In Pakistan, there is an increasing interest in graphic design as the industry is broad and engaging, with lots of opportunities, and it is one of the fields offering the best future prospects around the world. If you are interested in graphic design, you are in luck! It is much easier to pursue than you may have assumed. You will surely appreciate the fact that graphic designing is a highly sought-after skill in the industry today. Given the context of the ever-increasing demand for graphic design, this profession has emerged as one of the most rewarding ones. It is not under discussion in this piece, whether or not graphic designers have to possess the right level of aptitude. This article will take you through the first steps towards achieving a career as a graphic designer and which procedures and resources in Pakistan will be most cost-effective in helping you recover your costs swiftly.
Also Read: A Beginner’s Guide to Adobe Photoshop
- Graphic Design Learning
Before commencing to learn graphic design, consider the routine of this profession. This level encompasses a variety of professions including advertising, UI/UX design, branding, and also art and media creation. If you wish to engage in a career that approaches you as a professional strategist who crafts how ideas can be constructed, presented and communicated to an audience, the highly scientific aspects of graphic design science will greatly help you in appreciating, knowing and understanding the process of art production itself.
- Goals Graphical Design Focus
Set out your goals. As an initial step, consider the idea of which specific graphical elements of your projects will become elements to your graphical resource including logo creation, odd projects as advertisements such as mascot, social media applications and other similar graphical content.
- Sign Up for Online Courses
The beginner-friendly graphic design courses may be found on various online platforms. A few of the popular ones are:
Coursera: Provides advanced graphic design courses with degree programs from entities such as CalArts.
Udemy: Creates low-cost basic courses with lifetime access to the content material.
Skillshare: A subscription based website concentrated on project based learning.
DigiSkills: In Pakistan, this is a state initiative offering various free courses online spanning graphic design and freelancing.
Urdu is the language for many of these courses making it easy for students in Pakistan where local languages are commonplace.
- Comprehend the Basics
It is essential to understand graphic design as more than chilling with software. There are major design principles one must be aware of. Consider these key design principles:
Typography: Focus on the study of fonts, their spacing, and how they are incorporated within text into the design.
Color Theory: Study color harmonies and contrasts and their influence on the users etc.
Composition: Factor in how design layout seems in terms of balance, alignment and hierarchy.
Among other books, those of “The Elements of Graphic Design” by Alex W. White or graphics and design websites such as the Canva Design School are great resources for learning these fundamentals.
- Get in touch with Professional Graphic Design Apps
As a graphic designer, there are industry-standard tools that one must learn. Such as:
Adobe Photoshop: For editing images and other graphics.
Adobe Illustrator: For creating visual designs based on paths including logos and images.
Canva: For users that want to make quick designs such as a post for a social media account.
Figma: For designing UI/UX and working in groups.
If you are low on funds, you can use programs such as GIMP which is similar to Photoshop and Inkscape which is similar to Illustrator.
- Participate In Social Media Platforms
In Pakistan, the graphic design circle is vibrant and helps with various things. If you want, you can get these communities’ help in getting particular feedback or even networking. Some of the common forums and groups are:
Facebook Groups: These are larger community groups such as “Graphic Designers Pakistan” or “Freelancers in Pakistan”.
Reddit: You can also check out r/graphic_design this community is international, allowing its users to share their work and learn from others.
LinkedIn: There are certain professionals and agencies that can help you gain insight regarding the field on this platform.
The bad side is looking at the challenges that other participants faced and how they resolved it (or how they did not resolve it).
- Create a Portfolio
Any person in the search of work will understand that having an impressive portfolio is an absolute must for any aspiring professional designer. For a start, you can draft personal works, try to revamp some works, or even come up with brand mockups. You can also use Behance and Dribbble to share your work.
It is important to ensure that your portfolio covers all aspects involving you, be it creating a logo or designing social media graphics or designing a website. Briefly explain every work included, and this time place emphasis on the reasoning behind your designs.
- Utilize Both Paid and Free Options
If you are an aspiring designer, there is no shortage of materials on the internet, you can pretty much grab whatever you want. Consider these:
Free Tutorials: ‘The Futur’, ‘Will Paterson’ and ‘Gareth David Studio’ are just some of the Youtube channels that provide good quality tutorials.
Design Blogs: Individuals can get an understanding of trends and design techniques from Smashing Magazine and Creative Bloq.
Stock Resources: Free stock images, vectors, and even templates for practice can be sourced from Freepik and Unsplash.
But for those who are willing to put in some money, subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud or Envato Elements would be worth it as they have premium tools and templates.
- Look for Freelancing Work
Graphic design is among the most in demand services by Pakistan’s freelance sites. For instance, you can use Fiverr, www.upwork.com, https://www.peopleperhour.com/Hour among others to find work of this nature. As per the Pakistan Freelancing Landscape 2023 report, Graphic Designers rank among the most popular of the freelancers in the country.
To begin with, set up an account on a professional platform, share some of your work, and offer your services at a lower cost. With time, as your experience increases, you can raise your fees and accept more advanced assignments.
- Use Available Resources in the Country
There is an expanding pool of graphic design professionals in Pakistan:
Workshops and Seminars: Cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad have design events now and then. Check such locations on sites like Meetup and Eventbrite.
Design Institutes: There are centers such as the National College of Arts (NCA) and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture that offer Courses in design.
PITB (Punjab Information Technology Board) is also one of those bodies, which offer programs to encourage freelancers and creative people.
Conclusion
It is possible to learn graphic design in Pakistan without any background or understanding if one is willing to do so and has the necessary material. This allowed them to displace a significant bias toward elementary principles and very low-cost solutions, and do so within communities driven by four modern mass media. There’s no shortage of options in the graphic designing field from working as a freelancer or taking a full time position with agencies or companies.
If you want to start a side project or want to entirely change your career, the plan which is above will help you do that. There’s no better time to start than today, and with enough dedication you’ll mold yourself into a competitive market as a graphic designer in no time.