What is A Graphic Designer ?

~  David Carson 

A graphic designer is someone who is capable, more than that a professional and most of all, creative when it comes to graphic arts. His role is to create a design whenever it comes to images, typography, motions, logos, layouts, and websites and so on. These materials (artworks) that a graphic designer produces are generally made to be published or printed and sometimes placed in an electronic media (TV adverts, websites).

A graphic designer uses a couple of programmes to design with; the most common ones used are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.

A graphic designer generally combines an illustration, typography, photography instructions and information to give identification or to present/promote something with a message either for propaganda, advertisement or an announcement. Over all one’s most important role is that his artwork is memorable. A graphic designer creates artworks that are from the most ephemeral to the most permanent. These two words (ephemeral and permanent) are obviously two different things. Insignificant/Ephemeral includes stamp designs, bus or railway tickets, and bottle labels and so on. Permanent includes the design of logos which generally includes hotel signs, corporation’s logos and other logos such as car emblems. This could even mean translating images into words and meanings or in other words ‘alphabet of the human thoughts’. 

 A graphic designer sometimes can produce a ‘pictogram’, this is an image representing an object or a meaning created for visual language which is understood by all (just like male and female cut outs for rest rooms). And another way a graphic designer can communicate with others is by creating a rebus; this means that he creates something instead of sound just like the heart shape instead of writing ‘love’.

One asks, so what does a graphic designer do with his work after it’s printed/published? Well, a graphic designer has this so called portfolio. This portfolio can be produced in different ways. About 50 years ago a designer used to create a book or a binder booklet. Nowadays a designer can make his portfolio as an online blog, or an online website, CD, or even can send samples of his works via e-mail.

Mesopotamian tokens

After all this info I’d guess one would like to know when all of this started right? This takes us back to pre-historic era, where pre-historic humans used to draw/paint on walls to communicate with others so when one passes by one’s ‘territory’ one would know that there’s a sign of life (i.e. humans or animals). Early writing takes us back to Mesopotamian times when a high priest took care of their temples, further on we find hieroglyphs of Egyptians which were written on papyrus or engraved on walls. Further on the Latin alphabet was created (the letters we use today or most of them) where these were evolved after their adoption from the Greek literature but based on square, triangle and circular  shapes.   






Info : Graphic designer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2014. Graphic designer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_designer. [Accessed 13 October 2014].
Class info provided by Ms. S.Abela

Images: . 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac319/komunitasonlineshop/quotes%20graphic%20design/Graphicdesignwillsavetheworldrightafterrockandrolldoes.gif. [Accessed 13 October 2014].
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.residentadvisor.net/images/events/flyer/2013/6/mt-0622-485654-front.jpg. [Accessed 13 October 2014].


. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:https://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/13928127/disp/ef5416304a5bde680cb85bf11602d98e.jpg. [Accessed 13 October 2014].
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://blog.world-mysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Lascaux_horse.jpg. [Accessed 13 October 2014]1320. 2014. 1320. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320hist&civ/chapters/16TOKENS.htm. [Accessed 13 October 2014].