Designer is a prime example of a fashionable and creative job. There are many types of designers, such as fashion designers and interior designers, but among them, web designers and graphic designers are particularly popular professions.
However, since it is not the design of concrete things like clothes or furniture, some people may not be clear about what the difference is. So, this time we will cover web design vs graphic design, including the skills required, learning methods, and ways of expression.
Read this article to clarify the differences between web designers and graphic designers. In addition, we will introduce three steps to help you make the career change from graphic designer to web designer, so please take a look.
1. Differences in skills required
First, the skills required. There are no required qualifications for either web designers or graphic designers, but there are certain skills that you should have.
Web Designer
A web designer’s job is to create content for the web. Specifically, you will create website designs and advertisement images, and then set up the designs so that they work correctly. This is where design skills come in.
In order for people to look at the page you create and think, “I want to buy,” you need to hone your design skills so that your product or service looks attractive.
When learning web design, some people study with the goal of “learning how to use Photoshop.” It is true that you need to be able to use the tools, but what’s important when working as a web designer is design skills.
If you can get this far, you can make a living as a web designer, but to rank up from here, you will need coding skills such as HTML and CSS in addition to design skills. If you can code, you will have almost no problems as a web designer. Check out the following learning methods to find out more.
Graphic Designer
A graphic designer’s job is to design printed materials such as posters and flyers. Like web designers, you will be required to have design skills and the ability to use tools such as Illustrator and InDesign to put your design into shape.
What’s important as a graphic designer is to create designs that sell my client’s products and services, rather than being able to create stylish designs. To do this, it is important to regularly look at advertisements and posters around you to keep up with trends and understand consumer psychology.
2. The difference in salary
Salary is also a major factor in choosing a job. There is a slight difference in salary between web designers and graphic designers, so let me explain.
Web Designer
The average monthly income of a web designer is said to be 40 to 50k Php. It is possible to earn even more if you become a web director (a person in charge of planning, creating, and operating a website) or a web producer (a person who creates a website’s target, concept, and image in consultation with the client, and oversees the entire project while managing deadlines, budgets, and personnel).
The more work you do as a web designer, the higher your annual income will be.
This does not only apply to company employees, but also to those working part-time or as a freelancer; the higher your skills, the more valuable you will be as a web designer and the higher your annual income will be.
Therefore, if you want to earn money as a web designer and eventually become a freelancer, you should broaden the scope of your work by improving your skills as much as possible and taking on overall management roles.
Graphic Designer
The average monthly salary of a graphic designer is 30k to 35k php. However, this varies greatly depending on the place of employment, so please use this information only as a guide.
It is possible to earn 500,000k Php at a large company , but it is rare to earn that much at a small or medium-sized company.
Although the amount varies, just like with web designers, the more you expand the scope of your work, the higher your annual income will be.
Even at large companies, salaries vary depending on your abilities and experience, so the more you hone your skills as a graphic designer or build a variety of career experiences, the higher your annual salary can be.
3. Differences in learning methods
So how do you actually learn to master these skills? Although it is the same design job, the actual work content is different, so the learning methods will be different even if you study at a vocational school or school.
Web Designer
It is possible to learn web design on your own, but if you want to acquire skills that can be used efficiently in the workplace, it is recommended that you attend a vocational school or school.
Of course you need to know what kind of designs will sell, but you also need to learn how to use Photoshop and Illustrator to create them. However, there are some schools where you can learn how to use the tools but not do much designing , so it’s important to find out in advance what you’ll be learning.
To become a higher-level web designer, acquiring knowledge of coding and web marketing will expand the scope of your work. There are online and correspondence courses that allow you to study at your own pace, and there are also schools that provide intensive study like vocational schools, so it is important to study in a place that suits you.
Graphic Designer
Graphic designers generally study the fundamentals of design at a university or vocational school. In terms of tools, just like with web design, in addition to Photoshop and Illustrator, you will also need to study InDesign.
InDesign is a software used when creating multi-page documents such as catalogs. It is useful to be able to use a master page, as you can apply the same design to multiple pages by setting up one master page.
At design schools, you can learn advertising design, color, layout theory and techniques, and skills in tools such as Illustrator and Photoshop.
At an art university, in addition to what you can learn at a vocational school, you can also take hands-on classes such as drawing and construction to improve your descriptive and sculptural skills, as well as acquire proposal skills such as marketing.
Working alone as a freelancer or other such person requires more marketing knowledge, so it’s a good idea to learn this at the early stages.
4. Differences in how colors are expressed
Depending on the medium, the colors displayed may differ from the colors produced. Setting the colors initially is important because if you don’t set them properly, the finished product may turn out differently than you expected.
Web Designer
Web design is always done in RGB. RGB is a method of expressing colors by mixing the three primary colors Red, Green, and Blue. The difficult thing about being a web designer is that even though you may have thought a certain color was correct when you created it, it may appear differently on someone else’s screen.
This occurs due to differences in the lighting methods and performance of LCD monitors, and is beyond your control.
The difficult thing about being a web designer is that no matter how perfect you think your screen is, you can’t show what you’ve created exactly as it is to everyone who will see it.
Graphic Designer
Graphic designers create their designs by carefully specifying colors while looking at color samples such as Pantone. Also, since graphic design is the design of printed materials such as posters and flyers, colors do not appear differently depending on the viewer.
Of course, the range of colors that can be seen varies depending on the eyesight of each person, but it gives me peace of mind knowing that people will see what I’ve created exactly as it is.
5. Different resolutions required
The resolution also changes depending on whether it is on the web or on paper. This is an important part that affects how things appear, and the setting methods are different, so be sure to check it out.
