All it takes is good graphics to taste success for any designer. On the other hand, all it takes is a bad design to ruin your career. We know that you would not like to take any chances. When you came into this field, you had one dream— to be like Paul Rand, Milton Glaser or Paula Scher.
Well, there aren’t any shortcuts to becoming a successful graphic designer. However, there are some cool graphic design ideas to help you get your creative juices flowing.
Here, we are going to discuss nine ideas that will unclog your creative side. You will come up with great designs by following these ideas. Let’s look at each of these ideas one-by-one.
1. Organize yourself, your desk, work, and tasks
The first step that you have to climb upon for great designs is— getting organized. Every professional should get into this habit. A lot of people start designing without proper organizational skills. After some time, they tend to feel distracted or less focused. You don’t need to be very productive right from the start, but following a well-made methodology is the key to enhance it.
Organize your files on the computer so that you may launch it immediately if you need it. Get the calendar ready for important meetings, strict deadlines, and projects.
An organized designer is a good designer.
2. Follow the trends but look for new ideas
Whether you are designing for t-shirt printing business or any other brand, you would require following what’s in and what’s out. Keeping an eye on design trends also gives you something worth for inspiration. But being a blind trend-follower isn’t good.
If you would rely solely on trends, your work will lack originality. Plus, such designs can also go out of the trend quickly. Therefore, you always need to look for new ideas. Instilling your designs with new ideas will make your work look different, original, and fresh.
3. Ask the brand/Company for a detailed brief
Even if you have to design for a project as small as a creative for custom sweatshirts, ask as many questions as you can. Ask questions related to every element before or after the client hands you the design brief. It might look like a time-taking process, but trust us, it isn’t. It will polish your design brief and open up opportunities for new ideas.
Here are some questions to ask— what’s the motto behind this design? What are the objectives? Why are we designing it? Take your time to analyze your own views. Also, don’t forget to do some serious analysis of the design brief you relieved.
4. Use your hands and draw a sketch
Even Paul Rand advocates using your hands more often! That’s what differentiates you from a computer operator or a cow (pun intended).
Today’s graphic designers look for short-cuts to complete a project. There is nothing wrong in that. But using your hands for drawing or sketching is not wrong either. A good designer creates a blueprint before initiating work on a laptop or a desktop. If you look into the life of great designers, you will find that sketching or drawing is an integral part of their process. Be it a logo design or any other creative job; they didn’t reach the final destination without giving it a try on the paper.
So, to be a professional designer, start sketching and drawing as much as you can.
5. Take inspiration from great designs
According to Bruce Mau, imitating a design isn’t bad. A designer doesn’t have to be shy about that. It isn’t possible that you will recreate it, but you can reach as close as you can to the original design. And, that difference will come as a remarkable point for you.
There are many great designs that you can take inspiration from. See how their designers have used the color combination and elements for a cohesive look and feel. Once you get into their idea, you will reflect the same into yours too.
6. Return to basics
Even if you are creating a design for custom hoodies, it doesn’t have to be complex. A sophisticated design doesn’t always mean successful. Look at the logos of Airbnb, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon. Do you find any complex element used in each of the logos? No, you won’t find any. Great designs have always been simple and basic.
Use basic icons, shapes, and other elements to give a realistic impression.
7. Focus on alignment
When talking of fundamentals of design, the adjustment is one of the basic elements that you need to keep in mind. Since arrangement creates a sharp as well as well-organized appearance, you need to make sure every detail has an orderly connection with one another. Aligning elements correctly will end up a clearer and sharper design with no sloppiness.
On the other hand, if you place elements randomly without giving a thought to the arrangement, it will end up being messy.
Remember, alignment is the soul of any design. If it isn’t up to the mark, your design will clearly reflect a lack of attention.
8. Consider hierarchy as a great tool
What would you do when your design features multiple elements? You need to highlight your essential message visually. This is known as a hierarchy. You can achieve hierarchy in many ways— for example— using bolder or larger fonts, using shapes to structure the main point, or placing the main message physically above than other elements. To apply this principle, you need to start your design with a message-first-approach. And, to do so, you will have to find out the most critical piece of information.
For example, you are creating a quote after reading which your prospects should hit the ‘follow’ button. So, you have to shift your primary focus on the quote first and then align the follow button right to it hierarchically.
9. Make your design consistent
Consistency is an important design element. It is despite being a fundamental element strengthens the overall look of your design. It also works great in connecting all the other elements together for a redefined visual appearance.
When it comes to branding, consistency with repetition is specifically relevant. Imagine you are designing a logo and it doesn’t follow the theme of your website. If it doesn’t have repeated element or colors that your site features, it will look like an alien to viewers.
However, if it includes all the repeated elements, it creates a connection and makes your brand recognizable.
Conclusion
We hope that you liked the tips shared over here. If you have any other graphic design ideas in mind, do let us know in the comment section.
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