Surprise by Design

Two Hundred Twenty Fourth Post: Surprise by Design

I once considered looking for anything to do with graphic art (other than my website) because that had been my job in the Army. However with computers and graphics on file anyone with a little computer experience can become a graphic artist. So I really don’t know what the demand for graphic artist is. It seems to me that it would be hard to get a job.

But with computers and the Internet to find art and photos shouldn’t the job of graphic artist be easy? The truth is it is not. (Speaking from my short experience.) You see a lot of graphic art every day from magazines, newsletters, websites, and television and a lot of it looks like it took 5 minutes to make. The reason for this is that graphic art is difficult.

You are often give a slogan or sentence to work with and have to come up with a picture and design that would explain that sentence. This is where the bad art comes in. The message is often lost because the picture was found on the Internet and has nothing to do with the message. The second thing that makes graphic art difficult is the time limit. If you had day’s to make a message it would be perfect, but there are deadlines. This is another reason the message and graphic don’t get across what was originally intended.

If you are looking for good examples of graphic art check out the art of Conan O’ Brien’s show. He is matching a joke with a picture which is sometimes more difficult than matching a fact with a picture. It is almost like drawing a comic.

Of course, there is also good examples in graphics art in everything from newspapers and magazines. When you notice a good one just think about how difficult it was to come up with a new and interesting theme. It is not always the good drawings that make it good, sometimes it’s the concept. It is just like all art an artist doesn’t paint a great work overnight. It takes practice. Also note that the artists has many works with some that stand out more than others. If there was enough time to come up with a design chances are that the caption and graphic are going to fit together better.

In short, we should all be looking for ways to improve are “art.” In doing so, we must ask questions about how the message will be interpreted. How will someone who didn’t draw it and has no other information about the subject interpret the ad? These little design steps will make us better graphic artists.

But until you draw that magazine ad or design a website... May the Creative Force be with You