What Does A Graphic Designer Do?

The dictionary defines a graphic designer  or graphic artist as one who specializes in the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience, especially to produce a specific effect. And while this is a  broad definition of what graphic designers do, I prefer the definition of a graphic designer as a person who specializes in visual communication through a skillful combination of text and pictures in advertisements, magazines, books, etc.for print, the web and other media.

But the most awesome description (in my opinion), was coined by the Walt Disney Company with the term “imagineers“.

According to Wikipedia,  “The term Imagineering, a portmanteau, was popularized in the 1940s by Alcoa to describe its blending of imagination and engineering, and was adopted by Walt Disney a decade later to describe the skill set embodied by the employees of WDI, known as Imagineers.

Imagineering is responsible for designing and building Disney theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, and other entertainment venues at all levels of project development. Imagineers possess a broad range of skills and talents, and thus over 140 different job titles fall under the banner of Imagineering, including illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers, graphic designers, and many more.”

The internet and the computerization of traditional design tools has vastly changed the skill set and job tasks of what a commercial graphic designer traditionally used to do.  The web has opened a whole new field in design that is suited specifically for this medium rather than traditional print media, although both skills sets are still used by many graphic designers.

QR Code Generator and Design Software for Graphic Designers

2D Barcodes

If you are a fan of tech sites like Techcrunch, etc, or have worked with large design companies, you will probably already know that QR codes are taking the tech and design world by storm. The push for the use of the QR code is being driven by a new opportunity that is being referred to as context sensitive marketing. For further information and details, you might want to read the article, “Why the Best Online Marketing May Be Headed Offline” which goes into extensive detail as to how QR codes can be used for a business owner’s product’s marketing.

In a previous post, I wrote about how you can incorporate QR designs into your business card design, as I have seen more and more print collateral provided with QR codes that led either to a  business’ website or to a special online promotion.  Another popular use for QR codes is to connect a user to  the App Store via their Android smartphone or Iphone for the promotion and sale of web developer’s apps.  While there are several websites offering this service, my problem was finding good QR code generator software that integrates with the Adobe design software that most designers use.

How to Boost the Sale of Your Food Products with Innovative Package Design (Pt. 2)

 

Bio-Forge ProMax Health Supplement Label

(Continued)

Barcodes

UPC barcodes stand for Universal Product Codes. They were originally created to help grocery stores speed up checkout and assist with the tracking of inventory.  They became so popular that they spread to other retail stores and manufacturers and now are almost standard on almost all product packaging.  While the standard UPC code has been around for many years, a new 2-dimensional barcode called the QR code is being used by more and more product manufacturers in the United States.

How to Boost the Sale of Your Food Products with Innovative Package Design

Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer, Created by Pat Brady

In the intensive competition for food product sales, many business owners do not realize the importance that the package design of their product plays in their product’s marketing.  Unlike the popular erroneous belief, package design is not just designing “a pretty face”.  While the main purpose of product package design is to make the packaging more attractive; it also combines pertinent information with graphic design elements, typography and the packaging ultimately used.(i.e. clamshell, blister pack, cardboard) as well as including all necessary barcodes.  All these elements are combined so that the customer can make his preferred selection from all the competing products or brands available.

But what exactly are these elements? The following is a brief summary of some the graphic elements involved.  You should review the following points and write down a few ideas so that the graphic designer you hire can incorporate the items that best reflect your product and business.  Having pre -planned what you want included in your product packaging will assure that a professional graphic designer will develop the design that you desire.