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There’s no doubt that you have to love what you do to become a graphic designer. Aside from the technology and digital knowledge, you’ll need to succeed; you must have an understanding of all things visual, and how things appear to an audience or the mass market. You’ll have a skill of providing information clearly, and ensuring that a brand or company’s values are represented through type and forms across the board. It may have started in your sketchbook at school when you were constantly drawing lettering, cartoons, or characters. And, thankfully; you’re now living in an age where you can take those initial sketchbook ideas and create something visually pleasing on a large scale, across a plethora of platforms.

Graphic design surrounds everyone, even those who don’t realize what it is; it will be impacting their thoughts, feelings, and choices in everyday life. Therefore, a graphic designer needs to keep their creativity alive, while designing something that will influence the masses, and also ensure that their clients like what they do, which is no easy feat. These tasks and duties reiterate that you need constant passion and drive if you’re heading into design, and ready to develop and evolve, as technology and demand do. The following are some ideas and inspiration for designers who want to take their career to the next level but feel a little unsure of where to turn next.

New Ways To Communicate

If you’ve been working on 2D graphics for the web or for print; you might be looking to expand your horizons and see where your design skills can take you next. A great form communication through design and one that’s growing in popularity in a digital age is motion graphics and animation. Therefore, it’s worth doing your research, learning Adobe After Effects, and getting to grips with bringing your graphics to life. You’ll need to develop your understanding of how music and motion can create impact, and look into designers who are paving the way for young creatives. Those who understand and utilize motion graphics can often head into directing, and becoming the lead creative in a number of different fields. So, it’s well worth making that typeface do something more exciting than just sitting on the screen.

Have A Side Hustle

Every creative needs an outlet where they’re able to experiment. However, it can be challenging when you’ve got a traditional 9-5 job, and your clients want you to work within set boundaries. You’ll never develop or evolve if you’re not using your free time to create things that excite you. Use your lunch hour to hop on Behance, or set yourself an imaginary project to complete in your evenings and at the weekend. Polish a personal online portfolio so that others can see what you’re capable of; who knows who might get in touch for a collaboration or potential side project. Never stop learning or seeing what others are doing; graphic design is a career that continues to evolve at lightning speed, so it’s vital that you try your best to keep up.