How to hire for a Visual Designer?
Summary:
A visual designer designs for a variety of platforms, which may include Internet and intranet sites, games, movies, kiosks and wearables. In short, they create the concepts, artwork and layouts for digital projects based on creative briefs and client meetings. Visual designer duties are often industry- or project-specific, therefore job descriptions frequently call for knowledge of a business sector. Individual companies may also prefer for candidates to have B?to?B, B?to?C or marketing expertise in a certain area.
Standard Job Description:
Visual Designer use software to create animations and special effects. They typically work on movies, television shows, or video games. This position is usually offered full time, but part-time positions are also available. Since they use computer software, Visual Designer work in an office environment, but they may also work at filming locations to help shoot scenes, and they may have to travel frequently for the job. To ensure maximum visual quality, they work closely with engineering and design teams. This career is well-suited to those who have a knack for visual designs.
Visual design encompasses multiple disciplines and is employed on a wide range of projects. Visual designers must possess in-depth knowledge of typography, iconography, color, space, and texture. All pieces of this jigsaw puzzle must fall into place to create a compelling visual experience.
Visual designers create branding projects from the ground up, develop campaigns, lead a team of designers, provide quality art and creative direction, and design apps, websites, and onsite digital experiences.
Visual designers create visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. They combine art and technology to communicate ideas through images and the layout of websites and printed pages. They may use a variety of design elements to achieve artistic or decorative effects.
Visual design is important to market and sell products, and it is a critical component of brochures and logos. Therefore, graphic designers
often work closely with people in advertising and promotions, public relations, and marketing.
Frequently, designers specialize in a category or type of client. For example, some designers create the graphics used on product
packaging, and others may work on the visual designs used on book jackets.
Visual designers need to keep up to date with software and computer technologies in order to remain competitive. Some individuals with a
background in visual design become postsecondary teachers and teach in design schools, colleges, and universities.
Some visual designers specialize in experiential graphic design. These designers work with architects, industrial designers, landscape architects, and interior designers to create interactive design environments, such as museum exhibitions, public arts exhibits, and retail spaces.
Key Job Responsibilities:
1. Illustrating concepts by designing examples of art arrangement, size, type size and style and submitting them for approval.
2. Design web pages, brochures, company logos, product illustrations signs, books, magazine covers, annual reports, advertisements,
and other communication materials.
3. Create these materials by hand or by using technology, including computer software programs. Adobe’s Creative Suite—including
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and more—is the standard in the industry and most employers expect designers to be proficient with its programs.
4. Meet with clients to gain an understanding of what they want their proposed communications to look like. Create or incorporate illustrations, pictures, and designs to reflect the desired theme and tone of the communications.
5. Produce drafts for review by clients and make revisions based on the feedback received.
6. Review final productions for errors and ensure that final prints reflect client specifications.
7. Coordinating with outside agencies, art services, web designer, marketing, printers, and colleagues as necessary.
Ideal Candidate:
1. Proficiency with required desktop publishing tools, including Photoshop, InDesign Quark, and Illustrator.
2. Understanding of marketing, production, website design, corporate identity, product packaging, advertisements, and multimedia design.
3. Intermediate/high proficiency in design principles like typography, composition, scale, color theory and an advance knowledge of how those principles work together.
4. Expert understanding of graphic design and manipulation of graphic design elements.
5. Skilled at UI animation to create visual prototypes or help communicate ideas, solutions and micro interactions
Desired Education:
Bachelor’s degree in graphic design or related field.
Certifications Associated:
1. Adobe Certified Associate
2. Adobe Certified Expert
Key Skills:
Website design, mobile app design, user interface designing, posters, logo design, power point presentation, graphic designing, photoshop, UX,
Visualizer, Display Advertising, Social Media, Design Conceptualization, Theme Design, UI Designer, Wireframing, zeplin, Adobe Xd, Sketch, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Dreamweaver.
Common Positions:
1. Brand identity Developer
2. Broadcast Designers
3. Logo Designer
4. Multimedia Developer
5. Layout artist
6. Package Designer
Screening Questions/Assessment Parameters:
1. Experience with computer-aided design.
2. Types of projects done before.
3. Understanding for cross platform design guidelines
4. Knowledge of web architecture, usability, UX and UI Design beneficial
5. Experience in creating VFX-based video campaigns.
Basic Terminologies:
1. Aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is most easily explained as the ratio of the width to the height of a rectangle—which usually, in design terms, is a picture or a screen.
