I am an Information Technology Engineer. Graphic design is one of my favorite areas within IT. In this article I wanted to write about my thoughts on graphic design and also review Pixelo, a design bundle that I use to help me with my work. Graphic design bundles like the ones offered by Pixelo can be used not just by the graphic design professionals but also by other professionals including photographers who are building their own websites. The graphic design bundles are not that expensive, but make a significant difference in the look and feel (Most of the font, texture and other bundles offered by Pixelo costs less than $30.00!. In addition Pixelo is now offering 10% off sitewide (Code pixelo10)).
As far as memes go, ‘Graphic Design is my Passion’ has enjoyed a long career, showing up in tens of thousands of viral posts, news feeds and websites. It’s a meme that parodies a cliche phrase that is often used by graphic designers and visual artists as part of their self promotional efforts. The meme originated with an image of a humble Clip Art frog way back in 2014 on the Tumblr platform, posted by a user named ‘Yungterra’.
The meme is comedy gold because the creator, Yungterra, was claiming to have a passion for graphic design while using a basic, out of date image from Clip Art to express this but of course no graphic designer worth their salt would be using Clip Art graphics! They use design bundles created by companies like Pixelo instead!
However, the meme, ‘Graphic Design is my Passion’ does speak to an underlying truth about graphic artists and web designers; it really is their passion! Of course this basic truth only adds more fuel to the fire of the meme and so it has lived on popping up all over the place and always bringing a wry smile to the viewer in the know.
Great graphic design is always driven by a passion for the field but it also takes dedication, hard work, imagination, good quality equipment and the right tools and software to back up your vision.
So what is graphic design?
Graphic design uses images and text to portray a specific message that meets the needs of the customers or audience. Graphic design is used in all forms of visual communication including news outlets, books, magazines and websites. Text and visual elements are combined to represent the brand of the subject while skillfully creating a memorable display. High quality graphic design will optimize the interface and the experience for the user while accurately and succinctly putting across the chosen message. Does your project involve updating the social media pages and templates for your client? Check out the Social Media bundle offered by Pixelo.
Although the term ‘graphic design’ first originated in the mid 1920’s within the printing industry today it is used more broadly to include everything from logo design to web pages, books to magazines, posters, advertisements and much more.
Can you make a Career from Graphic Design?
Graphic design is a popular and growing career path that can offer fantastic rates of pay and interesting, thought provoking work. As a graphic designer you can either work for yourself as a freelancer or work for a company as an employee. Approximately 30% of graphic designers are self employed working on a huge range of projects in all areas of business but the majority, around 70%, still work for an employer.
For the self employed designers, design bundles are extremely important. These bundles offer a quick and cost effective way to achieve the output the client is looking for.
Every company or business needs to use the services of a graphic designer at some point, whether that’s in their marketing campaigns, on their website or in company newsletters meaning that a good graphic designer will never be out of a job!
According to the US Bureau of Labor the median salary for a graphic designer is just under $45,000 per year, which means many are earning considerably more than that per annum. You salary will depend on the location (As a graphic designer you will probably make more money in New York and San Francisco but the cost of living there is going to be high).
Graphic Design Jobs in Philadelphia
Philadelphia is a city that you should focus on if you are looking for a job as a graphic designer. There are plenty of opportunities in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties like Montgomery and Chester Counties (in towns like King of Prussia, Chesterbrook, Wayne, Malvern and West Chester). Based on your experience and expertise you will make anywhere from $25,000 to $80,000 (you can obviously make a lot more if you get into some of the top IT consulting companies).
Unlike New York or San Francisco, Philadelphia is a very affordable city to live in. You can buy a single bedroom condominium in some of the best neighborhoods in the United States like Rittenhouse Square for under $330,000. The photo I featured on this article is the “Amor Sculpture” next to Logan Square, which is only a few blocks away from Rittenhouse Square. Amor means passion! El diseño gráfico es mi pasión!
Is Graphic Design Hard?
Graphic design is a challenging skill to master and is hard to pick up in an instant, however with patience, perseverance and some hard work you can make great strides developing your talents and become a top quality graphic designer.
Imagination, a creative flair and a dedicated work ethic will ensure that you reach your full potential as a graphic designer and reap the rewards that come with that. Graphic design bundles can be used by professionals and semi-professionals in different fields. For example wedding photographers can use bundles geared towards wedding photography. (The “Heavenly Wedding Overlays Bundle“). Use of such bundles will enable them to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Different Types of Graphic Design.
All graphic design uses images and typology, color and form to create a great experience for the user while communicating a chosen message or brand. There are several main types of graphic design, each of which employs the skills of tens of thousands of quality designers with opportunities for work all over the world.
- Graphic Design in Marketing and Advertising: This is a hugely important area of the industry that helps consumers make good choices and supports large parts of the overall economy. Examples of graphic design being used in this field includes social media banners and advertisements, infographics, brochures, menus, flyers, posters, images for websites and much more.
- User Interfaces Graphic Design: Every time that somebody interacts with a screen they are using a carefully designed user interface created by a graphic designer. Whether you are ordering a pizza delivery online, playing an online game or filling out a form for a website each one is an example of graphic design, where the designer consciously created all the buttons, menus, graphics and text to create a quality overall experience for the user. If you are working on a project that is geared towards kids, Pixelo has a “Lovable and Playful Fonts Bundle“.
- Graphic Design for Publications: Although in the past this was an entirely print based industry it has increasingly moved into the online space. This field involves all kinds of long form media including eBooks and physical books, magazines, newsletters and catalogs.
- Packaging Design: Graphic designers work hard to create packaging that reflects the ethos of the brand and convey a strong brand image that the consumer will remember, bond with and trust.
