by Kathy Clark Smith

Created on: August 10, 2009   Last Updated: August 11, 2009

All the theory in the world cannot teach fundamental creativity and the most imperative skill a graphic designer must possess is the "eye". But having said that, creativity alone cannot guarantee success. The skills a designer must have to be successful in this industry are a knowledge of graphic design fundamentals and the computer programs to wield their trade, technical facts pertaining to prepress and printing, color theory, an aptitude for business and excellent communication skills.

Computer programs are essential to creating cost-effective proofs or final artwork. The three basic categories of graphic design programs are vector, raster and web. Vector programs such as CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator creates shapes: lines, curves and circles based on mathematical calculations. Because of this, they can easily be enlarged without any loss of quality. Raster programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel PhotoPaint are based on creating artwork (usually pictures) comprised of pixels. Pixels are a group of small squares that in its entirety create an image. The larger the image is increased, the larger each individual square (pixel) is increased, and thus a decrease in quality results. Web-based graphic programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Front Page are interfaces built upon the web language, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Even though a thorough knowledge of HTML is not required, a basic understanding of it is advantageous.

Knowledge of technical printing information is essential to building a prepress-friendly file, effectively communicating with your printer and successfully creating the final product. Building the file in the correct resolution (glossy paper and newsprint are on the opposite ends of the resolution spectrum), correct color space (CMYK versus RGB), assigning proper bleeds and choosing the correct stock (paper) all contribute to the quality of the final output.

Designing and building a file for an offset press (magazines, posters, business cards) is different than for a web press (newspaper or anything printed on newsprint). A web press' registration or alignment (when one color is printed on top of another) is not as exact, and for this reason, small type should be kept to one color (usually black) and colors are generally created with no more than two colors (such as red, which is comprised of 100% yellow and 100% magenta). Four color images (pictures) printed on a web press often come out clearer if they are larger and have

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