both latest trends and opportunities in the field.
Some creatives may be here for aeons of years and not get called up for collaborations or collaborative projects and still remain unperturbed while some others may barely be in the forum for a month and get collaborations.
My point is, if there are opportunities, they should be extended to help grow the community to the point where there’s a clear distinction between the “spectacularly mediocre” and the skilled gurus.
There could be tons of graphics design brands in the USA, but a company wouldn’t go looking to hire a non-3D designer for a 3D job. You hire based on your needs and demands.
Likewise I would not go to an AI company when I am looking for the real deal.
So, yes, hard work, in addition to the right connections can lift off a career in the graphics design scape
Finally, a demarketing in my opinion is wrong. As well as a generalization of perspective.
It’s Graphic Design.
Not Graphics Design…
sign of an amateur right there.
In addition, those few who occasionally arrive looking for a designer have never had projects with budgets that most of our forum members are interested in working on.
Perhaps, but established professionals don’t typically look for ways to keep up with the latest trends, and opportunities don’t arrive in the form of piecemeal work picked up from internet forums.
Instead, we work in various settings, including agencies, publishing companies, marketing firms, printing companies, and run our own businesses, among others. Some of us, like me, have largely retired after long and varied careers as art and design directors. Some people here are pursuing university degrees in design and related fields.
Every online community has a culture and focus that develops over time, and this forum primarily caters to those I’ve described. Anyone can join the forum, and we have lots of beginning freelancers, newbies, hobbyists, and amateurs who join. Few of them stay long because their situations, experiences, and expectations don’t align well with those of the other, longer-term forum members.
I’m not disagreeing with what you wrote. I think there are opportunities to create what you have described. I’m simply saying that this forum isn’t the place.
Thank you very much for the correction. Noted!
I just want to grow. I picked up my PC and got myself on the journey to be an elite Graphic Designer.
After familiarizing myself with chemical engineering designs but found no real world application in the sub Saharan Africa due to low industrialization and poor economic reforms, I diversified into Graphic design where I have slowly moved from beginner to intermediate.
Kindly tutor me through the drills. This will impact my Life for as long as I remain on the discipline.
Your indelible mark will forever remain on my Graphic design character.
Thanks and Regards
Chukwuma Ijeli
—C I Arts
I’ve been thinking about your situation, but I don’t have good answers.
The problem is that becoming proficient in graphic design requires much training, practical experience, and years of work under the guidance of more experienced designers and art directors.
For example, I spent four years at a university studying graphic design, followed by two years working on a Master’s Degree, and then another ten years of ten-hour days at advertising agencies, design studios, and publication companies before I finally reached a point of feeling confident about my work.
I’m not sure how one would learn on one’s own, as there would be no one to guide you and no constructive criticism from others.
If you live in a large city, such as Lagos, have you explored employment opportunities at printing companies or marketing firms? If you live in a rural area, that would be more difficult. Do you have the means to attend classes in graphic design — either at a college or paid online classes, or is your only option to teach yourself?
Let me ask you this: how would you define graphic design? What do you think it is? What would you say constitutes good graphic design? What are some of the basic precepts that form the foundation of good graphic design?
I’m asking because, judging from your cookie logo, I’m not entirely sure you’re clear about it. Answer those questions in a few sentences (without asking an AI chatbot), and we’ll compare your answers to mine and maybe others.
Firstly, I want to thank you for giving my situation a thought even more, a consideration.
Starting, I will answer your question without an AI
Definition
I will define graphic design as the arrangement (or composition) of graphics elements such as shapes, texts, lines, colors, textures, patterns, space, etc., applying the principles of graphics design (hierarchy, alignment, Contrast, Balance, Repetition, etc.,) to form a finished composition that conveys a value and emotion.
What I think it is:
I think that graphic design is a digital skill that can be shaped into a stand alone profession and / or into an associated profession, where it interrelates with other units within a larger system.
What would constitute good graphic design:
A good graphic design would constitute shapes, texts, colors, space, lines, textures and other elements well laid out with the principles of graphics design applied.
What are some of the precepts that form foundation of good design?
Some of the precepts that form foundation for good graphic design are; Hierarchy, Alignment, color Balance, Repetition, Contrast, White Space
Furthermore, the only option I had was to teach myself. I realized that I had passion for Graphic design after working with Microsoft PowerPoint package and using the “morph,” transition to make customized animations.
The urge to grow deeper and master making illustrations both static and motion, without excuses of limitations has brought me to this point.
I am confident that with dedication, continuous practice, and a good mentor, I can rank as a good designer too.
OK, great. I’m glad that you didn’t mention learning software because software applications are just tools graphic designers use. I’m also glad that you mentioned the elements of design (line, shape, rhythm, etc.) because they’re extremely important to the aesthetics of design.
However, you failed to mention what I suspected that you wouldn’t mention, which is the reason I asked the questions.
There’s a maxim in graphic design, industrial design, architecture, engineering, urban planning, and other fields that involve design. That maxim is “Form Follows Function.” Form roughly corresponds to how something looks, while Function relates to the object’s purpose.
In other words, before attempting to make something look appealing, it’s crucial to examine, research, and understand the purpose behind the design problem. Designing a soĺution that addresses the function should come before considering aesthetics. In reality, both are usually addressed simultaneously to some degree, but aesthetics are always secondary to and support the function.
In graphic design, the function almost involves communicating a message. Stated differently, good graphic design is almost always about effective visual communication.
Let’s take a typical example of a common problem. Suppose a company hires me to design packaging for a new brand of cooking oil. Before I begin, I need to gather many details. For instance, should the bottle be glass or plastic? Which option is more cost-effective? Can the company afford a custom-designed bottle, or should they opt for a standard one? What are the government regulations regarding cooking oil packaging? Will there be multiple sizes or just one? Should it be seen as a premium product or an affordable choice? Will the cooking oil be sold in supermarkets or specialty stores? There are dozens of these kinds of questions I would need to consider.
Once I had those basic prerequisites nailed down, I would move on to other problems. For example, how to best communicate a visual message that resonates with the target audience in ways that entice them to buy this cooking oil instead of another brand sitting on the shelf next to it. I would probably visit a local supermarket’s cooking section to see for myself which bottles and labels stand out from the others, both at a distance and up close. Why do some attract me, and why do I ignore others? If I were a shopper, which would I buy, and why would I choose one over the other? Is it the colors, the typography, the label’s imagery, simplicity, or its basic gut emotional appeal?
It would only be after I had satisfied myself that I fully understood the problem that I would begin designing a functional solution to the design problem. And that solution would almost certainly involve aesthetic decisions, but all those aesthetic decisions would be in service of the function.
This general approach is how we always tried to develop design solutions at the agencies and studios I’ve worked at. In your case, where you would work remotely and probably wouldn’t have the luxury of long conversations with clients with big budgets, you would need to find ways to work within the limitations that were imposed upon you while still considering that graphic design is about visual communication and that form follows function.
With deepest regards, I want to say thank you for bringing out your time and resources to highlight some of the basics and foundations of graphic design.
At this moment, having been given a glimpse of the endless possibilities that can arise from a strong graphic design skill / profession, I want to humbly availing myself to your generous mentorship forum to grow more.
Good students only come off great masters
Thank you so much
Chukwuma Ijeli
C I Arts
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