Guide to Graphic Design

graphic design

noun
Definition of GRAPHIC DESIGN

: the art or profession of using design elements (as typography and 
images) to convey information or create an effect; also : a product 
of this art 

— graphic designer  noun

This is the definition of Graphic Design according to Merriam Webster; it’s a rather bland interpretation but it sums up the concept nicely in 25 words. At it’s best, graphic design is very much an art form, and a wealth of material has been written about it. It is not my intention to improve upon that material, but to instead offer you, the reader, a general and practical overview of how that process works in todays world. To better illustrate the stages of this process, and for the purpose of my own amusement, I will be borrowing heavily from images and dialogue from the Coen brothers film The Big Lebowski. Let’s begin shall we?

Obviously, you’re not a golfer: Hiring a Designer

Step into the bowling shoes of a professional designer. The day arrives that some individual or organization will solicit your services for a given project. Your client will approach you because they lack the skills or expertise to execute the project themselves. This is after all how business and commerce tend to work. This is always the most crucial stage of the process; this is when and where you will want to establish the parameters of the client relationship. It is at this time that questions should be asked, to best determine: the client’s needs, the nature and purpose of the project, the client’s budget and deadline, your fees and costs, and any available assets that may be used in the development of the project and so forth. If you’re not into the project, politely decline.

Your budget for this is how much?!

Provided you know what you’re doing and do it well, you should seldom attempt to lower your fee because you need the work. The sad reality is that someone always has an assistant or nephew that fancies themselves a designer, and you will starve should you attempt to outbid them for the project. The other sad reality is that those of us fortunate enough to enjoy what we do sometimes forget that it took years to learn how to do it well, and those years of experience shouldn’t come cheap.

This isn’t Nam, there are rules: Managing Client Expectations

As previously mentioned, this game is about recognizing the client’s needs. A designer who doesn’t listen to the client, is mostly useless. A client who doesn’t listen to their designer is mostly foolish. This isn’t art, it’s design; there are rules. Art is subjective, and while good design is an art form, it’s driven by an overriding goal to communicate as efficiently as possible to it’s audience. This goal should always inform the aesthetic decisions made when designing a project for a client. This is what makes design a challenging choice of occupation; this is what makes it hard, this is what makes it great. When clients make arbitrary design requests based on what appeals to them personally, they’re discounting the thought process that went into that design. They dismiss the judgment, expertise, and experience of the designer. Telling a professional how to do their job is crossing a line that I pray occurs with less frequently in medicine and law than it does with graphic design. The best a designer can do in this situation is politely disagree and attempt to educate the client as to why they disagree; when this fails to convince the client… Abide.

Nobody F*cks with the Jesus: Managing Ego

A fast simple rule for managing designer’s ego… don’t. Ego has no place in good business.

Personally, I feel graphic design is subject to a great deal of hindsight bias, good design should feel intuitive and simple; that seldom means it was. The balance of design is an art, but despite my previous comment in Managing Client Expectations, it’s not medicine, it’s not law. A good designer understands the inherent difficulties in what they’re being paid to do, a designer that takes criticisms personally is going to burn bridges… let em burn. 

I like your style Dude: Turning in Good Work

“A wiser fella than myself once said, sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar, well, he eats you.”

At the end of the day, when the dust has settled, you’ll find the project complete; ideally to the satisfaction of both designer and client. This is yet another facet of what separates the designers from the hobbyists. Once complete, a good designer (depending on the terms of the agreement) should be able to provide the client with a native editable file (regardless of whether the client has the software to open it on their computer) as well as print or web ready file/s for the implementation of the project or, again depending on the terms, the finished collateral printed or posted online. If the file isn’t press ready, it’s not really finished. If the file isn’t saved to the proper format for web use, it’s again not finished. Having worked in the printing industry for a number of years, I can testify to having seen the work of many “designers” that had no idea how to prepare a file or deliver on their client’s needs. Designers should create solutions, not problems.

It really tied the room together: Reflection

Well, that about does her, wraps her all up. Things seem to have worked out pretty good for the designer and the client, and it was a pretty good story, don’t ya think? Hopefully this little guide has offered you the insight you sought when you first started reading it, and will serve to inform when navigating the potential perils and hazards of a designer client relationship while seeking the dream project that can for many be as elusive as The Dude’s prized rug.

Dude here: About the Author

Bill Cannady began his design career as a misguided “art kid” who stumbled into graphic design in 1995, and has been doing it professionally since 2001. He’s currently a senior designer for an ad agency in Santa Fe, New Mexico and an amateur woodworker. When not dispensing advice from atop his soapbox he enjoys white russians, bowling, and the occasional acid flashback.