Are you ready to create, update, or completely change your brand’s appearance or visual identity? Graphic designers use graphic design to convey an idea or solve a problem. Knowing the differences between the types of graphic design will help you find the right services to fulfill your vision.

clashgraphics.com gathered information on six ways graphic design applications are used to solve problems and communicate ideas.

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is a process using typography, photography, illustration, color, and form to communicate visually.

Graphic design plays a role in everything we eat, drink, and consume. Every product, packaging, and business wants to communicate something to you and graphic designers are who deliver this.

Visual Identity (Brand Identity) Graphic Design

Visual identity graphic design is the use of images, shapes, and color to create the face of a brand. Brand identity is used to communicate an organization’s personality, purpose, tone, and experience that becomes the relationship between an organization and its audience.

To create a brand identity, graphic designers collaborate with an organization’s stakeholders to create and develop the following:

• Logos
• Typography
• Color palettes
• Image libraries
• Style guides (to ensure brand consistency)

These are used to guide the formation of an organization’s:

• Business cards
• Stationary
• Advertising
• Publications
• Signage

A successful brand identity campaign is recognizable across all media types.

Marketing and Advertising Graphic Design

Successful marketing aids a company in guiding their audience’s decision-making process. This is accomplished by engaging the audience based on their wants, needs, awareness, satisfaction, and perceived problem that a company’s product, assets, or services can solve.

Designers work with an organization’s owners, directors, management team, and marketing team to create assets within a marketing strategy. Those assets may include:

• Brochures (print and digital)
• Vehicle wraps
• Trade show displays
• Postcards
• Flyers
• Magazine and newspaper ads
• Signage
• Posters
• Banners
• Billboards
• Infographics
• Email marketing templates
• Digital presentations
• Menus
• Social media ads, banners, and graphics
• Images for websites and blogs

Until the recent past, marketing and advertising were almost exclusively print-centered. Presently, with technological advances and broad access to social media, there is a need for an online presence, and businesses are investing in digital assets such as those used in content marketing.

Environmental Graphic Design

Environmental graphic design (EGD) serves to enhance one’s experience by visually connecting them to or guiding them through a location. It involves disciplines such as graphic, architectural, interior, landscape, and industrial design which communicate identity and information.

The following are examples of where environmental graphic design is used:

• Office spaces and buildings
• Event spaces
• Conference spaces
• Store interiors
• Exhibitions
• Murals
• Airports
• Stadiums
• Fairs
• Markets
• Restaurants
• Public transportation navigation

A specific type of environmental graphic design called wayfinding consists of using well-placed signage and landmarks to help or suggest to people where they need to go.

Environmental graphic design is intended to improve one’s experience by making locations more engaging, informative, and navigable.

Publication Graphic Design

Publications, until recently, have been printed long-form pieces involving layout and graphic design, intended to communicate with a targeted audience by way of physical distribution.

The following are examples of publications:

• Books
• Newspapers
• Newsletters
• Employee handbooks
• Directories
• Comics
• Annual reports
• Financial reports
• Magazines
• Instruction booklets
• Catalogs

Publication graphic design is also used for e-publishing or electronic publishing and is a fast-growing market. For those of you buying and reading books, magazines, or manuals online on your electronic devices, those are all e-publishing. Because of its ease of use, distribution, and cost-effectiveness e-publishing is becoming the replacement of printed publications, but still requires layout and graphic design.

E-publishing isn't limited to electronic versions of books, newspapers, or magazines. Anyone can e-publish just about anything using blogs and publication platforms.

Art and Illustration Graphic Design

It could be said that graphic design serves the purpose of commercialization in the world of branding, logos, and business. Art and Illustration, on the other hand, is more of an art form serving as decoration or drawings in a book or magazine.

The following are examples of art and illustration for graphic design:

• T-shirt design
• Video games
• Websites
• Comic books
• Album art
• Book covers
• Picture books
• Children’s books
• Coloring books
• Motion graphics
• Stock images
• Graphic novels
• Infographics
• Technical illustration
• Concept art

A graphic artist may use any combination of techniques and media to produce their work.

Packaging Graphic Design

The graphic design of packaging is a complex assembly process involving choices of shape, color palette, typography, and material to make packaging highly visible and attractive to consumers. The shape and color alert consumers and attract their attention, while the lettering and font create its identity and brand.

Packaging serves to protect and prepare products for storage, distribution, display, and sale. Packaging design can also communicate directly to consumers, making it a valuable marketing tool. Each box, bottle, bag, can, container, or canister is an opportunity to tell the story of a brand.

Now that we’ve addressed the many applications of graphic design, if you are a potential graphic designer or a designer looking to advance your career, read clashgraphics.com/printing-tips/graphic-designer-salary-software-portfolio-tips/

Finding the Right Type of Graphic Design

When it’s time to create or update your brand identity, knowing which type of graphic designer to seek will aid you in finding the right designer and services to fulfill your vision.

In this article, you discovered six types of graphic design, their differences, and their applications used to solve problems and communicate ideas.

When searching for a designer to take on your job, knowing how the types of design differ from each other will help you determine which designer possesses the right skillsets for the job.

Sources:
https://segd.org/article/what-environmental-graphic-design-egd
https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/publication-design
https://wp.nyu.edu/fogdv2/2018/10/29/graphic-design-vs-illustration/
https://www.alimentarium.org/en/knowledge/packaging-%E2%80%93-graphic-design
https://oakland.edu/bals/interdisciplinary-careers/advertising-and-graphic-design/

Clash Graphics Print Shop Atlanta Flyer Printing

2233 Peachtree Rd NE Ste 202 Atlanta, GA 30309
(678) 235-3464