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Free Google Slides themes and Powerpoint templates | Slidesgo

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Discover the best Google Slides themes and PowerPoint templates you can use in your presentations - 100% Free for any use.

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If you are just starting out on your graphic design career, you might still not know all the different types of digital file formats we use on a regular basis. We've put together a full collection of all the important types, most of them you might already recognize. Along with those we've also included some less known types.

We have separated this list into three main groups: Raster, Vector, and Video

Digital image file formats

The following file formats are the ones that define digital images, both graphic design visuals, and photography. All digital image file formats can be separated in two important groups; raster or vector.

Raster File Formats

Raster files are essentially made of pixels. Raster files can be in high resolution and low resolution. It's easy to go from high quality to low quality but once a file is low-quality it cannot be made high quality again. It's all about the number of pixels in the space. A low-quality raster image looks blurry and pixelated for this reason. The biggest difference you need to know about lo and high-quality raster is the Dots per Inch measurement (DPI). Images online are ok at 72 dpi but for an image to look good on print, it needs to be 300 dpi.
Jpeg
Jpeg is the most common image file format, most images on the internet will be jpeg. Images in this format are compressed and need to be the exact size needed, especially when printing. Once compressed, it loses quality and will keep losing it as it keeps getting compressed.
Png
This is the second most common image file format, the biggest difference with Jpeg is that Png images can have transparent backgrounds. This is the best type of file for any cut-out shape that can be placed on another image or background. Png is not suitable for print.
Gif
A gif file is most commonly known as those animated images we see all over the internet. They are very low quality and can only reproduce 256 colours. That's why when you try and make a gif from a collection of high-quality photos, it doesn't look so great.
Raw
Raw is a file format that applies to photography directly. When you take a photo with your DSLR camera (and some phones), you get two files; one jpeg and one raw. The raw file is like a digital negative, which is what photographers use to edit on programs like Lightroom. Editing a photo while it's on Raw maintains the quality of the image and has better colour composition.
Tiff
The tiff file format is a common file format for high-quality images. Printers sometimes prefer this file format for printing large scale photography and design. It's the most versatile of large files, as most programs can open it.
PSD
Photoshop files are raster because Photoshop is a raster file editor. In-process files are saved in PSD format and can only be opened with Photoshop or at the most Pixelmator. This type of file has layers and smart objects and can be used for mockups of any type.

Vector File Formats

A vector file is one that is infinitely scalable. One same file can be used for stickers and for billboards. If you look at a raster file next to a vector file you can tell that the edges of the colours are completely different. When you zoom in, vector files have curved or perfectly straight lines.
Eps
This file format is a common one used by designers for design projects. Its used to transfer images from one program to another and can be opened on Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel Draw, and Quark. Inkscape won't open Eps files. Printers prefer this file format for silkscreening and marketing materials, like printing on plastic.
SVG
An SVG file is good for the web because it maintains its high quality when a website is seen on a desktop and on mobile. Svg files can be images or text. It can also a be cut-out image with a transparent background. In-process files created with Inkscape are saved as Svg.
Ai
Files created with Adobe Illustrator are save in Ai format. Files in this format can be transferred seamlessly from any computer to another as long as it's on Adobe Illustrator. Vector files downloaded from Freepik are usually in Ai format, ready to be edited seamlessly.
Pdf
The thing about Pdf files is that they can hold both file formats inside it. The complete document is compressed and very practical but if an image started as raster it will save as raster. The same goes for a vector file. Pdf is a good format for long documents with images like e-books. Printers also prefer Pdf for things to be printed with lots of text that needs to maintain its high quality.

Knowing all these types of file formats is an essential part of working as a graphic designer. We work with photography, graphics, and text and knowing how to handle the files is really important.

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A Complete Guide to Digital Files and Their Purposes

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If you are just starting out on your graphic design career, you might still not know all the different types of digital file formats we use on a regular basis. We've put together a full collection of all the important types, most of them you might already recognize.

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As our world becomes increasingly visual, it's more important than ever to put your best design foot forward when going into business for yourself. So whether you are setting up a YouTube channel to start teaching online classes, starting your Etsy shop, or refreshing your website, chances are you'll be in need of some good design elements.

But if you think that in order to make interesting visuals that look professional, you need to pay big bucks for a graphic designer, you are wrong. Until you have the budget to pay for your own designer, there are plenty of online graphic design software and tools that can help you create stunning graphics to get your brand off the ground. From logos and banners to cool business cards, these free online graphic design services will get you up and running in no time.

