Monday, December 8, 2008

A Career as a Graphic Artist

Graphic artists are people who have the responsibility for coming up with designs and using them to illustrate and implementing a graphical opinion in various types of media including print, digital media, animation and product decoration.

The job of a graphic artist involves a vast range of work activities that are conducted in a wide range of companies. Graphic artists' jobs range from working within advertising agencies, art director, advertising accounts executive or as an illustrator or print finishing artist.

A graphic artist was traditionally seen as a craftsman who worked with visual materials in the digital display or printing industry. A traditional graphic artist was also concerned with plate making, but the position now entails graphical tools and computers. The modern graphic artist no longer has a direct connection with plate making although they can oversee that process for quality control purposes.

Over the last few years, the graphic artist's job has undergone numerous changes. Some of these changes have meant that a graphic artist is no longer required to create designs on specific things, and he now expected to be a good communicator when interacting with clients on a daily basis to ensure that they are producing the work in the way that the client wants and in an appropriate manner. A lot of graphic designers also have taken on some managerial responsibilities as some roles will involve leading a small team, providing proofs of work and making or authorizing changes and overseeing projects from the outset to completion.

The job of a graphic artist does not only require imagination, but it also needs a lot of creativity. It is important for a graphic designer to have experience in the visual arts, color composition and be fully familiar with color schemes. It is important for a graphic artist to have experience in the use of a wide range of graphical software including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and PageMaker as well as Quark Xpress and such like. A lot of the modern graphic designers are multi-talented, and a lot of them work on print as well as design animated images and videos.

Graphic artists used to be traditionally called commercial artists, and they worked with the ever-changing trends of the media with some of their work in digital media production as a fine artist.

The graphic designers of today spend some of their time creating arts and layouts with the help of different images, type and color to create a message which can be put into print for magazines, books and such like that is ordered by the client.

A lot of graphic artists choose to specialize in a certain type of sub-field like working on television, film and computer graphics. Graphic artists, who have an eye for detail, sense of composition and a vivid imagination, can do very well in the world of graphic arts.

The day-to-day job of a graphic artist require communication with clients to gather client needs, then to go to work on creating the results that the clients requested. It is vital that communication be clear and concise so that the graphic artist is able to fulfil client needs. Going from an idea or a sketch is very common in the graphic design field with the graphic artist lending expertise and input in order to turn a vaguely formed idea or sketch into a full production piece.

The graphic artists mainly work as part of a team within design studios or advertising agencies, and once they have gained a vast amount of knowledge on the job and a lot of experience, they may choose to work as a freelance graphic artist. The average expected salary that a graphic artist expects is around $45,000. This figure is from the basic market pricing report which was created by the Certified Compensation Professionals who conducted a survey of thousands of HR departments from all sizes of companies across many industries and geographies.

A lot of people who want to work as a graphic artists choose to undertake a program which leads to Bachelors of Arts in the creative or graphic design; however, this is not vital in the graphic design industry. The reason it is welcomed but not necessary is because the graphic design profession has been long treated as a blue collar profession or trade where experience was preferred over degree.

It has only been in recent years that the graphic artist position has shifted into the white collar mainstream market. When trying to land a graphic artist's position, it is still more important to show what you know in terms of software programs mastered and general knowledge of the printing industry. In addition, you need to have a good visual sense, a sense of composition and the ability to see a completed job at the sketch stage wit the client.

The job of a graphic artist is a very rewarding career as these jobs are really well paid and some graphic designers are able to make a name for themselves through creativity, hard work and building an excellent portfolio of satisfied clients. It is vital for a graphic designer to be detail-oriented, able to work under pressure and meet deadlines consistently.

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