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What Is Graphic Design?

The term “graphic design” is often used in a very general way. This is due there being many different types of graphic design. The different types have evolved alongside technology and will continue to do so as the world becomes more digital.

The purpose of graphic design is to communicate with a chosen audience using visual medium.
With approximately 65% of the world being visual learners, you can see just how important professional graphic design should be in your business. Not all the 8 types will necessarily apply to your business. If you are a service-based business, you are unlikely to have need of packaging design.

Professional and engaging graphic design helps businesses stand out from the crowd and establish strong brand recognition. Good design will lead to increased sales, great client relations and help build up a memorable brand. Similarly, not so good graphic design can negatively impact your brand and company image. Check out another of our blog posts to find out what mistakes to avoid: 7 Graphic Design Mistakes to Avoid In Your Business

The basics of graphic design is twelve key elements:

  • Line
  • Colour
  • Shape
  • Space
  • Texture
  • Typography
  • Scale
  • Harmony
  • Balance
  • Hierachy
  • Alignment
  • Contrast

Here we set out and explain the most common types of graphic design:

1. Visual Identity Design

This is your corporate identity, the visuals that represent your business and brand. Identity design helps make a brands’ story come to life and build up recognition. Every business, however small or large has some visual designs that allow their audience to easily identify them. The shapes, colours, typography, graphics and logo that are merged to create a corporate identity should all represent the value, culture and mission of that brand.

The key to good visual identity is consistency. All your online and offline designs need to be aligned to avoid confusing your audience. If you are a new business, it is a good idea to have brand guidelines created. Brand guidelines show how the elements of the visual designs can be used and will highlight the ways they shouldn’t be used. This will help keep all your marketing elements consistent.

When choosing or deciding on your business’s visual identity design it’s important to consider your target audience and potential clients to ensure your brand will be perceived as you intend. Every organisation is unique, so your corporate identity design needs to reflect that.

Examples of visual identity design include:

  • Corporate logos and icons
  • Branding
  • Brand guidelines
  • All visual elements that represent your business

2. Marketing Design

Marketing design is the combination of graphic design elements that are created for the purpose of promoting products or services, including all types of advertising. Marketing is just as important as sales in almost every business and can make a huge difference to the success of your company.

Bold and engaging graphics help grab the attention of your audience and create a long-lasting impression. To create effective marketing designs you will need to understand your target audience and ensure it will attract them. Infographics are a great way promote potentially boring information in a fun and eye-catching way.

The best marketing designs influence and persuade people to purchase or form a relation with you and your brand.

3. User Interface (UI) & Website Design

A user interface is a visual front to a software application or website enabling users to navigate and easily use it. Website design uses a mixture of user interface design and user experience design. The user interface design should be the perfect combination of functionality and pleasing visuals.

Here particularly, design is more than just how something looks. The layout and elements of UI and web design need to be tailored to suit the requirements of the target users.

Colours, spacing, alignment and typography in the design play a large part in how any one person perceives a website or piece of software.

4. Packaging Design

Packaging is not only to give information about the product, it also can be a very powerful brand recognition tool. Packaging design is likely to change with trends as products with outdated designs are more likely to be overlooked by consumers. At Guzzbury Studio, graphic design Taunton, we understand that packing design must be modern and innovative as well as aesthetically appealing.

You may have a great product, however, if the packaging design does not equally as good it could stunt the success of that product.

5. Environmental Design

This type of graphic design connects audiences to a place or area. it is your office or event signage, that indirectly will engage people and make them remember your business and brand.

Environmental design is often very strategic. A good example of this is the way retail stores are laid out, with large easy to read signage and even floor signage. With the digital age, environmental design is becoming more interactive, resulting in engaging individuals’ attention even more. For example: in many doctor’s surgeries and hospitals there are interactive screens to enable you to say you have arrived for an appointment.

6. Art & Illustration Design

Strictly speaking the phrase to be used here is graphic art rather than graphic design. Graphic art is the creation of original work and is increasingly used in the commercial setting. Graphic art and illustrations are looking to be a big trend for businesses in 2021 as it enables brands to stand out from their competition with custom graphics. Art and illustration design portrays the tale of a story in a way that no other type of graphic design can.

7. Motion Graphic Design

Animated graphics, gifs and video elements are a growing trend. Motion graphics allow companies to capture the attention of their audience in a greater way, as moving visuals are more memorable.

Motion graphics broaden the horizons of graphic design for smaller companies, as technology has greatly reduced the production time and cost, making this type of design cheaper and more readily available. This was once more for larger businesses in the form of TV adverts and commercials.

8. Publication Design

Although we live in a very digital world and digital publishing is big, printed medium is still very much part of our everyday life. The difference between someone turning over the first page of a magazine or not, can be whether the front page incites enough interest for them to want to read on or find out more. The layout and attention to details here are paramount.

Graphic Design, Taunton

These 8 types of graphic design are the most common used by businesses, but are by no means the only variations. Product design and 3D design also play a big part in many companies.

Give your business the graphic design it needs, and constantly review your designs to make sure they still truly represent your brand, your vision and your values. At Guzzbury Studio, graphic design Taunton, our passion is in every design we create. Need help with graphic design for your brand? Contact us today: [email protected]

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