Want to try your own hand at graphic design? These examples of online graphic design software and free design services are easy for beginners to use.

This online graphic design software for beginners has a drag and drop format that makes it easy for anyone to create stunning visuals. Canva has a huge range of templates for everything from Facebook covers and Etsy shop icons to wine labels and gift certificates. Just click any template and you can customize the font, images, and layout.

There are premium elements if you want to upgrade, but the free offerings are quite vast. They even have tools to tell you which fonts work well together, and a color palette generator that takes its cues from any photo you upload.

Gravit is a free vector design app that allows you easily create illustrations, icons, screen designs, presentations and much more. You can use it online or download a desktop version, browsing thousands of free templates uploaded by a team of expert graphic designers. Gravit even has helpful tutorials to assist you in getting started with the program.

If you think business cards have gone out of style, think again. A unique business card can say as much about your creativity as your portfolio and Moo makes it simple to create eye-catching business cards. You can upload your own design or select from a wide variety of free templates to help you best express the look and feel of your work while making your business card memorable enough to keep it out of the trash bin.

Looking for the perfect icon to integrate into your newsletter, business card, infographic, or website? With over 1 million royalty-free icons, The Noun Project will almost certainly have something to suit your needs. All icons are available, free of charge, to download in either PNG or SVG formats.

Similar to Canva, Snappa is an easy graphic design tool to help you create sharp-looking social media posts, banners, or display ads. More graphics than photography focused in its design, Snappa's strength is its enormous library of visual assets. A free account will get you 5 downloads a month and you can connect two social accounts, while upgrading to Pro will unlock unlimited downloads and integrations with third-party apps like Buffer.

If you are working in WordPress, Theme Forest is a great place to find the perfectly designed theme to enhance your website. And each month, several of their premium themes are free of charge, so keep checking back to see if one suits your needs.

Pixlr is a powerful online photo editor that is similar to Photoshop, but is intuitive enough that users of all levels will find it helpful. If you just need to make a few quick tweaks to an image, this in-browser editor is a great solution. You can use layers, masks, curves, and levels to edit your photographs and graphics and get them just right for whatever project you have in mind.

Infographics have proven to be a smart way to marketing yourself while also giving people the interesting information they want to read and share. Instead of hiring a designer for your next project, you may want to try Piktochart, an easy infographic maker. With tons of free icons, fonts, and templates it's easy to customize your own infographic and share it with the world.

Setting up a mailing list and sending out newsletters to keep your fans and clients updated about your work is a key point to marketing your creativity. MadMimi makes it easy to set up a newsletter that will look as good as it reads with its drag and drop interface. Its free starter plan allows up to 100 contacts and after that, even the paid plans are quite economical as far as newsletter services go.

Have other design resources you want to share or want to exchange ideas with other creatives? Join us on Patreon.

Related Articles:
6 Powerful Design Resources Offering Hundreds of Tutorials for All Skill Levels 15 Free Design Resources Filled with Freebies for Your Creative Projects 8 of the Best Free Font Websites Offering Thousands of Stylish Typefaces

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9 Free Graphic Design Resources to Get Your Business Looking Sharp On a Budget

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We look at 9 examples of graphic design software for beginners to help you get started with creating the look of your brand. This easy-to-use, free online graphic design software means that you don't need to pay for an expensive graphic designer before you're ready.

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Whether you're a blogger looking for the perfect photo to accompany your article or a designer in need of an image for a new T-shirt, there are innumerable reasons that free images come in handy. But, as you're searching for stock photography, it's important to know the right places to do so in order to find what you're looking for and to use the images properly.

Luckily, there are many free stock photography websites to meet the needs of any project. Some sites specialize in particular genres, like food or travel photography, while others cast a wider net. To make things easier for you, we've broken down the top 22 websites for free image downloads, as well as a quick reminder on how image licensing works. Before you use any free stock photo in your next creative project, make sure you clearly read the terms of usage and credit the photographer (if necessary).

A Quick Guide to Using Free Stock Photography

It's always important to remember that just because something is online, it doesn't always mean it can be used without copyright. Check the terms of usage carefully for each resource to determine how it can be used. Some resources allow for commercial use, while others are under copyright and available for personal use only. Here's a quick list of the types of usage you may find:

Public Domain- A public domain work ( Creative Commons Zero) is freely available and has no copyright restrictions on usage, including commercially. Read more about public domain in different countries.

