5 Myths about graphic designer


The graphic designer profession is one of the most punished by society, perhaps for being one of the least understood and for the ignorance of those who only seek to underestimate what is of others. These 5 myths about graphic design are not intended to be a personal opinion, many of them surely you have heard from others or have even said or thought about them. As a graphic designer I want to draw attention to the values ​​that we have and that it takes a lot for others to accept. 

1. STUDYING GRAPHIC DESIGN IS VERY EASY 

Of course, it is not medicine, engineering or a law degree. Perhaps the number of subjects of study is lower than that of other majors, but reaching the required objectives to finish with a university degree is quite difficult. I can tell you that there are subjects in anatomy, both animal and human, psychology, art history, technical drawing ... And these you have to brood to pass them. Of course there are others that are more practical such as sculpture, photography, painting, computer design, video, engraving, artistic drawing ... And these also have to be approved. I have not said it, but the graphic design career is called Fine Arts, at least the one I studied, and I have never heard from a sculptor or painter that what they do is easy, and that we have had the same subjects and the same teachers for a five-year career. Whether it is easy or difficult depends on your abilities, but not only in graphic design, but for any study or house that you are going to do in life. I doubt that many surgeons or scientists could study graphic design, just as I do not consider doing what they do. 

2. GRAPHIC DESIGNERS MAKE A FORTUNE 

Maybe more than 30 years ago this was the case, but today those who live only from this can feel privileged. I don't think there are many. If you work for a company you will have a salary that helps you to live decently, and many times you will have to juggle to make ends meet. If you are freelance, as freelance designers are known, things get even more complicated, you live off your projects, which have an expiration date, once you finish them you have to look for others, and if you find them, these too will end. Two or three months may bill a lot, and the rest of the year you do not move. There is a lot of designer offer and competition is high, forcing prices to go down more and more. The most normal thing is to find designers who combine their work with another to complete the salary they need to live. In any case, success is given by the effort that we put into it ourselves, although it has to be greater every time. 

3. THE GRAPHIC DESIGNER KNOWS WHAT YOU WANT 

What a stupid thing to do, if that were the case, we'd be more successful on TV shows as mentalists. Imagine that you go to the doctor with severe pain and the doctor has to know what is wrong with you without touching or talking to you. A direct, sincere and real communication is needed to help discover what is happening. Well, it seems that many clients think that when they hire a designer, we must know in advance all the details of what they want, what they need and the preferences they have. My favourite phrase is "That's what I pay you for", if I charge for every time I've heard this ... Communication is important, rather, essential, without it we will hit the ground running and end up crashing hopelessly. 

4. DESIGNERS KNOW HOW TO HANDLE ANY PROGRAM 

There are civil, criminal, labour, commercial lawyers ... There are also family doctors, dentists, cardiovascular, dermatologists, gynaecologists... It seems that if you are a graphic designer you have to know how to handle Photoshop, In Design, Illustrator, Corel Draw, Quar X Press, Premiere, Maya, 3D Studio Max, make applications for mobiles, make web pages ... Not so, it depends on the specialization of graphic designer and his preferences. If you need a pregnancy checkup, you don't go to the dentist, do you?

5. DESIGNERS KNOW COMPUTERS 

Here churras and merino gather (for those who do not know they are two different types of sheep). They are two completely different professions that use the same work tool, a computer. If it breaks, the operating system crashes, you have to configure an email account or change a graphics card, the graphic designer does not have to know how to do it, that's what computer scientists are for. Another thing is that you have a minimum of interest in knowing how the instruments with which you work.

Hope these myths will help people getting on your backs if you're a designer. Till then, check out my blog for more interesting articles about graphic design. 

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