Mom, what is graphic design?


If by now you are wondering what is graphic design? Or would you like to better explain to your family and friends what the fascinating world of design is all about? (without having to lie too much) stop suffering!

I have taken the time and work to explain it to you in parts and in the best possible way. 

What is graphic design? 

Graphic design is considered to be activities aimed at communicating through images or a set of visual elements, which will transmit - from the concept - an idea or feeling to the viewer (but not to any viewer). Within the definition of graphic design, it is established that the message produced responds to specific objectives, aimed at a particular audience to which the message is focused.

Without going any further in the explanation, Graphic Design is everything that transmits something through visual composition, be it love, hate, joy or sadness, but with a particular emphasis on a specific audience and objectives. Even political posters convey something (although it is hard for us to admit), but they are not intended for everyone.

What is a graphic design element and what types are there?

The visual elements that the designer uses when creating content, contrary to what many would think, have a very basic and symbolic base. You read "basic" do not be alarmed! continue reading.

Have you ever heard about The point, but not as an element that closes a sentence, but as a visual element of which all forms are composed. Well, a point is the basis of everything, of everything! Since several points can form a line, and with a very large group of points you get! chan chan chan! A textured shape!

Surely you also heard about La Línea, but not when they tell you that you have already crossed the line (that happens because you do not measure your actions well). No, make no mistake, the line is the second most important visual element when designing. And, as we said, the line is made up of several points, an infinity of them, and they can help you draw or delimit your plane. With the line, you can transmit the energy of what you want to communicate creating movement, something that no image should do without.

And let's not forget El Plano, the ideal element that will allow you to have defined your area on which you are going to work a composition. Along with these basic and essential elements, they will also be used: space, volume, rhythm, balance, texture, colour, symmetry/asymmetry, figure, background, time, movement, scale, hierarchy and grid.

As you can see, designing is not a matter of chance and requires a really thorough understanding of why certain elements are used when composing an image. You already have something to answer to the aunt who asks you to do some "drawings" for her.

Where is Graphic Design applied?

Currently, its applications are very varied and range from editorial (books, magazines, catalogue, etc.) to digital (web pages, applications, virtual catalogues, video games). Our days it is already very difficult to find something that does not have a design (even if it is badly designed and it hurts), you can even find it in the elements of your daily life such as the glass of your coffee every morning or the traffic signs that you see on the way to work (they didn't come out of nowhere, someone had to design them).

The arrival of Digital Graphic Design and how it changed our lives

Since the end of the 20th century, communication has been completely transformed with modern computing and the accessibility of computer tools to the general public. This also gave a new turn to the activity of the graphic designer, who, provided with the facilities of computer technology, was able to find his way into the new era of communication, leaving aside the manual art of graphic design for the modern but every time more accessible digital graphic design.

Since Gutenberg with his printing press, the publishing industry has not had as great an impact as with the age of electronics and later with its culmination in the age of the Internet. Now the designer not only had a tool but also the means to better control the creation process, storing images, transforming them, even finding the necessary inspiration to complete a project.

The role of the graphic designer in our days

As designers, it is part of our mission to know why this beautiful profession exists, because that way we will know where we are going and what the future holds since we not only make images in order to sell a product but also we are communicators with social responsibility. Every image produced with the help of design has an impact on society and culture.

Hope this explains well. Till next time, read on my blog or not. It's fine. 

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