Creative Commons - In 2001 this American non-profit started issuing free licenses to help people share their work in a clear manner. See some of the different licenses you'll come upon, some of which require attribution to the original source or exclude the work from use in commercial products.

Tips for Commercial Usage

If you are using images from a free stock site for commercial purposes, you'll want to keep in mind a few things to ensure you won't run into any trouble later. Model releases and property releases are just some of the paperwork you'll want to make sure is covered by any site you download from. You'll also want to ensure that photographs don't include anything that is under copyright-like the Eiffel Tower at night-or trademarked. Friendlystock has written a helpful post on how to make sure you protect yourself from any potential lawsuits over unauthorized commercial usage.

Now that you know how to use stock photos, here's our list of the 22 best websites for free image downloads.

Burst - Shopify's stock photography site has thousands of images that can be used in commercial projects without attribution.

Foodies Feed - The name says it all. If you need food photos, this site's for you.

Free Nature Stock - Again, the name says it all. Updated daily, if you are looking for free nature stock photography, this is the place to go. All the images are taken by photographer Adrian Pelletier, who created the site, and are licensed under Creative Commons Zero.

Gratisography - In addition to offering a wide selection, Gratisography is filled with whimsical, humorous images.

ISO Republic - This site lets you sort by category and is known for the wide array of photographers who submit their work.

Kaboompics - Updated daily, the site also allows you to search by color and includes thematic photoshoots, all free to use in any way you'd like.

Life of Pix - New photos are added weekly to this beautifully curated site, with all images in the public domain. They also have a sister site- Life of Vids -for stock video clips.

Magdeleine - A new high-resolution photograph is added daily and it's possible to search images by color.

MMT- Highly curated, artistic photographs that are available for commercial usage.

Morgue File - Since 1996, the site has been a place for professionals and creatives to exchange images. All photos in the archive can be downloaded and used for any purpose, even in commercial projects.

New Old Stock - Vintage photos from public domain archives around the world.

Pexels- This site gives the ability to search by popular photos and categories and adds 5 new images to the site every day.

Picography - Great source for lifestyle and travel photography, with all images registered under the CC0 license.

Pixabay - More than 1 million photos, vectors, and illustrations available. You'll have to wade through to find the highest quality, but there are some good finds if you're willing to look.

Public Domain Archive - Free public domain images, including photographs from vintage archives.

Realistic Shots - Clean, straightforward stock photography available for commercial use, divided into categories like nature, technology, architecture, nature, and people.

Snapwire Snaps - Every week, 7 new photos are added to the site, each clearly marked with the image's Creative Commons license, as well as the link to the photographer so you can check out their other work. Most of the photos are available for commercial usage.

Startup Stocks - Business and office-related photography. Unfortunately, the site isn't searchable, so you'll need to scroll through the feed to pull out what you need.

StockSnap- This huge search engine of stock sites adds hundreds of high-resolution images every week.

Superfamous - The selection isn't vast, but the site's abstract nature images make up for it.

Travel Coffee Book - Though not updated often, this collection of free CC0 photos is perfect if you are looking for city and travel photography, with a particular focus on locations in Asia.

Unsplash - A huge range of photographs that are also searchable by collection. If you're looking for evocative, filter-heavy imagery, this site's for you.

Related Articles:
9 Free Graphic Design Resources to Get Your Business Looking Sharp On a Budget 15 Free Design Resources Filled with Freebies for Your Creative Projects Top 5 Places to Download Thousands of Free Adult Coloring Sheets 8 of the Best Free Font Websites Offering Thousands of Stylish Typefaces

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20+ Websites for Incredible Free Stock Photos

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Whether you're a blogger looking for the perfect photo to accompany your article or a designer in need of an image for a new T-shirt, there are innumerable reasons that free images come in handy.

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1. Pick a Color.

Click the first field to open the color picker and slide to select your desired hue (such as red, violet, or blue). Drag the dot right and left to adjust saturation or up and down to adjust value.

If you know the hexadecimal, RGB, or CMYK values for your base color enter them in the fields. Click plus to add up to three base colors

2. Choose a Harmony.

Choose one of six color combinations to work with your starting color. Click the color harmony symbol to complete the color scheme.

3. See Results.

The colors making up your harmony will display in the color calculator swatches and on the interactive color wheel.