- Animated Graphic Design: This includes all forms of graphics that move such as text that moves on the screen, images, video and other fluid media. This used to be confined to television studios however with the rise of the internet there are animated graphic designers working all over the web including in tutorial videos, presentations, animated logos, banners, GIFs and websites.
- Graphic Design for Art and Illustration: Although imagery is a part of all graphic design, work specializing only in images is a unique field of the practice and includes T-shirt designs, stock images, comics, album art and infographics. Pixelo has a bundle specifically for T-shirt design.
- Brand identity graphic design: This is a massively important part of any company’s marketing strategy and a good graphic designer is a valuable asset! Branding is the way that the company relates to its customers and through this they can portray their own ethos, value and identity. The graphic designer will work directly with the company to create a branding that will tick all the boxes and create a strong bond between the company and their customers.
What makes a Good Web Design?
Web design is a huge field and different projects require different skill sets, software and talents; however, right across the board there are some basic principles that apply.
5 Principles for Effective Web Design.
- Keep it simple. Don’t over-complicate things and make your designs too ‘busy’. Often a bold, simple and easy to understand design concept is the most effective.
- Within any website maintaining consistency is essential, whether you’re building a brand or working on a blog. This helps your users to identify with your brand and makes it easier for them to navigate your website.
- Make sure the message is easy to identify, the text is readable and the typography fits the overall ‘feel’ of the project. Remember that graphic design is about communication first and foremost!
- Use a suitable color palette and appropriate imagery that reflects the website and its purpose.
- If you’re working with an online project keep in mind that people are using a wide range of devices so it’s essential that your site is compatible with laptops, iPhone’s and iPad’s.
What Tools can help the Web Designer?
Web designers use a wide range of tools to assist them in their work. Software such as Dreamweaver can help you to easily create great websites without the need to learn coding, although online platforms such as WordPress are also very widely used. Photoshop and other image manipulation software are extremely valuable in the field of graphic design, with free open source options such as GIMP being a go to choice for many.
As well as these kinds of specific tools, graphic designers need to have a great backlog of typology, images and themes on their files. These can be used in many different projects and will save the graphic designer time and improve the aesthetic coherence of their work. Platforms such as Pixelo provide graphic designers with the tools they need to take their career to the next level and has grown to become one of the most influential producers of typology, coherent collections of images and themes.
Pixelo – the perfect resource for web designers.
Pixelo is a well thought out website that provides web designers with a huge range of bundles containing coherent sets of graphics, typology and fonts. The website is a helpful resource for self employed designers as well as companies, individuals and everything in between. It’s a fantastic resource for professional and hobbyist web designers, artists and other creative people who use the tools to boost the quality of their finished work.
What is a Bundle on Pixelo?
A bundle is a carefully curated set of graphics, illustrations and fonts that are put together in groups based on categories or themes, both common and eclectic. The categories of bundles that are provided cover almost every conceivable need that a web designer might have.
A Selection of a Few Top Bundles on Pixelo.
- The Ultimate Social Media Bundle.
- Heavenly Wedding Overlays Bundle.
- The Stylish Font Bundle.
- The 2020 T-shirt Design Bundle.
- The Mesmerizing Handwritten Script Fonts Bundle.
- 1920’s Art Deco Bundle.
- The Modern Gothic Fonts Bundle.
- Plus a Wide Selection of Free Bundles are also offered on Pixelo. NOTE: Da font bundles offered by Pixelo constantly change. There will always be something new.
Advantages of using Graphic Design Bundles.
- Making use of this amazing online catalog of themed bundles will super-boost your graphic design work allowing you to easily create well curated, coherent and interconnected finished products.
- Using premade bundles will save you time putting together your concepts as well as when you create your designs.
- It’s easy to make fast mock-ups using the bundles when you’re planning your project.
- The easy to download and broad selection of bundles means that you will always be able to find the perfect sets of text and graphics, vectors and styles to use in your web design projects.
Who is Pixelo for?
Pixelo is a fantastically versatile tool that is utilized by a wide range of individuals, entrepreneurs, graphic designers and enterprises including:
- e-Commerce Website owners.
- Freelance Web Designers.
- Advertising and Branding Entrepreneurs.
- Freelance Graphic Designers.
- Creatives and hobbyists.
- Freelance Photographers.
- Artists and comic book authors.
- Bloggers and Blog owners.
- Businesses and companies.
- Social media influencers.
- And much, much more!
Pixelo is a great resource for anyone who is communicating a message using text, graphics and imagery. There is something for everyone on this website and with an easy to use interface, intuitive collections of bundles and economic prices including free bundles available, any web designer will come away feeling very satisfied with the platform’s services.
Pixelo has a huge selection of all the elements that a web designer needs.
The bundles on offer at Pixelo provides you with great choices of fonts, textures patterns and backgrounds. All of these can be used in multiple projects making the investment a great one for your business with superb rates of return. With evocative, fun and varied illustrations included in many of the bundles you’ll be creating amazing designs in no time! With a huge choice of vectors, brush types and effects you’ll be able to find the perfect match for your project.
What you’ll Get from using Pixelo.
- Great selection of expertly curated bundles in multiple themes and categories.
- Responsive and fast customer service from Pixelo.
- Access to Free bundles and offers.
- Easy downloading of your chosen bundles.
- Amazing discounts of over 90% of some items.
- Good choice of freebies. Check out all the textures, fonts and elements that you can get for free!
- Frequent design upgrades and updates.
Getting started on Pixelo is easy and with a nice selection of free bundles to get you started you can easily learn your way around and make use of this incredible resource for graphic designers, web designers, creatives and more. With great customer service, fast and easy downloads and regular design updates you’ll be spoilt for choice with this great service.
Enter code pixelo10 to get 10% off sitewide.
Are you using Pixelo or other design bundles to help you with your project?
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