Graphic Design for Web Applications: What You Need to Know

As a graphic designer, you’re used to working with images and turning abstract concepts into concrete visions. To get the top salaries and jobs in 2019, though, you need to take your skills to the Internet. Making the move to graphic design for web applications is one of the best moves you can make as a graphic designer. To make a smooth and successful transition, you need to know what to expect.

Our article is here to guide you into the world of web-based graphic design and show you the top things that set web graphic design apart from more traditional design fields. You’ll find out how digital graphic design forces you to adjust your mode of thinking, and we also give you a look at the different business approaches and support models that digital designers adopt as part of the realities of working with living and growing sites and apps. With our help, your shift into the digital world will be a painless one.

Web Designers Have to Consider Digital Requirements and Limitations

As a graphic designer working in more traditional media, you don’t need to think much about your materials and the space in which you work. As long as you have enough drawing material and space to work, you’re all set. Web graphic designers don’t have it so simple, unfortunately. As a web designer, you have to always be aware of your medium and avoid pitfalls that can bring your work to a screeching halt.

For starters, you need to keep load times and files sizes in mind at all times when you work in digital design. One of the worst things you can have happen as a web designer is to produce a beautiful and well-designed image or animation that is too large and bloated for your app. Scale is much more important to web graphic design than it is to traditional design—web designers need to consider how their images will look on massive screens, and that includes the typography and layout.

Digital Design Is Forever

Unlike your pencil-and-paper graphic designers, digital graphic designers have to be ready for a long-term investment in their product. Traditional graphic design is a fire-and-forget kind of discipline: once the client accepts the product, you’re done and can move on to the next gig. That isn’t the case with web graphic design. Thanks to the persistent and evolving nature of most websites and applications, you’ll have to support your creation for a long time.

It all comes down to the difference in intent. Many physical graphic design products have a limited lifespan dictated by wear, tear, and time. But companies don’t discard websites or apps when they get a little age on them; they make incremental changes, but they usually retain most of the overall aesthetic. You’ll probably support some of your web designs for years after their initial creations. Be prepared to stand by your products for the long haul.

And there you go, happy little readers. Making the change from traditional graphic design to digital design is a fantastic way to boost your career and make great money. To make a successful transition, though, you need to know how to adjust your thinking and start working like a web designer.