Tweak or explore these choices by selecting and comparing different harmonies, viewing the same harmony with different colors, adjusting saturation or value, or adding additional input colors. Clear All to start over.

Like what you're seeing? Create Color Scheme to see a color report-and save the hexadecimal, RGB, and CMYK colors for your Web or print projects.

See your swatch applied to design samples. Print the page, save it as a PDF, share it with friends and family. It's a colorful world.

What is the Color Wheel?

The color wheel is a chart representing the relationships between colors. Based on a circle showing the colors of the spectrum originally fashioned by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, the colour wheel he created serves many purposes today. Painters use it to identify colors to mix and designers use it to choose colors that go well together.

The classic color wheel shows hues arranged in a circle, connected by lines or shapes. The colors include primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), secondary colors (orange, green, and violet), and tertiary colors (yellow green, blue green, blue violet, red violet, red orange, and yellow orange).Secondary colors are created by mixing primary colors. For example, mixing red and yellow creates orange; mixing yellow and blue creates green.

NOD Newsletter

Want to see more design resources, tips, and news sent to your inbox? Subscribe to our Notes on Design Newsletter, a Sessions College blog dedicated to art and design.

Developing a Color Scheme

Designers often start a project by developing a color scheme: a set of colors that will work well together for the client or task at hand. Though you'll sometimes start from scratch, generally you'll begin with one or two base colors around with other colors will be built.

Color Harmony Basics How to choose colors that really work? Use the color wheel (or our color calculator) to help you identify harmonious color combinations. The following color harmonies are based on geometric relationships on the color wheel. For this reason, we can represent them as shapes. Rotate these shapes around the central point of the color wheel to create limitless color combinations.

Choosing the Right Colors Choosing the right colors for you requires a lot of creativity and experimentation. Bear in mind that color is very psychological and different color harmonies produce different effects. For example, analogous colors are similar in hue, creating a smooth transition from one color to the next. Complementary colors are opposite to each other on the color wheel, so they create a strong contrast. Monochromatic color schemes can be subtle and sophisticated.

Experiment with different harmonies to achieve the desired mood or effect.

Adjusting Color Value and Saturation Once you've selected your colors, you may wish to adjust the value of a specific color or colors-how light or dark the color is. Or you may wish to adjust its saturation, how rich it is. Each hue on the online color wheel has a different inherent value. Yellow, for example, is lighter than blue.

To increase contrast in your color scheme, you may need to adjust the value of a specific color-by making a yellow darker or lighter, say. Or perhaps adjust the saturation to vary the intensity. You can do both using the color calculator.

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Color Wheel - Color Calculator | Sessions College

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Use the color wheel to find the perfect color scheme with the Sessions College color calculator. Endless free color combinations, working from any base color.

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Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design | Ellen Lupton | Skillshare

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Great graphic design comes from understanding just a few basic principles. Cracking the code to great design is much easier with a solid foundation of core pri...

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If you are interested in learning more about this topic, please visit http://www.gcflearnfree.org/beginning-graphic-design/ to view the entire tutorial on our website. It includes instructional text and examples for you to practice and apply what you've learned.

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Beginning Graphic Design: Layout & Composition

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With products and services depending largely on design skills to appeal to their customers, the demand for good design skills is increasing day by the day.
Today's graphic designers come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some took courses in school while others took it upon themselves to learn design. If you're one of the latter and need some help in improving your design skills, then read on.

Below is a list of 10 tips as well as resources to help you get a running start on your design journey. These tips and resources will help but remember that it is up to you to become the great designer you aspire to be. It takes time, patience and determination to become a really good designer. But once you have acquired the skills they will stay with you permanently. Secondly, the idea here is to improve your skills with practice and develop good design aesthetic skills over time. Lastly, remember skills can be developed with practice.

01. Get a design crash course through interactive tutorials

The dilemma is this: you're pressed for time and money but you need to learn the basics of design, including terms and main principles fast. If that's the case, then a hands-on tutorial like Canva's 30 interactive design tutorials could be exactly what you need.

These tutorials can equip you with the foundation you need by giving you a design principle or lesson to focus on, then asking you to apply or practice that principle immediately. It's intuitive learning and can be immediately applied to your future design projects.

