You will come across a lot of people these days who want to master almost every category of their field because they think it as the best way to succeed. Although multi-tasking and being multi-skilled is a good thing, however, if you do not look into specializing a certain field or sub-field, it may turn out disastrous!
I personally think a person can be more successful if he tries to concentrate on one thing instead of trying to master everything. When it comes to graphic designing, it
Graphic designing is indeed a vast field and a lot of people have various misconceptions about it. A single graphic designer cannot be good web designer, print designer, illustrator and calligrapher at the same time. So isn’t it better to specialize a certain field of graphic designing and be really good at it?
Graphic designing is huge field and for those students, who are interested in it, need to understand all of the categories related to graphic designing and then study the one they think is perfect for them. It is very important to determine what you really want to do. Just because you are fascinated with Photoshop and you know how to run it, does not mean you can be a web designer as well as logo designer, business card specialist and yes, not to forget, an excellent brochure, flyer and poster designer too.
I have collected some of my observations regarding the importance of specializing a particular field of designing. I hope these points help you understand and rectify the general misconceptions.
Jack of all trades, master of none
I am sure you must have heard the famous saying jack of all trades. With the passage of time this term has a new addition to it and that is “Jack of all trades, master of none”. This statement is actually true for graphic designers. They are likely to be more successful if they focus on one type of designing instead of trying to be perfect at everything.
Always remember one thing that having knowledge of all the relevant things is great but trying to master every field will lead you to nowhere. Instead, you won’t be perfect at anything and you will be ok with most of the designing related things.
Creating a Niche
Marketing yourself in a proper way is very important as a graphic designer. The future of the marketing is said to be in niche. If you are advertising yourself as someone who is good at “logo designing, brochure designing, web designing and a lot more” you are doing it completely wrong. By quoting “A lot more” you are trying to advertise yourself as someone who is dealing with everything related to graphic designing which is not a very wise decision.
A client will take you as someone who is not a master in any field. If you will work on only web designing for instance, It will help you in discovering various things related to web designing and you will improve in you field. When a client will know that you have worked on so many web designing projects, he will completely trust you with his website.
Graphic Designing Confused with Web Deigning
As we have talked about misconceptions, various people are of this point of view that web designers or graphic designers are programmers as well, and so half of the clan ends up studying designing and programming which is quite a grotesque combination.
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Programming is coding and designing is quite different from coding. In order to become a successful graphic designer you need to understand typography, design, colors, compositions and conceptualization. You have to select one field and master it in order to bring out your best creative work for your clients.
Specialization helps you in positioning
It is very important to position yourself in the mind of clients. You must be thinking what’s positioning. Well, you can call it a marketing term that depicts your position in the mind of your client. If we are talking about a reliable and fun computer you will instantly get an idea that we are talking about Apple.
When it comes to photo editing all you can think of is Photoshop. So, this is exactly why you need to specialize in a certain field of graphic designing so that when it comes to logo designing, the first name that comes into a client’s mind should be yours.
Avoid Interactive programs
If you really want to specialize in one field, avoid getting into any of interactive programs. They teach you a little about everything and in the end you do not have enough knowledge to work on your designing projects because you do not have enough knowledge.
Such programs make a person jack of all trades, master of none. Instead of participating in these interactive programs, you can take one course related to brochure designing or logo designing and be really good at it.
Importance of Field Specialization
Specialization is not only important in the field of designing, but has its greater impact in other fields of art and profession as well. If you take a look at other professions in the world, you will realize that having specialization in a certain field is way too important be it any profession. Doctors specialize as a neuron surgeon or a heart specialist and later on they practice their field because they are good at it.
Another misconception present in the professional field of graphic designing is that a designer needs to know everything in order to nail a job, which is in fact, not so true. While getting the design education, you should focus on a certain field and later on while you are at work, you can continue learning.
Some Advantages of Field Specialization
Following are a few advantages of being a designer with specialization:
- Since you will be focusing on only one thing, you will be able to understand it in a better way. It is a common fact that when you are doing a lot at one time. You cannot focus on one thing and eventually you realize that you were unable to focus on anything properly.
- Having similarity in projects is another advantage of specialization. Since you will be doing the same kind of work again and again, it will be easier for you work on the projects.
- Having expertise in a single field gives you an advantage of charging more. You do not have to compromise on the price because as a mater in the field you have all the rights to charge more because you know the work better than anyone.
- Advertising yourself is really important as a designer as if you are focusing on one thing you will be advertising to a lesser number of target audiences. This will cost you less.
There might be a few advantages of being a diversified designer such as increased opportunities, increased customer base and you will be working on something new so you might not get bored of your work.
A Quick Wrap Up
Well, having specialization in a certain field of designing makes you master of that field and there is no better feeling in this world other than being perfect at one thing instead of being good at various. As a designer, you will always be learning one thing or the other because this field will continue to grow.
You can specialize in one thing and learn other things with the passage of time. Also, you should be very clear about what you really want. Focus on that one thing and enter into the world of designing and create your own place as a logo designer, graphic designer, brochure designer. Make sure you are not known as a “designer” only.
Most people seem to underestimate the amount of time required to achieve any kind of real mastery. So you are definitely on to something here.
One (very large) caveat: specializing in the wrong niche is far, far worse than acquiring journeyman competence in several.
Knowing which are the right (and wrong) niches ahead of time is really the trick!
Thanks for writing, and your illustrations are excellent.
I completely agree, with the thought process. However, in reality, I am afraid it does not work like that. Maybe it is just the market I am in, but after 15 years, and recently looking for work during the economic downturn. All employers I interviewed with wanted both, web and print. Mix that with email, php , wordpress, and print production knowledge(“is a plus”). I found myself having to adjust to meet market demand. I would love nothing more than to be a print designer (where my expertise is), but with less print being done these days, in order to make a living, I needed to adjust. This is where my knowledge of web, helped out. So, I feel a good mix of all design avenues is a good thing.
Design, is constantly evolving and to stay relevant we as designers need to be willing to evolve with it.
WOW! Great great article. Thanks a lot for sharing. Specially, loved the part where people think Graphic Design and Web Design is the same thing. No it’s not!
Thanks once again.
P.S: There’s a typo in the heading “Graphic Design Confused with Web Designing.” Hope you fix that.
Majority of people fall under the impression that additional qualifications can boost their chances unable to recognize the fact that they will be master of none .
I agree the point of specialization its quite important