In this article, I am going to tell you What Skills Required for Graphic Designer. so if you want to know about it, then keep reading this article. Because I am going to give you complete information about it, so let’s start.
Web design and, by extension, app design transform swiftly.
Every year there are new styles of UX and UI, such as glass morphism, that have to be incorporated into your digital property. Otherwise, it looks dated and customers might abandon it for a rival who is more trendy.
From square buttons to square buttons with slightly rounded corners, pastel shades to those that are slightly less drab without being relucent blue, and Windows 7 era—the changes are cosmetic but make a huge overall difference.
You need an expert graphic designer to help keep abreast of all the modifications. But making your website or app look modern might not take that much time and justify full-time staffing. That is why it is prudent to hire a graphic designer in India.
What are the skills that an aspiring designer must have and how to interview?
We break it down.
Table of Contents
What Skills Required for Graphic Designer?
1. Core Skills
Graphic design is not about aesthetics alone but much more than that. The whole has to be greater than the sum of the parts.
The applicant has to know the following skills thoroughly:
Would you read this article if we published it in Baskerville Old? Probably not.
The intrinsic value of the article would not be altered, but in your mind, you would not be able to reconcile a 19th-century font with a 21st-century topic.
Typography goes far beyond fonts.
Research has shown that people consume a web page in an F pattern. They read more of the top few lines and the focus tapers and shifts to the beginning of the line as they scroll.
Presentation of the page thus becomes exceptionally important and nuanced.
Digital typography teaches how the elements are to be placed, especially text elements, for generating the best impact.
Best practices have emerged over the past 20 years of website design evolution, but there is always scope for customization.
Color affects us more than we imagine.
The red color of a Coke can is by design. Subconsciously, it triggers the need to feel energetic (through plenty of sugar mixed with caffeine).
Green makes us think of rejuvenation, and blue soothes us. Gray is a neutral color that evokes no emotion. Yellow stands for energy and activity (probably due to it usually representing sunlight).
Choosing from a color palette is no easy task. Let’s put some deep green besides the light green that is next to eggshell white is not how UX and UI design happens.
There is a huge amount of theory, and a fair bit of aesthetic sense involved. Any graphic designer worth his salt knows at least some parts of color theory.
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are the most prevalent tools in the graphics design industry.
A graphic designer has to know them completely. They must have an understanding of every submenu and function. It is a must-have graphic design skill set.
But how do you verify without having worked with these complex graphic designer software yourself?
Ask them to design a gradient logo (a logo where colors fade into each other) of Google with colors blue at the bottom and yellow and lastly green at the top (or any combination of your choice).
Provide them with the official Google logo from Wikipedia as a starting point and follow their work through screen sharing.
Besides being able to manipulate using Adobe Illustrator, they need to have a good idea of using Photoshop.
Provide them with one of your images and ask them to change the background to a lake or mountain.
Quite simple tasks really for someone who has used Adobe Suite for six months.
What projects have they worked on in the past?
Like all creatives, a graphic designer must have a comprehensive portfolio.
It might include a mockup of websites and apps or maybe a minor makeover for Windows 10 (if they know Visual C).
Custom themes from Android, custom skins for Fortnite or Minecraft (or any other video game), and modifications for video games, are excellent examples of a well-developed portfolio.
Ideation matters more than actual knowledge in this field.
Given a MacBook Pro or a high-spec Intel i-9 laptop, most designers can make Illustrator jump through hoops.
But can the candidate come up with a fresh new idea and figure out a way to implement it using the least screen space and pixels is the question?
2. Soft Skills
Typography, Color, Software, and Portfolio – that takes care of their skill set.
But what about soft skills?
The last thing you need is an able graphics designer who has top-notch design skills but shows up five hours late every day. Perhaps they work hard but are not smart and are immensely disorganized.
Time, quite literally, is money in the fast-paced world of digital commerce.
Delay can cause huge losses or at the very least make a carefully crafted marketing campaign go haywire.
Time management is a skill that can be learned. But has the graphic designer you selected, a sense of urgency?
Since they would be working remotely, there has to be a sense of ownership and responsibility to complete large projects on time.
This is also tied to productivity. Unfortunately, that is not so easily tested through a one or two-hour interview.
But it must be impressed upon them from the very start that complete accountability is required and those who are self-starters would get through probation.
From KanBan to Scrum, there are a million and one tools to raise productivity. Trello, ClickUp, and a cohort of productivity assistants help a manager keep their team abreast of the to-do list.
But project management goes far beyond brilliantly colored labels on a board.
Proper project management entails that the candidate is well versed in workflow techniques and understands how to break up a larger task into manageable bite-sized portions.
We placed it last, but it is definitely not the least.
Working across the globe and time zones requires proper communication. To begin with, they have to be fluent in English.
But other than that, they must be able to document changes, read briefs and translate policy to plan to action.
Those who find it easy to describe their experiences and portfolio would also be easier to communicate with. If they are able to offer an explanation in layman’s language, it is a definite plus.
3. Consider A Trial Phase
There is no possible way that a Zoom meeting lasting a few hours can get you all the relevant facts.
Human interactions are far more complex.
It is best if you admit a few candidates for a trial phase. Probation is probably the best solution given the nature of UI, UX, and graphic design.
Probation adds a layer of complexity but provides you with viable alternatives.
4. To Summarize
It is not easy to hire someone for a remote position. But due to cost savings, it has benefits that help you divert resources to other departments.
Be explicit when you hire someone. Set out your expectations in granular detail. Make sure that they know they are expected to perform to high standards. As for the rest, a bit of adjustment and compromise can work wonders.
Hope you have read the above about What Skills Required for Graphic Designer. Now if you want to know How to Become a Graphic Designer, then you can watch the video given above.
Read also:)
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