Graphic Designer Vs. Visual Designer: What’s the Difference?

Visual designers and graphic designers use their creativity and innovation to create images, graphics, and other design materials. Their services are used by companies all over the globe to create marketing campaigns that reach their target markets and increase profits. You may want to consider a career in graphic design or visual design if you are artistic and love designing.

This article defines what graphic and visual designers are and discusses the differences between the two. It also reviews some skills, as well as FAQs, about their roles.

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What is a Designer of Visuals?

Visual designers are experts in designing the look and feel of digital assets such as websites and apps. They combine graphic design, user interface (UI), visual communication, and other aspects of their work to determine and create the aesthetics for their projects. Although they may be closely involved with web designers, their duties rarely include coding.

What is a Graphic Designer?

Graphic designers create print or digital material for different organizations. Originally focusing on printed materials such as books, newspapers, and brochures, the designers’ tasks have evolved to include digital options, like visual graphics, marketing materials, and other forms of media. Graphic designers are often involved in basic website tasks but rarely design websites.

Visual Designer Vs. Graphic Designer

Visual designers and graphic artists are distinguished by the fact that visual designers create an artistic vision or message for multiple elements or projects, whereas graphic designers create individual visual materials within this vision. This is a comparison and contrast of these two professions:

Goals

Visual designers and graphic artists both work in the design field but they each have different goals. Graphic designers are primarily focused on creating visual assets that can be used in various media, including print, digital, or multimedia platforms. They are often involved in projects that involve branding, advertising, packaging, and website design.

Visual designers have a wider scope of work, which includes graphic design as well as visual communication. They focus on creating holistic visual experiences, rather than individual design assets. They work on UI design projects, user experience design (UX design), interactive media, and motion graphics.

Duties

The key responsibilities of graphic designers include:

• Concepts and ideas for visual communication
• Create layouts and illustrations with typography
• Selecting images, colors, and other design elements
• Collaboration with clients or art directors to meet specific design needs
• Preparing designs for final production
• Visual designers’ key responsibilities include:
• Interfaces and interactions design for digital products, websites, or applications
• Assuring consistency in visual language and brand experience on different platforms
• Wireframes, prototypes, and mockups are used to illustrate design concepts.
• Working closely with UX designers and developers
• Use user-centered design to improve usability and aesthetics

Platforms and Tools

Both graphic designers and visual designers are likely to be familiar with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator Adobe InDesign Adobe XD Dreamweaver, and other digital creation software.

The visual designer has many responsibilities and uses a variety of tools to accomplish them. These tools include:

Use tools such as Adobe XD or Figma: To create interactive prototypes, wireframes, and UI/UX designs.

Motion graphics software: Visual artists use Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D programs to create animated graphics, video effects, and motion designs.

Tools for collaboration and project management: These tools include Asana, Jira, and Trello, which they may use to track the progress of projects, manage tasks related to design, and coordinate with other team members.

User testing and research: Visual designers can use tools such as Hotjar or UserTesting for user research. They can also analyze user behavior and collect feedback about designs.

These designers may use InVision or Zeplin, which are tools that facilitate the smooth handover of projects to web developers.

Qualifications

Employers have different educational requirements. People seeking graphic design jobs are most likely to need a certificate, an associate’s degree, or a bachelor’s in fine arts, graphic design, or a closely related field.

Many visual design positions require that a candidate has a bachelor’s or master’s degree in digital media or visual design. A professional certificate in visual effects or digital editing can be beneficial for people seeking to work in the visual design field.

Salaries

Visual designers are paid more than graphic artists. The average annual salary of a visual designer in the United States is $77,789, whereas that of a graphic artist is $55,478.

Visual and graphic designers need to have certain skills.

Although the goals and duties of graphic and visual designers are different, the skills required for both positions are similar. Here are some of the most important skills and traits that graphic designers and visual designers should develop to be successful:

Problem-solving Creativity

Creativity is a key element in both graphic and visual design jobs. These roles require people to develop design solutions that satisfy the needs of team leaders, clients, and project managers. These professionals are hired by companies and organizations to solve problems and create appealing graphics and artwork.

Passion for Design and Art

Designers who are passionate about art and have respect for it will likely create graphics and themes that are more expressive and innovative for their clients. Graphic designers and visual designers are part of the creative industry. Every day, they strive to create beautiful, vibrant, inspiring, or emotional imagery. The passion they have for creating and designing art is essential to their career success and job satisfaction.

Design Skills

Designers need to be experts in design principles so that they can create visually pleasing and effective designs. These principles include:

• Composition
• Color theory
• Image
• Typography
• Balance
• Visual hierarchy

Typography knowledge, for example, helps designers choose fonts that are legible and readable to create visually pleasing compositions. Understanding color psychology, and the best color combinations to use in a design, can help a designer create visuals that are impactful and elicit specific emotions. Designers can also use their skills to create unique illustrations or icons.

Visual-spatial Intelligence

Visual-spatial Intelligence is the ability to perceive and understand the visual world. It measures a person’s analytical and creative skills in terms of size, shape, and depth.

People in design roles need to have a high level of visual-spatial awareness because the artistic and creative components of graphics are important for the success of any design theme or project.

Time Management

A person who can plan and organize their time efficiently and effectively has strong time management. Visual designers and graphic artists must meet deadlines set by their artistic directors or clients. These roles may involve multiple tasks. People in these roles must prioritize, schedule, and think strategically to create effective imagery or visual schemes by the deadline.

Communication That Works

As time passes, the creative requirements or style of a project can change. To maintain good client relations in a graphic arts firm, the members of the design team can describe or communicate their artistic direction. The design team may have discussions with clients or client representatives to determine and address these changing needs. To be successful in this type of situation, one must show respect and have active listening skills. Both are important for a person to be able to communicate effectively.

Marketing Expertise

Marketing is the set of promotional processes or activities that companies use to generate revenue and promote brand awareness. Marketing campaigns are based on the creative vision of designers and their graphic images. The emotional impact of images and graphics in marketing and advertising materials is crucial to the success of each campaign.

Technical Expertise

You must be able to effectively use your computer and design software to succeed as a graphic or visual designer. Adobe Creative Suite tools such as Photoshop Illustrator and InDesign are essential. You can use Sketch or Adobe XD as a visual designer. You can use Affinity Photo and Designer as a graphic design tool.

Web design principles are also useful, particularly if they need to collaborate with web developers and work on digital projects. Included in the topics to be familiarized with are responsive design, user-interface considerations, and HTML and CSS code languages.

Attention to Detail

Both graphic and visual designers must pay attention to details. They can review the designs to find any mistakes or inconsistencies and create a polished final product.

Collaboration

Designers of both types often work together with clients, web developers, designers, and marketing teams. They can work with clients and incorporate meaningful feedback into designs when they have good collaboration skills.

Presentation Skills

Designers are sometimes responsible for presenting work to coworkers or clients. To ensure successful collaborations, designers must be able to communicate their design choices and concepts and receive constructive feedback.