Some design tutorials to instantly improve your skills:

Of course, it's best to finish all 30 design tutorials, but if you want a crash course, here are some tutorials you can start with and use instantly:
Working With Colors
The colors you use in your design convey the moods and highlight important sections of your design. These tutorials will show you how to build meaningful color relationships to create visually stunning graphics: Color Your Design , Color Relationships , and Creative Color Palettes.
Working with Fonts:
If you can play around with your text and images, you can create strikingly powerful designs. These tutorials will help you learn how to easily choose fonts that emphasize your message and make your designs look beautiful: Choosing the Right Font , Font Pairing Basics , and Tips for Titles.
Layout & Alignment
Another important aspect of design is your layout. The layout gives structure and purpose to your design. Learn the art of alignment with these three tutorials: The Art of Alignment , Working with White Space , Harnessing Hierarchy .

Sarah Mora

02. Follow design blogs and read design books

Any student knows that learning is an ongoing process. With an ever-changing industry, it's easy to get lost, or worse, become irrelevant if you don't keep up. So, as a self-learner, you'll need to remain updated with the latest news and trends by following design blogs and reading design books.
Here are some design blogs to spend some time daily reading:
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh ideas that will inspire you. You can follow some good design blogs.

Gainbuzz - It is again covering advertisement topics and some create ads.

Artwork Abode - It is great blog graphic design, and other marketing collaterals.

Here are a few design books you have to read:
This book can be read by anyone - graphic designers, educators, and professionals.

If you are looking for a creative read, this book demonstrates how ideas turned into objects.

Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students.

A must read for a designer who wants to get a deep understanding of typography.

If you want to understand and create beautiful logo designs you have to add this book to your design list.

03. Start using tools like Canva and pair it with SocialPilot

For a quick start, you can start getting design help from sites like . Canva is a great platform for beginning designers. It has preset templates and layouts for you to play around. You can easily create social media image including cover photos, quotes, profile photo and much more.

What if you could create a design and share it with your social profiles without having to download the image? Yes, we have integrated SocialPilot with Canva . Therefore, with the help of SocialPilot , you can easily share or schedule an image upload directly from Canva. Now you can easily share different types of image to your multiple social media networks with one click. Creating the marketing design for your brand and schedule them or post them is easy directly using SocialPilot.

04. Gather design inspiration and learn the stories behind these artworks

Perhaps finding inspiration is going to be one of the main tasks on a daily basis. It is also one of the interesting tasks of a designer if you are the curious type. Search for viral ads and watch them carefully while you keep an open mind. Watch the ads with keen observation to take notice of why these ads did so well?

Another way to find inspiration and understanding of design is to look at the stories behind some of the most iconic brands of all times. Perhaps one of the best ways to show how design changes with the times and with a business is through the evolution of logos. Below is a quick look at logos of well-known brands and how they've transformed through the years.
IBM

IBM's logo history tells a great story. Starting as the International Time Recording (ITR) Company in 1888, the various logos trace this company's long history. In 1981, two businessmen from Dayton Ohio purchased the patent for the newly invented computing scale and created the Computing Scale Company. By 1924, it became the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company and in 1924 was renamed as International Business Machines. It was only in 1947 when the company first used their three-letter typeface logo. Read about their entire logo history here.
Starbucks
The initial logo of Starbucks coffee was a topless mermaid with two tails. As CEO Howard Schultz later explained, "Bare breasted and Rubenesque, [the mermaid] was supposed to be as seductive as the coffee itself." But when they had to put the bigger logo size on delivery trucks there was a problem. Starbucks solved the problem by restyling the mermaid's hairdo so it draped over the trouble spots Read more about it here: How a Topless Mermaid Made the Starbucks Cup an Icon .

Walmart

1962 - 1964 - 1968 - 1981 - 1992 - Present

The Walmart logo has changed alongside the business since its founding in 1962. According to them, Walmart launched without a true logo. In fact, for the first two years, when the Walmart name appeared in print, the font and style were chosen at the whim of the printer. It was only in 1964 when the company decided to choose a brand logo - Frontier. From there the company would experiment with three more different fonts and change their hyphen to a star before finally replacing it altogether with their now iconic Walmart spark.

ebay

Even the leading internet website in the world changed toned their logo down to a simple version. You can read the full story in Adweek .

05. Try to Participate In Design Communities

Let's face the truth your work is not going to speak for itself. You might become very good in designing but if you're looking to leverage your design skills, you need to put yourself out there.

So if you are thinking the best designers in the market are the best, well they are ones you have heard of. They are the ones that have built a reputation for them by speaking at conferences, writing books and through self-promotion.

