Building Your Portfolio: The Impact of Graphic Design on Future Marketers

In today’s digital age, acquiring skills to set you apart from others has become imperative to one’s success. As artificial intelligence grows more accessible and more pursue post-secondary education, knowing the basics is simply not enough anymore. Becoming knowledgeable in graphic design can help you to better understand marketing campaigns, and optimize digital assets to provide in different channels. Strong creativity skills are intrinsically linked to marketing as it allows marketers to develop problem-solving skills, foster better communication, and innovate modern practices. Any medium of art can be utilized in marketing, but especially forms of online graphics as digital marketing is the most prevalent form to grab the attention of potential consumers.

In this article we will explore the importance of Graphic Design in marketing, how to acquire graphic design skills, and the competitive edge it provides in professional careers.

The Importance of Graphic Design

Graphic design’s importance cannot be overstated as marketing caters to online channels and strategies. Graphic design is integral to helping communicate a brand's message, capturing the attention of the target audience, and providing engaging content. Graphic design can strengthen a brand's identity whether it be through creating logos, mascots, or colour pallets. These small details can help establish what a brand’s goals are and help provide differentiation. For example, a car brand that is trying to emphasize its eco-friendliness would incorporate natural colours such as green and leaves in its campaigns (The Marketing Machine, 2021).

“No design works unless it embodies ideas that are held common by the people for whom the object is intended.” - Adrian Forty

Graphic design can help brands tell their story. The visualization of key messages in digital content can help grab attention and stand out against competing brands. Storytelling is fundamental to creating successful marketing campaigns and by integrating graphic design into storytelling, marketers can evoke emotion and capture audiences better, which can foster brand loyalty.

Sometimes brands want to subconsciously convey complex concepts to audiences which is made possible by graphic design. With well-thought-out, clear visuals, marketers are able to simplify and condense key messages while purposefully guiding audiences to believe their story and increase comprehension. The visual aspects of graphic design can help maintain retention, engagement, and influence consumer behaviour and purchase decisions (DesignGuru, 2023).

How to Develop Your Graphic Design Skills

As a student who is soon scheduled to graduate from the University of Ottawa, I know that it can be difficult to develop experience in marketing when it seems that there is a bigger focus on conceptual theory rather than actual practice. This is especially true with graphic design as there is not a mandated course available to marketing students to develop that skill. If a student wishes to develop this skill they would either need to attend a college course or self-learn the material. While the curriculum may not offer specific courses dedicated to graphic design, three are many options for those wishing to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice.

                 Online Tutorials

Online tutorials are a viable, cost-effective option that I strongly encourage for beginners. There are many Youtube channels that dedicate themselves to teaching things such as the Abobe suite applications. A Youtube channel that exhibits this is PHLEARN, which has a 32-video playlist committed to teaching the inner workings of Photoshop. There are also low-cost courses available on websites such as skill share that offer a more personal learning experience. Adobe products such as Photoshop and Illustrator have a high learning curve and lots of complex details that make it more difficult for those trying to start in graphic design. There are less advanced graphic design applications offered for free specifically made for beginners so that people can build their skills. Such alternatives include but are not limited to Firealpaca, Sumo Paint, and Pixlr.

The investment in design software is definitely worth the price once you have familiarized yourself with graphic design principles and concepts. This, in turn, would make the price worth your while and could jumpstart a future career in the field of design. More complex applications are instrumental to helping you fully realize your designs.

Competitive Advantage Given to Graphic Designers

In a heavily competitive marketing world, it is important to have an edge when the market is oversaturated. There are an infinite number of ways a marketer can utilize graphic design to create interest and prestige. To have professional and polished marketing content a marketer must develop creative design skills. In the modern day, graphic design is used within social media and content marketing consistently and comes in many different forms. For example, graphic design can be used to create infographics, videos, and illustrations.

By developing graphic design skills, marketers simultaneously develop adaptability and agility. To consistently edit and modify graphics in response to feedback is critical to today’s landscape. The ability to think on the fly and respond to marketing trends and popular culture in current society proves your worth and value as an excellent marketer (Matthews, 2021). 

In conclusion, graphic design provides marketers with an abundance of opportunities and distinct advantages in comparison to others. By leveraging the lessons you’ve learnt to create ideal content that contains professionalism, story, and knowledge you are far more likely to succeed.

Ready to elevate your marketing skills by learning graphic design? Don't miss out on the opportunity to expand your abilities! Whether you're a student, business owner, or artist you can contact me about any and all inquires. 

References:

DesignGuru. (2023, January 31). The power of visual storytelling in graphic design. Medium. https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/the-power-of-visual-storytelling-in-graphic-design-aa3f6a115dc

The Marketing Machine. (2021, November 17). Why graphic design is important - your company image. The Marketing Machine. https://www.themmachine.com/why-graphic-design-is-important/#:~:text=Graphic%20design%20not%20only%20makes,%2Destablished%20package%2C%20then%20BOOM!

Matthews, D. (2021, July 15). Finding your competitive advantage as a graphic designer. iBrandStudio. https://ibrandstudio.com/articles/finding-competitive-advantage-as-graphic-designer