2. Brand Identity. The visual version of a brand. The brand identity is made up of everything that relates to the brand—logos, typefaces, color palettes, slogans, tone of voice, website, packaging and other marketing material.
3. Compression. Reducing a file size by eliminating excess data. Particularly helpful when emailing or saving large image files.
4. Embossing & Debossing. Embossing and its counterpart debossing are finishing processes that involve creating dimensional relief images into a piece of paper or card.
5. Foiling. A process also known as foil stamping, foiling is a type of printing where metallic or pigmented foil is applied to a surface through the application of heat and a die. A relatively uncomplicated process, foiling can add extra dimensions to a design especially packaging.
6. Palette. A palette is the color scheme that is chosen for a specific design or brand—making up part of a brand’s style guide.
7. Pantone (PMS). The Pantone Matching System is a standardized color scheme used for printing, in addition to graphic design, it is used in several other industries including product and fashion design and manufacturing.
8. Pilcrow. A pilcrow is the name of the symbol, this one ¶, used to mark the beginning of a new paragraph or section of text.
9. Pixel. A pixel is the smallest basic unit of programmable color on a computer and all digital images are made up of a large number of individual pixels.
10. PPI / DPI. The two measurements used to measure the resolution (see below). PPI stands for pixels per inch whilst DPI stands for dots per inch—they refer to the number of pixels or dots, respectively, that can be placed in a line across one linear inch. PPI is used to describe the resolution of a digital image and DPI is used to describe the amount of ink dots per inch in a printed image. PPI can also affect the print size and
quality of a design, but DPI has no effect on a digital design.
Industry Jargons:
1. Resolution. The term resolution refers to the number of units, measured in either DPI or PPI, that occupy a linear inch an image, both on screen and in print.
2. Sans Serif. Sans is French for ‘without’ so you can probably guess that San Serif Fonts are fonts without serifs on the end of their letters. Usually, sans serif fonts are easier to read on the web and digital screens.
3. Saturation. Saturation is the intensity and brilliance of a color.
4. Serif. A serif is the small line that appears on the end of a letter in some typefaces—these typefaces are known as Serif Fonts. Serif fonts are easier to read in printed designs as the serifs make letters more distinctive and their shape makes even letter easier to recognize. Famous examples of serif fonts include Baskerville, Times New Roman and Garamond.
5. Skeuomorphism. Skeuomorphism is when something, most usually a digital element, is designed to look like a physical replica of that thing, while not behaving in the same way or necessarily having the same function.
6. Stem. A vertical stroke in a letterform. Can be found in both lowercase and uppercase letters.
7. Swash. Addition of a decorative stroke in typography.
8. Thumbnail. A thumbnail is a small, rough sketches of how a designer wants their design to look—they can be used to help decide upon a layout or how a design will come together.
9. Typography. The term typography refers to two things. Firstly, the style and appearance of printed words. Secondly and more importantly, it refers to the art and procedure of arranging type to make it readable, legible, attractive and engaging in print or digital designs.
10. Vector. A vector is a graphic image that is made with mathematical equations—they’re defined in terms of 2D points connected by lines and curves to form shapes.
Benchmark Profile:
Benchmark Profile on LinkedIn (1)
Benchmark Profile on LinkedIn (2)
Benchmark Profile on LinkedIn (3)
References:
https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/hot-job-visual-designer
https://www.toptal.com/designers/visual/job-description
https://www.truity.com/career-profile/graphic-designer
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/graphic-designer-job-description-and-salary-information-2061790
https://www.betterteam.com/graphic-designer-job-description
https://www.shillingtoneducation.com/blog/graphic-design-terms/ https://www.jobhero.com/vfx-artist-job-description/#:~:text=VFX%20artists%20create%20realistic%20visual,sprites%2C%20materials%2C%20and%20more.&text=VFX%20artists%20operate%20cameras%2C%20work,shoot%20videos%20and%20record%20audio.&text=Working%20within%20a%20team%2C%20VFX,leads%20to%20create%20visual%20assets.