Make it a point to participate in design communities and you will build a reputation for yourself. You can start today by participating in an online community of designers.
Here are a few online design forums to get started with today:
06. Get feedback on your work (and don't be afraid of critique!)

Following tip #5, these forums are not only a great way to build a reputation, they're also a great avenue for sharing your work and receiving feedback.

Cristina Pagnoncelli

Deep down a lot of us are afraid of receiving critique of our work. We've poured so much passion and effort into an artwork so it would be quite difficult to hear criticism, even constructive ones. But taking and giving critiques are key to improving any skill - not just design. Remember, there's often more things to learn when we make mistakes than when we get everything right. Ask for honest feedback and you might even learn new techniques, design trends and new ideas.

You can also visit Inbound.org which has a great feedback tool for designers, allowing viewers to comment directly on your design. You can also visit The Crit Pit , another awesome graphic design feedback forum.

07. Experiment, Experiment, and Experiment

There is a funny thing about creative designing, you can approach a design from any number of ways but only a few will fit perfectly.

The design is all about the visual look and feel, so the best way to appeal to your audience is to practice more and more with your design. For example, let's take typography - we can utilize it many ways to get a great visual design. The way we use fonts and typefaces carry a lot of meaning and they can completely change the message depending on how we use them. Experiment with different types and when in doubt keep it simple.

Another key element of your design is color. Once you are familiar with color psychology, experiment with different colors to create emotional connections with your audience. Practice with different color palettes, play around with highlight, contrast and fade out effects.

08. Remix or remake your favorite designs

You know how budding inventors often like to take apart things to figure out how they work? Designers can also get great ideas in a similar way. Finding new, interesting and even well-known graphic design artworks then reproducing or even reworking them in new ways can help you dissect the techniques and figure out the design principles and technical skills that went into creating the original one.

Sagmeister & Walsh

Important Note! Of course, it's important to remember that remaking or reproducing other people's designs is only a personal and private exercise to boost your design skills. Never infringe copyrighted work and never pass off someone else's hard work as your own.

Once you've created more designs, you can even go back to your older designs to find new ways to improve them.

09. Build Own a Fake (demo) Portfolio

Start to collect your best designs in one place. It can either be a website portfolio or you can host your work on a free blogging site. Once you have a collection of yourr design works, you can show your best ones off. And just like that, you have your design portfolio ready.

10. Follow and discover designers and photographers on Instagram

Instagram is a great platform to follow your favorite designers and photographers and even discover up and coming ones like yourself!

The best part about social media is not just being able to remain updated with their newest work but also being able to interact with them. Many artists can even give you suggestions and guidance. Do a hashtag search or find one designer and see how they're following you're sure to discover works and artist that can inspire you.

To start you off, here's a short list of some of our favorite designers to follow on Instagram:
Hey Studio Kate Moross Velvet Spectrum (Luke Choice) Present & Correct Zeitguised Conclusion:
If you're just beginning to teach yourself design, this is the best time to build good habits to help you proactively learn design and practice what you learn every day. Repeat the process of learning and practicing. Remember, patience is the key. To test how you are doing you can offer to do some design work for a business for free and see the response you get. If you get a positive response, you will be confident and start getting paid for your work. By following these steps religiously, before you realize you will be in demand.

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10 Tips to Teach Yourself Design & Boost Your Design Skills - Design School

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With products and services depending largely on design skills to appeal to their customers, the demand for good design skills is increasing day by the day. Today's graphic designers come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some took courses in school while others took it upon themselves to learn design.

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The principles of design describe the ways that artists/designers use the elements of art in a work of art.

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What Is Graphic Design? | A Simple Motion Graphic For Beginner Graphic Designer

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A Comprehensive guide to Graphic Design  for Beginners 

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A Comprehensive guide to Graphic Design  for Beginners 

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TastyTuts | Creative tutorials by Gareth David

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TastyTuts | Creative tutorials by Gareth David

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Beginners Guide to Graphic Design | 45 episode series

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Welcome to this beginners guide series to Graphic Design. If you're interested in Graphic Design and considering becoming a graphic designer then join me as I discuss a series of graphic design topics across 45 episodes.

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What is graphic design? - Shillington Education

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What is graphic design? Find out from expert Shillington teachers in New York, London, Manchester, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

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Cameron Chapman

Graphic designer. Visual designer. User interface (UI) designer. User experience (UX) designer. Web designer.

How many different designer job titles are there? And are they all just fancy names for the same thing?

