A graphic designer decodes the illustrations of the mind to a subject. They ease the user’s experience with the computing objects. Designing graphics and templates allows you to explore objects with the user’s perspective. This write-up enlightens various facts and ways to give your graphic designing career a path.
The graphic designing industry is going vast day by day. Almost every sector requires creative UI designer and UX designer for them. Before driving you to the various ways to start your career as a UI/UX designer, let’s get started with basic concepts of UI and UX.
What is UI design?
UI design is termed as User Interface design. It is the visual interaction of the user with elements of a product interface. It is basically to design an experience that is coherent, aesthetically pleasant, and consistent. They design, user interactive interfaces like a color pallet, buttons, icons, and other responsive elements for software and machines. The basic advantage of UI design is that it makes user interaction with the appliances efficient and friendly. Graphic designing and typography are used to influence the client with the design process. These are usually focused on looks and patterns and are striking and are collaborative.
What is UX design?
UX design stands as User experience design. UI is an important subset of UX design. UX design is made completely user-centric involving various domains of background, visual designs, and interactive designs. UX designing heightened the scope of the process for user interaction of products. It builds the end product which is easily operable and catches a glimpse at once. It deals with the usability, experience, and functionality of the design created through UI designs. UX designs are those designs that are made to ease the user’s experience with the computing product. It is needed to view the user’s perspective to create a successful UX template.
Essential Skills Required
• Interactive and creative skills
• Visualising the demand and need of the product
• Relevant skills of graphic designing tools and related frameworks
• Programming and analytical skills.
• Innovative thinking
Steps to ease your journey for becoming a UI/UX designer
It is not a one-day process to become an efficient graphic designer and set a benchmark for your career. Hard work and an innovative mind are all that you need. Here we are with some facts and process to make you journey a bit handy.
1. Excel your fundamental knowledge
Fundamental knowledge plays a pivotal role in building your career, irrespective of the domain you choose. To upgrade your skills in designing as a career, your fundamentals should be strong. You must be aware of the tools, features, and processes of framing your ideas. You can pursue a higher educational degree in the field of graphic design. Moreover, graduating in this field isn’t that essential. All that matters is your innovation and design mind and how well you tackle the basic functions. For gaining your knowledge and improving your skills set, you can also go for effective online courses that boost your confidence and clarify your understanding.
2. Understand the concept of User Interface
Start your approach as a UI designer. Be aware of the latest tools and trends followed by designers in the now-day word. Try to make yourself familiar with the psychological concepts of themes. Enhance your creative skills set and understand the basics as listed below.
Color plays an important role while representing your ideas. The correct use of colors for conveying messages is essential. Some combinations act a bizarre. So, the correct choice and mixing of color tones should be taken care of.
Like choosing colors, the correct choice of fonts is also required. You need to work on the correct choice of font to make your design look attractive. You must choose a font that is easily readable in different formats of the electronic medium.
•Contrast and balance
While creating a design one must take care of the symmetry and alignments. The contrast of the design should also be user friendly.
The designs should be presented in proper grids and a specific layout to make it more interactive to the designated users.
The correct use of diagrams and illustrations are effective as it builds an understanding with the user and makes it easy to get the message. It reduces the use of text and increases understanding.
Consistency is considered as a very important aspect. You have to develop a usable design.
3. Improve your understanding of User Experience design
Once getting cleared the UI part, you can jump on to the User Experience section. It deals with the experience users face while interacting with your designs. UX is for operating and modifying various phases of user interaction. UX also gives us a visual map of the design functioning.
The UX part deals with 4 collaborative processes, those are-
This is the initial stage where the designer discovers facts and responses on its design and work upon its innovative ideas.
In this process, the designer formulates the ideas and innovations discovered to meaningful process and definition.
This is a trial and error process where the prototypes of the ideas are tested. This helps the designer to rectify changes while creating, changing, and iterating to get to the final result.
This is the final platform for the designers where their final prototypes are processed and launched for the cause.
4. Follow your mentor
Having a mentor to guide you all the way can be turned as a boon to your designing career. A mentor can be even your senior, a teacher, or even a friend, with the experience of working in this domain. The comments by the mentor on your projects and designs will help you to rectify errors at the early stages and to boost your confidence. It will also increase your learning speed and capacity. The experience of your mentor will be helpful for you while establishing your career. Mentors are usually aware of the Do’s and Dont’s and help you to grab the relevant and best opportunities.
5. Be updated about new tools and features
Holding your roots while running with the world is the new cool. It is a must for a graphic designer to be in touch and aware of all the recent trends and demands. There are new tools and features launch at regular intervals that makes the work of a designer easy and holds a proper interaction with the user. Features are developed to make the illustration designs more attractive and user friendly. To be in demand, you must be knowing all the recent tools and should know how to operate them and ease your work. A designer should always program a design that is in demand and what people wish to see.
6. Read designing related write-ups
To get in touch with the recent features and tools you are advised to read recent news and blogs regarding graphic designing. You should make a practice of reading other designer’s experience and keep a note of their works. Be in contact with recent activities that are taking place to enlighten you with the needs of the user. There are different newsletters available online. You can easily subscribe to these and get updated with the recent activities. You can also browse different websites to see the innovative ideas of other designers. The more you explore, the more you turn your ideas more creatively.
7. Connect yourself with the designer community
Keep yourself connected with other designers and be a part of their community. Being in a community helps you interact with people of different mindsets and you can work on more creative ideas. There are also online discussion platforms set to discuss your problems and ideas between people of similar domains. While getting in touch with people of your interest, you get chances to discover better. You are also introduced to new projects and opportunities. Building a network and being a part of it improves your career-building opportunities.
8. Work on projects
You should regularly work on projects and designs. The more you work the more ideas you discover. And the more you are exposed to the industry, the more experience you gain. You can work on some real-life projects and also some freelancing projects. Internships are also available on different platforms for UI/UX designers. You can apply for these and get hired to work with experienced teams and guides. During internships and training, you are introduced to different kinds of projects and learning opportunities. You can work on ready-made projects and modify it into many other innovative designs.
9. Build your profile
Building your professional profile is the most important step that will help you to build your career as a UI/UX designer. You have to build your complete working portfolio. Make sure it includes valuable projects and experience of internships. A training certificate marks a star in your resume. You should include many projects that are uniquely designed by you and user-friendly illustrations and graphics. Your profile should be built in a way so that you become the first choice of the employer.
10. Never stop innovating and practicing
The best part about designing is, your skills list develops as long as you practice. The more you explore the more innovative ideas strike. Trying on different tools and ideas never goes in vain. The more you try, the more your design gets innovative.
So, that’s what we suggest to our readers. Keep practicing and keep exploring new ideas.