Web Designer
Web designs are generally created at 72ppi (ppi: a unit of resolution that represents the number of pixels per inch). Since text and images need to be loaded every time you open the site, images with high resolution will be heavy and take a long time to load.
As you’ve probably experienced, slow loading times can be frustrating for users. Therefore, you need to pay attention not only to the design, but also to the user’s psychology before the design is displayed.
If the resolution is too low to display quickly, it will be hard to see, so the resolution must be appropriate. Taking this into consideration, 72ppi is said to be just right.
Graphic Designer
When it comes to graphic design, there is no set number, but it is recommended to create at 300 to 400 ppi. Since graphic designs are meant to be printed, there is no need to load them multiple times, and even high resolution images do not take long to load.
However, if the resolution is too high, depending on the specifications of your printing machine, it may not print clearly or it may take a long time to print, so be sure to create it at an appropriate resolution.
The recommended resolution is 350ppi, so unless otherwise specified, we recommend 350ppi.
As with web design, be careful not to use low resolution images as they will appear blurry.
6. Differences in the range of information that can be displayed
There is a big difference between web design and graphic design in terms of the extent to which information can be displayed.
Web Designer
Web design has no limitations on the display area. The width of a page is determined by the device, such as a smartphone or computer, but the vertical width can be adjusted to any length by scrolling.
Therefore, if you can adjust the width well, you can cut the height at just the right place to create a design that is easy to read.
However, since the sizes of devices such as PCs and smartphones differ, it is necessary to change the layout for PCs to a design for smartphones and to create the site with the understanding that line breaks will change.
If you create your website without considering the width or line break positions for each device, you will have trouble coding it later, so make sure to design with the next steps in mind.
Graphic Designer
Graphic design has limitations on the display area. When producing flyers, posters, and other items that have set sizes, it is important to design them so that they fit neatly both vertically and horizontally within that size.
If your design has little text and is mainly illustrations, you can adjust the space using images and illustrations, but if your design has a lot of text, you will need to be mindful of the font size and illustration size, and in some cases, reduce the amount of text.
For flyers and posters, adjustments can be made within a single page, but for something that spans multiple pages, such as a booklet, adjustments must be made while taking into account the connections between each page, the overall structure, and layout rules.
7. Differences in freedom of expression
Both web designers and graphic designers are responsible for creating designs that are desired, but they each have different constraints when it comes to creating them.
If you create something without knowing this, it may not work out well when you actually put it into shape, so it’s important to check.
Web Designer
A characteristic of web design is its ability to express movement. With that in mind, there are four things you should keep in mind when creating a web design:
- Can this be reproduced through coding?
- Is this something that can be done without problems using CSS?
- Is the font available on the device?
- Font size is 10px or less
Anything that cannot be reproduced through coding done after design is not acceptable. Therefore, you need to understand in advance what you can code.
Also, some browsers are compatible with some browsers but not others, so you need to check that what you design is okay. There are also limitations to the fonts that can be used on devices, and the content may not look right when displayed.
If you really want a certain font but it is not displaying, you can use it as an image, but from an SEO perspective, displaying it as text is preferred, so consider using a similar font.
As you can see, web design has many restrictions, but if you master it, you can express a variety of things on the web, such as streaming video and audio, moving backgrounds, and switching images.
Graphic Designer
Graphic design allows you to create something almost exactly as it is. Static expressions allow you to design with almost no limitations since no coding is required.
In web design, you sometimes have to have fairly clear rules to avoid hassle with coding, but in graphic design it’s possible to deliberately make the layout look stylish, so the advantage is that there are fewer things to worry about when it comes to design.
Also, since there are no restrictions on font type or size, you can freely use any font you want. As such, it is not possible to achieve the same movement as in web design, but there are some things that cannot be expressed without using the unique features of printing, so it has a different appeal from web design.
8. Differences after design is complete
I’ve explained various differences so far, but perhaps the biggest difference is the process that takes place after the design is completed.
Web Designer
Once the web design is complete, we begin the coding process. Coding allows you to view websites and press buttons. In other words, even after the design is complete, there are still further steps to take before it can actually reach the user.
In addition, since websites are updated regularly with information such as dates and times, corrections will be made later when new items are added.
A design created by someone else may later be revised by another person, so the created data needs to be organized so that it is easy to see what revisions need to be made .
Graphic Designer
On the other hand, once a graphic designer has completed their work, all they have to do is print it and that’s it. It will be delivered to the user as is.
With web design, if a mistake is found or changes are needed, it is possible to correct them later, but since graphic design is printed, it is difficult to make corrections.
Since corrections cannot be made later, checking for typos before submission needs to be done more carefully than with web design.
9. Differences in delivery procedures
Once the work is completed, we will let you know the differences in delivery.
Web Designer
Once the design is complete, we will check it to make sure there are no problems with it. If you are doing the coding yourself, you will need to code as is and then get the client to check it again.
On the other hand, if you hire someone else to code it, make sure you review the finished product yourself before submitting it to your client.
If there’s something wrong, you’ll need a coder to fix it. Make sure both the design and coding are complete before you hand it over to the client.
Graphic Designer
Once your design is complete, please outline the text regardless of delivery method.
Outlining: Converting text into shape information so that the font does not change when printed.
If you don’t outline your design, there’s a chance that the font you used when designing your document will not be printed in the exact font you created if the printing shop does not have it. Once you have outlined it, print it out and have your client check the design, colors, etc.
Once the client has checked it and given you the OK, delivery is complete. You may be asked to make corrections, so in that case, make the corrections before submitting it.
I hope you like it.