Graphic design is either a dying industry or an ever-evolving art form. As with most things in life, the power is in the eye of the beholder. The graphic designer holds the power to sway the opinion of either side of the argument.
What type of graphic designer or marketing agency are you? The type that will stick to traditional design or the type to experiment and grow your designs to offer your clients the best possible solution. Because at the end of the day, a design is a problem that needs to be resolved visually.
It goes without saying that technological advances and the creative sphere never take on a stagnant form, it is inevitable for graphic design to change as we advance. There is, however, one rule that will always stay the same. Be a traditional designer in this way. Never show your ugliest design to your client, they will ALWAYS choose that design. ALWAYS.
With this ever-evolving artform there are a few experimental trends for us to explore:
3D Characters
3D design has become a highly popular trend resulting in us being more accustomed to seeing it on a daily basis on screen & on printed items. These 3D characters are something consumers can connect with as they are created to evoke emotions with expressive styles.
You can now create state-of-the-art 3D with Adobe Substance 3 giving your clients a real feel of the end product. But if you’d like to really explore the software, here’s a video on what it can create:
Mixed 3D and 2D Elements
Alongside 3D characters, we are used to seeing the combination of 3D in 2D elements in a graphic design. The visual contrast is unique and really eye-catching.
Above is an example from Sally Yang, you can see the result that software such as Adobe 3D Substance can render a unique final product for your client. You can also render some of these elements in photoshop or Illustrator. Here is a simple but effective video on how to create 3d visuals from 2D elements in Photoshop:
Holographic Design
Have you ever seen a hologram concert where a singer appears on stage but they aren’t actually there? This trend has been up and rising for a while now and it has influenced graphic design as well. Characterised by neon colours and translucent imagery – It is another distinctive style that one can easily recreate.
Inclusive Visuals
Albeit, not technically a technique that has advanced but rather the evolution of the human mind and advertising. Inclusive visuals are becoming a must for any business in 2022. Always try to include two genders or multiple races in your advertising materials. If you really need a reason as to why, here are a few to push you onto the “inclusive” train from Impactplus:
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• 59% of consumers are more trusting of brands they are represented in their ads.
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• Studies have shown that more inclusive ads have seen 23% more “purchase intent” from Gen Z consumers.
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• Brands with the highest diversity scores see an 83% higher consumer preference.
BUT WHY SHOULD I USE A GRAPHIC DESIGNER
90% of information relayed in the human brain is processed visually. Communicating your brand with strong visuals will help your customers to easily process any information you are communicating to them. 65% of the population are known as ‘visual learners’, investing in a visual approach to create a persona for your business is not only worth it but a must with that statistic in mind. Using visuals instead of text will increase the speed of absorption of your communications thus resulting in reaching more prospective clients..
In short, a designer is there because
- • First Impressions are Important
- • Consistency Converts into Reliability
- • Efficient Visual Communication incorporating hierarchy reaches more people
- • Creativity Wipes out Competition
- • Increased visibility = Higher conversions
THE PRINTULU DESIGN SERVICE
We offer an in-house 3-day design service, what this means is that we create your artwork within three days of your payment. Granted the brief must be filled in and the visual elements you require in your artwork have been sent to us.
The most important requirement of our design service is that our clients are specific about what they want to see, it really helps if you get an idea of what you want on google to speed the process along.
Once your brief has been filled in, you will be contacted by our senior designer.
Jeanne has over ten years of experience in the design, production & marketing industry and never backs down from a design challenge. You are always welcome to direct artwork queries to her via support@printulu.co.za.
It is important to add the design days into your delivery dates, the dates calculator doesn’t add it in as well.
THE PRINTULU DO-IT-YOURSELF PLATFORM
Canva via Printformer
Step 1: File setup
Create a design button > Custom Size > Enter the ordered size of the product > Design your product.
Step 2: Save with Bleed
- Select Share (Top Right)
- File Type PDF Print
- Add Crop Marks & Bleed
- Save as High-quality PNG / JPEG
- Select Download
Step 3: Convert to CMYK online
Unfortunately, Canva is a digital design studio which means it works in RGB colour mode. You will now need to convert your artwork to CMYK before uploading it to your printulu order. You can upload your artwork here and follow the onscreen prompts to convert your artwork to CMYK.
Once your design is completed and approved by your client, you can select your products via your printulu account. Follow these steps to complete the process.
1: Select the “Design artwork & Add to Card”
2: Click on “Add Image” on the top bar
3: Choose your images on your computer
4: Once they have loaded, drag the jpegs into the grey border (The grey border is you bleed. It will not print, but we do require it.)
5: Select “Go to Preview” in the top right corner
6: If you are happy with your preview select “Done”
