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Careers in Graphic Design
The scope of the graphic designer is far from narrow. The graphic design career spectrum covers many areas. Let's take a look at some of them.
Layout Artist
 This can cover a large range of work, but generally a layout artist is dealing with the structuring and laying out of images and text in a pleasing format for printed media. This can include magazine work, brochures, flyers, books, cd booklets, posters, and that kind of thing. For output like a magazine, color, typeface, various text formatting, graphic layout and more must be considered. Is the typeface chosen good for long term reading, or will the eyes get tired? Does that Title typeface suite the feel of the rest of the article? Are the photos arranged in such a way that is pleasing to the eye, and directs the reader in the right flow or direction? These are just some of the questions a layout artist must ask themselves.
Software that often is used is a layout program such as Adobe InDesign. They also may interact with a vector program such as Adobe Illustrator, or a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop.
New Media / Multimedia Designer
This can cover any range of media, but usually includes the combining of images, animation, audio, video, or some combination of these elements. The best way to look at this field is to break it down just a bit further.
a) Interactive Multimedia Design- This includes work on kiosks, interactive CDs or DVDs, and Web Design. Audio, Video, Animation, Photos and more can be elements in the overall design of the output. But it is the Graphical User Interface (GUI) that sets Interactive design apart from Audio Visual Design. There has to be some sort of navigation involved that gives the user the choice of which content they choose to access, and when. So as an Interactive Multimedia Specialist, it will be your job to make sure that all media elements tie in together effectively, AND the user can easily navigate to find the information that they seek through the Graphical User Interface.
b) Audio Visual Design- This kind of work can be seen on non interactive output such as TV & the Internet. Commercials, Websites using Flash Intros, and Movies are all examples of work that an Audio Visual Specialist might have his or her hands in.
Multimedia designers will often work with programs such as Adobe Premiere, Macromedia Director, Adobe Photoshop, and sometimes Microsoft PowerPoint for business presentations. On the Internet, it has become popular to use Macromedia Flash to present a multimedia experience in a quick downloading format.
Illustrator
An Illustrator creates artwork (illustration) that used to visually represent information in things like articles, technical manuals, textbooks and more. Logo Design can also be done, as well as cartooning, T-shirt design, and more art related work. Anyone interested in this kind of work really must have a strong background/desire in drawing and art in general. You're going to have to be pretty good to make it on your own. So make sure you at least have the fundamentals drawing and sketching down pat. Many Illustrators are self employed due to the narrow specialized aspect of their expertise.
The 3 most common programs used by Illustrators for line art is Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, and sometimes CorelDRAW. These programs work with the graphics in a vector format. Vector graphics can be enlarged or shrunk down and still have silky smooth edges. The best kind of illustrations for the vector format are line drawings and more simple things like cartoons and logos. Illustrators also may use Adobe Photoshop or Corel Painter to create a more traditional look such as water color or chalk.
(It's important to state that the job titles that are mentioned are not set in stone. There is such a blending of one job description into another, that it's really hard to say definitively that an X Designer Does X. And some employers might use different terms to describe a job title. So keep this in mind, and use this as a general guide rather than the gospel truth) : )
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