Analysis of Graphic Design

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an In-DepTh analysis of a Career in Graphic
Design

• pMELANA SMITH AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF A CAREER
  IN GRAPHIC DESIGNtMELANA SMITHaMELANA SMITH

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I think Im interested in a career in graphic
design.
What will I learn from this presentation?

• basic career info. an example of a common process
  in this field. important field-related
  innovations. info about a professional society
  in this field.

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A Bachelors degree is considered to be an
essential for any professional graphic designer.

• With an Associate degree or certificate in
  graphic design, graduates can become assistants
  to graphic designers or be employed in a
  technical capacity (Occupational Outlook
  Handbook, Graphic Designers, 2010)

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Entry-level graphic designers usually gain 1 to 3
years of experience before advancing to higher
levels in their career.
Designers may also work for themselves, either
by freelancing or starting their own businesses.

• Designers with more experience may work for
  larger firms or corporations, rise to supervisory
  positions, or even opt to become teachers of
  design at the college level.

Some designers working for smaller firms or
freelancing may work in considerably smaller and
more congested locations. Some designers may also
elect to work from home or their own personal
offices.
For one working in a larger firm, the
environment can be comfortable and well lit, with
a set salary, schedule, and company benefits.
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35,000 46,000 95,000
The job market for graphic designers is expected
to grow as fast as average, with more
opportunities afforded to designers having skills
in other technical areas.
(Occupational Outlook Handbook, Graphic
Designers, 2010)
Employment is projected to add 286,600 new jobs
over the 2008-18 decade.
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One thing that every good designer should be able
to do is create professional standard business
cards, for both themselves and their clients.

• Photoshop is a wonderful application that can be
  used to edit and create nearly anything that you
  can dream up, both in print digitally.

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Begin by opening the Adobe Photoshop program.

• Click File, then choose New. A popup window will
  open with multiple options for your new project.
  Set your dimensions to 3.5 inches as the width
  and 2 inches for the height. This is the standard
  size for business cards, and will ensure that
  your cards will fit into a standard business card
  holder.

In the field titled resolution underneath your
size options, you will input 300 and ensure the
dropdown option selected next to it reads pixels
per inch. You will set the color mode option to
CMYK colors, because this is a project for print
rather than web. Select OK after youre done
changing your settings.
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Your Workspace is the white rectangular area
where you will be adding your text, placing an
image of your logo, and is the digital
representation of your business card. Everything
on the white space will be printed.
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Tools are located in the sidebar on the left side
of your screen. The only ones you need focus on
are the Move tool (an arrow point with an
arrow-crosshair allows you to move elements
around your workspace), the Text tool (a capital
T allows you to create, select manipulate
words), and your Color swatch on the tool palette
(two different colored squares at the bottom of
the toolbar, the top square represents foreground
color the back one represents background color).
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Layers are a digital representation of each
article in your design. Layers are a way to
organize your design so that you can move,
adjust, and work with individual elements of your
business card without affecting the others. The
best idea is to create a new layer for each
element of the cardone for the main text, one
for your name number, one for your companys
logo, and so forth. Create layers by choosing the
menu option LayergtNewgtLayer. Name the layer for
whichever element you are creating for improved
organization.
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Adding Your Logo can be achieved in two simple
waysyou can either select copy/paste it into
your document (just open it wherever it is,
highlight the image with your mouse, press CTRL
or COMMAND C to copy it CTRL or COMMAND V
to paste it into your Photoshop document) or you
can simply open the saved file on your computer
with Photoshop by clicking FilegtOpen, and your
logo will appear as a new, editable document.
TIP!
Be creative with different fonts, colors,
arrangementshave fun add your unique special
touches as you see fit! Keep in mind that you can
undo any accidents or steps by pressing CTRL or
COMMAND Z.
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One of the essential tools to have in the graphic
design industry is an excellent computer.
ONLY 2500 - 5000!

• Industry-standard programs such as Adobe
  Photoshop call for plenty of Random Access
  Memory, or RAM, for lots of speed. This way, a
  designer can create and manipulate images on the
  screen in real-time without delays. The new
  Macbook Pro, as discussed in James Galbraiths
  article (2010), New Mac Pros Not So Fast,
  iMac, seems to be perfectly capable for the jobs
  of any designer.

1 TB hard drive space 3 GB RAM 4 FireWire 800
ports 5 USB ports faster than the iMac by 10
in Photoshop
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With the widespread availability of computers and
many different kinds of desktop publishing
software, nearly anyone can be a graphic designer
in some capacity.
By simply owning a digital cameraor even a
high-resolution camera phoneand having Internet
access, you can create professional-looking
graphics on your own.
Websites such as Picnik.com allow simple,
user-friendly, one-click photo manipulation with
instant dramatic results. Effects that would
normally take a graphic designer several minutes
to hours or more now only require a mouse click
and a couple of seconds.
Even with the technological advances in this
field today, exceptional designers remain in high
demand. (Richardson, n.d.)
In order to be considered seriously as a graphic
designer, your work must exceed the levels of an
average Joe with Photoshop and Picnik on his or
her computer.
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The American Institute of Graphic Artists

• a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational institution
• Est. 1914

The American Institute of Graphic Artists is a
professional association for design. Their focus
is to stimulate thinking about design,
demonstrate the value of design, and empower the
success of designers at each stage of their
careers. ("About--AIGA," 2010)
Membership Pricing Professional315 Asso
ciate230 Student..95 Facu
lty.110 Group..245 per person
EXCLUSIVE ACCESS DISCOUNTS FOR MEMBERS!
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References

• James Galbraith. (2010) New Mac Pros Not So
  Fast, iMac. Macworld, Vol. 27 (Issue 11), 14-16
• Richardson, James. (n.d.). A look at the future
  of graphic design. Retrieved from
  http//www.helium.com/items/1546223-future-of-grap
  hic-design
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of
  Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11
  Edition, Graphic Designers. Retrieved from
  http//www.bls.gov/oco/ocos090.htm
• About--AIGA. (2010). Retrieved from
  http//www.aiga.org/content.cfm/about