Visuals are among the most powerful elements in any marketing or advertising campaign. Visual compositions catch the target audience’s attention like nothing else and communicate what the marketers and brand managers want to convey. From the design’s color scheme to the form of fonts and illustrations used, graphic design is the complete visual of the brand, service, or idea it represents.

Compelling and catchy graphic designs require a set of skills and design techniques that may overlap often. However, many designers specialize in one set of skills, such as typography or imagery. Since the industry of graphic design and marketing needs are constantly evolving and changing, designers have to be adaptable and open to learning.

Graphic Design – At a Glance

Before delving into the types of graphic design, every designer needs to know; let us cover some fundamental points concerning graphic design. It is much more than just nice images to look at. Instead, graphic design is the tool that connects marketers with the audience without having to say anything.

According to the American Institute of Graphic Arts or AIGA, graphic design is the mediator between people and their decisions. The design gives a point of view to the people – a perspective that is new and might convince potential buyers to make the purchase decision.

Types of Graphic Designs That You Need to Know  

1. Visual Identity Graphic Design

A brand is the ultimate relationship between any business and its audience, which is why brand identity is the crucial mode of communication between the two. When graphic designers build a brand identity, they aim to convey the brand’s personality, enriched with the corresponding tone, essence, memories, emotions, and experiences.

Visual graphic design does precisely the same – it uses visual elements such as images, forms, color, or fonts to communicate the brand’s personality. Such a design type requires specialists to collaborate with the brand stakeholders to develop the brand assets, such as logos, color palettes, images, and typography, which then become the hallmark of the said brand.

Using the same visual identity graphic design in business cards, stationery, posters, etc., reinforces the brand’s visual persona and leaves a mark on the audience.

2. Marketing and advertising graphic design

Since every organization or business is now looking for ways to improve their digital marketing techniques, effective graphic design is what they should focus on. Successful marketing efforts lead to a more significant chunk of the target audience converting to actual buyers. As marketing targets people based on their needs and desires, visual content that hits the right spot is essential.

Designers who excel at this type work in unison with the company owners, managers, and marketing professionals. These designs later become assets for the business or organization as they are displayed on various media, such as vehicles, magazines, etc.

To create exceptional and effective marketing graphic designs, designers must have excellent communication skills. Also, adaptability is essential for designers working with this type of design, as their nature of work might change according to the requirement of the market – demanding designs for print or electronic media.

3. User Interface Graphic Design

User Interface or UI is how a user interacts with any device or application. Therefore, UI design is a tad bit different than the previous two, requiring the designers to produce designs that provide a user-friendly experience.

A UI design includes designing everything a user might use to interact with the app or device, such as on-screen graphic elements, including buttons, menus, drop-down menus, micro-interactions, etc. The primary functional ability of a UI designer is to balance the need for aesthetic appeal with easy technical functionality.

UI design focuses on the users’ visual experiences – the appearance of the menus, placement of the home button, locating drop-down menus, logo placement, and much more. Designers working in this field have to specialize in desktop and mobile apps. UI designs must be constantly checked with the UX (User Experience) designers and the UI developers (who write the code for the app).

The essential prerequisite for coming up with practical and functional UI designs is to be a great team player coupled with excellent design skills and an understanding of UI and UX principles.

4. Publication Design

This graphic design is probably the oldest, as it is used in publicly distributed publications. Graphic designers specializing in this type of design must work closely with editors and publishers to develop unique and creative layouts coupled with carefully selected typography.

Designing publication material is a high-end task as the designs are patented by the publishing company or organization and become its trademark. Although this type of design had previously been associated with books, magazines, and newspapers, the recent rise in digital publishing has also become a significant part of it.

5. Packaging Graphic Design

Can you recognize and tell the brand by looking at its product from afar? If yes, the said company or brand is probably working with a good company, such as an Artisticore graphic design company. Product packaging does not only save the product and increase the shelf-life. It also communicates with the customers and leaves its mark on their minds.

Endless lines of a brand’s bottles, boxes, containers, or cans in the supermarket have the same color, typography, form, shapes, and design that reflect uniformity – leaving their imprint on your memory. Their packaging corresponds with their brand identity and tells a story that helps you remember their brand.

Packaging designs must go through several mockups, concepts, and ideas before being finalized. It is not wrong to state that package designers have to be an all-rounder. They must know how to create a brand identity and work closely with the marketing managers and publication designers.

6. Packaging Graphic Design

Motion graphics are any graphics that are in motion. These graphics might include animation, typography, audio, video, imagery, and other effects in various online media. Motion graphics have become very popular in the past decade as video content and marketing tools rule the industry.

Though it is a new type of design for graphic designers, it is on the rise and advancing in online media. These designs require developing a storyboard and then giving life to the ideas using animations and video editing technology. Motion graphic designs might include the following examples.

• Animated logos
• Presentations
• Promotional videos
• Tutorial videos
• Trailers
• Title sequence and end credits
• GIFs
• Banners
• Video games

7. Environmental Graphic Design

It is a multidisciplinary form of graphic design that unites graphic, industrial, interior, landscape, and architectural designs. These designs are specifically used to visually connect people with the places they want to be – enhancing their experience by transporting them visually to a calm, memorable, interesting, or informative place.

One specific sub-type of environmental graphic design is wayfinding – comprising strategic signage, pointers, visual cues, or landmarks to help people identify where they are and where they want to go. It is usually used in shows, stadiums, museums, conferences, etc.

8. Art and Illustration graphic design

The main difference between the graphic design types outlined above and this one is the creation of original artwork. All the above designs work on communicating with potential or current customers, while graphic artists and illustrators compose artwork ranging from decoration, background, and digital art to storytelling.

These designs utilize different design techniques and collaborate with people from various fields, such as writers, celebrities, marketers, art directors, etc.

Choose the Right Type of Design for Yourself

Given the wide variety of graphic designs dedicated to different purposes in the marketing and advertising industry, you must know where your skills lie. Focusing on your skills and those you can attain and excel in will help strategize your career in graphic design.