Graphic Design: Make This Career Path Work for You in 6 Steps

Are you a lover of all things graphic design? If so, you’re probably thinking about carving out a career for yourself in this arena. It’s something that more and more people are looking to do as companies search for captivating graphics that get them noticed online. However, don’t just jump into this career before knowing which steps you need to take.

Here are the 6 steps that everyone seeking a career in graphic design should try to take. Read on to learn more about each of the steps.

1. Understand the Competitive Reality

First of all, you need to be aware of how competitive it is in the world of graphic design. If you don’t have that awareness, you could find yourself in for a nasty surprise. You will have to beat the competition and give clients a reason to use your services instead of the ones being offered by other people. If you can’t do that, you will end up failing before you have even got started, and that’s obviously not what you want at all. The competitive reality can be hard for some people to come to terms with, so think about it now rather than later.

2. Get the Right Tools in Place

Having the right tools at your fingertips when you’re trying to start out as a professional graphic designer is essential. If you don’t have these things ready to use, you will not get very far at all. It’s common for people to use indesign, and you can go to indesign training classes as well. There are things like drawing tablets that can help you extend your skills as well, but these aren’t always necessary. It all depends on your style and the kind of things you want to do.

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3. Offer to Work for Charities to Build Your Portfolio

Building your portfolio early on is really important. Why would anyone hire you if they can’t see examples of the work that you have done in the past? This is why it’s so hard for people who are just starting out to get paid work. One way to get around this is to offer out your services for charities. By doing their design work for them, you will be able to help out and get work, even if it’s not being paid for. The benefit of that is that you will build your portfolio up, and people will be able to see that you do have the required skills.

4. Have a Strong Online Presence

These days, everyone who’s successful as a graphic designer has a strong online presence. You quite simply can’t succeed in this industry without having that. When people and companies look for graphic designers they might want to hire, they will use search engines and browse websites. They will want to see for themselves the work that you have done in the past. So, build a website and use it as a place to display your best work and encourage people to contact you with commissions that they want completed.

5. Gain Contacts and Network

You’re definitely going to need to gain as many contacts as you can in this world of graphic design. When you know people who might be able to hook you up with work and deliver new possibilities to you, you will have a much easier time of making a success of this whole career. It’s also important to make sure that you do as much networking as you can in those early stages. You want to get your name, your face and your work out there for everyone to see. That way, you will grow your reputation much faster.

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6. Have Your Own Creative Projects on the Go

It’s important to not just focus on the paid work all the time. This might seem like a strange thing to tell someone who’s looking to carve out a fruitful career in graphic design, but hear me out. When you’re just focusing on commissioned work, you can lose touch with what made you love graphic design in the first place. Of course, you need need to get commissions and get paid, but you also need to have your own creative projects on the go. That way, people will see that you’re still in love with what you do and trying new creative things.

Graphic design is a competitive career path to go down, but that shouldn’t put you off. If it’s something you love, have a passion for and believe yourself to be good at, you can make it work and find success.

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