If you've heard these terms thrown around, you might be confused about what they all mean. And more importantly, you might be wondering which one is the right career path for you.

When I got my start in tech (::cough:: a decade ago ::cough::), it was pretty much just "graphic designer" or "web designer." I was never quite sure what to call myself since I did both web design and print design, so I ended up using both. Now, what I did back then would have more closely fallen under the title " Visual Designer" (even though I did more print work than most visual designers do).

It can all get pretty confusing. That's why, in this article, I'm breaking down the difference between these 3 common terms we use to describe designers-graphic designer, visual designer, and user interface designer.
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What does a graphic designer do?

Graphic designers probably have one of the best-known job titles in the world of design and tech. But can you define what they actually do on a day-to-day basis?

Graphic designers often work more with print designs and deliverables, like posters, brochures, invitations, and business cards, among other things. That said, they also occasionally create user interface design assets for the web, like logos and icons.

Graphic designers have to know the fundamentals of design: things like color theory and typography. They also need to know how to build brand assets (like logos) and make sure they're consistent across all the designs for a brand.

Graphic designers do most of their work in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign (3 Adobe products you'll learn to use in the Skillcrush Visual Designer Blueprint!), although some designers are turning to Sketch as an alternative to Photoshop (it's only on Mac right now!).

One thing graphic designers don't need to know is how to code. Any coding for a project is left to a developer (likely a front end developer).
Average salary for a graphic designer: $40,666 per year
What does a UI designer do?

User interface (UI) designers are responsible for the "look and feel" of a website, app, or other product. In other words, they're the ones who add colors, pair typefaces, and set layouts.

UI designers work exclusively on the web, rather than primarily in print like a graphic designer. Because of that, they need to have a very deep understanding of user experience and web design.

They build websites, web apps, and web layouts in general, and need to have strong wireframing skills in their design toolkits. They should be proficient with HTML and CSS so they understand how their designs will work on actual websites, apps, and products, and for the same reason, it helps if they have at least a base understanding of JavaScript (or better yet-be comfortable actually writing JavaScript code).

Like graphic designers, they also need to have a strong grasp of general design fundamentals like color theory and typography.

Like graphic designers, UI designers do most of their work in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. But they also do a lot of work in wireframing software that allows them to show clients and team members how their design will work in practice.
Average salary for a UI designer: $62,678 per year
What does a visual designer do?

Visual designers are the problem solvers of the design world. Rather than just bringing brands to life, they play a key role in defining what goes into a brand's unique style and voice. In addition to creating beautiful designs, they know how to explain design concepts and the decisions behind their work.

Visual designers do a ton of different things in their day-to-day work. It's a bit of a hybrid between what graphic designers and UI designers do, but with a bunch of other skills thrown into the mix. They have to understand user experience, user interface, and web design. At the same time, they don't have to know how to code (though as with most jobs in tech, bonus points if you do have at least basic coding skills).

Visual designers rarely work on print products, but they do need a strong understanding of graphic design, identity design, and branding. They need to have exceptional visual messaging and communications skills, too.

They work primarily with web layouts and deliverables, including things like icons, infographics, logos, and presentations. They also have to be familiar with industry-standard software (Adobe and Sketch, primarily), plus they need wireframing skills like a UI designer.

Finally, visual designers need to be aware of how front-end developers work, and the languages they use. While a visual designer doesn't need to know how to code, they at least need to know how to communicate with those who do, and how to create designs that take into account what is possible in the code.
Average salary for a visual designer: $87,000 per year
So which one is right for you?

Graphic design jobs, while still out there, are dwindling. If you don't have web skills, it will be increasingly difficult for you to find high-paying work. Practically every brand out there now has a web presence, and many have a stronger presence online than they do in print. To that end, knowing how to design for the web gives you a much stronger position in the job market.

If you're super interested in coding and the more technical end of design, UI design can be a great option. Some UI designers do at least some coding regularly (though not all of them do).

Visual design is great for those who want a more well-rounded design career, with little or no coding. Visual designers do everything from working on branding to designing websites and web apps. Be sure to check out the brand new Visual Designer Career Blueprint to get started!

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Visual Design vs. Graphic Design: What's the Difference?

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Cameron Chapman Graphic designer. Visual designer. User interface (UI) designer. User experience (UX) designer. Web designer. How many different designer job titles are there? And are they all just fancy names for the same thing? If you've heard these terms thrown around, you might be confused about what they all mean.