How Graphic Design Affects our Daily Life

• Will Smith stares out from the rubbles of New York City with beasts fighting in the streets of Big Apple, circa 2009.

• Bubbles in beer glass play the music machine for the beer is ‘alive inside’.

• Freshly picked strawberries and whole wheat grain peer out from a spoonful of breakfast cereal.

We are familiar with these sights. We notice them while driving, watching television or even at the breakfast table. We wonder at their sheer creativity and design excellence. These have evolved over the years, became a part of our lives and often helped us cross the bridge between ignoring a product and buying it. In modern terms, we call this ‘graphic design’.

Definition:
Graphic design is a mode of communication using visual medium. It uses images and typography to simplify information and addresses the receiver in a cognitive level and appeals to their sense of aesthetics and design.

Though graphic design is often understood to be used only for advertising, its uses are extensive. The fields of administration, education and entertainment utilize graphic design at some level to convey information.

History:
Although historians do not concur on the first citation, the ancient cave paintings dating back to 14,000BC had set forth man’s journey in the field of visual communication. The Industrial Revolution of the 1820s paved the path for modern graphic design. Early 20th century America and post-war Europe contributed immensely towards its development and graphic design got professional recognition.

Tools:
To begin with, a creative mind and skill to observe, analyze and plan. Then, basic design tools like paper, pencil, marker to a computer. Finally the expertise in sophisticated software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Corel Draw, Flash and Dreamweaver is your key to the amazing world of graphic design.

Why Graphic Design?
Your industrial requirement will dictate your decision to utilize graphic design. Do you want to promote something? Create a logo or establish an identity for your organization? Want to teach addition to six-year old kids? Put up signs for your new store? Graphic design can help you with all that in any medium – on print, billboards or the web.

But before you hunt for a design company or a designer, remember:
• No designer will understand your company the way you would.
• All outsourcing work comes with its package of time-cost continuum.
• Graphic designers are expensive.

Tips:
However, a picture does speak thousand words and you may not have the time or the creative resource within your company to effectively communicate your product to the customer. So how do you ensure getting what you want at an affordable price? Consider the following tips:
• Identify your exact requirement, your budget and the medium that best reaches your target audience.
• Ask friends for recommendations
• Visit websites.
• Review the company’s portfolio.
• Ask for references.
• Consider outsourcing your work overseas for a cheaper rate.
• Discuss your requirement in details.
• Get a quote.
• Ensure that legal requirements are fulfilled, printing costs covered and copyright issues taken care of before signing the contract.
• Regularly review work till you approve the final design.
• Make staggered payments and pay the final 25% only on completion.

Major Companies and Cost:
There are excellent US-based graphic design companies. Tangled Spider Group, Florida, GraphicDesigns.com and Level10Design, Texas are some companies that specialize in graphic design with online portfolios.

The cost purely depends on your requirement. A billboard design may begin from $250 and go up to $2000.

The Future:
In future, graphic design may veer more towards a mechanism to execute marketing strategies than remain as a tool to convey information. This may eventually corrode original ideas. However for now, graphic design is the thing of today. Marvel at it, learn it or utilize it, for you can’t ignore it!