Do You Have To Be Able To Draw To Be A Graphic Designer

illustration of a up-close pencil

So, you lot want to be a graphic designer. You have an eye for detail, you love working with both engineering and people and yous're excited by the thought of communicating visual letters to a large audience.

The only problem? You're not exactly an expert drawer. The skillful news is you're not alone! And you certainly don't have to lay bated your career goals just considering you're not the next da Vinci.

In fact, cartoon skills generally aren't even a requirement in virtually graphic design job descriptions. In an analysis of more 46,000 graphic blueprint job postings, viii of the summit 10 skills in highest demand are associated with design software.* You'll be even more than relieved to know that cartoon isn't even listed in the top 25.

So you tin take a deep breath, because the graphic design professionals we spoke with agree that a lack of cartoon skill definitely isn't a deal-breaker. There are plenty of other skills y'all can wield to thrive in the industry. Keep reading to learn their advice for overcoming your concern.

v pieces of advice for designers without drawing skills

1. Leverage engineering science

Where pen and newspaper neglect you, a reckoner or tablet may be your saviors. Chelsey Moter, a digital analyst for seoWorks, has a degree in graphic design but "simply tin't draw." She says that in her feel, composing skillful art has petty to do with cartoon. You can utilise your creative vision merely as successfully with design software.

"I way to create good art without cartoon is by finding or taking an epitome, importing into Adobe Illustrator, making it a template, adding a new layer and creating outlines with the pen tool," Moter explains. "This is a good way to class the shape of something that you desire to create."

She adds that you can as well use engineering science to castor upwards on your drawing skills. There are several drawing programs and products available to assist you lot go a better drawer. She recommends Bamboo, a tablet that connects to your figurer and integrates with Photoshop or Illustrator.

2. Use good advice skills

Are you an expert communicator? You're in luck, according to Darlene Susco, a designer and founder of iDsusco. She believes the ability to effectively communicate a bulletin to your audience is more important than drawing.

"Graphic design is well-nigh communication, not drawing."

"Graphic design is about communication, not drawing. It is the means to create an emotional connexion to a bulletin and arm-twist the desired action from the reader," Susco says. "The designer's task is to identify and be able to articulate the signal of a message, the essence of a brand and how they are advanced by the idea you are presenting."

Alvaro Moran, artistic director of Boatsetter, agrees with Susco. He says aesthetics is a secondary priority. "Clearly communicating the message to the audience ever trumps the dazzler of the design," he adds.

3. Larn the nuts of pattern

Unlike cartoon, many of the skills yous will demand to thrive in a graphic pattern career can exist taught, according to Kandra Churchwell, a designer at Phases Design Studio.

"While you don't accept to be a Picasso or Monet, you exercise need to empathise the basics of pattern, all of which can be learned," Churchwell explains. "Graphic design differs from fine fine art when y'all consider the technical cognition that a graphic designer needs."

To excel as a graphic designer, you lot demand to chief everything from how to operate design software, color theory, typography, limerick, user experience (UX), the psychology backside marketing and and so much more than. These fundamentals of design are things you'll acquire in most graphic design programs.

4. Practice simple sketching

Graphic design may not require professional drawing skills or a art background, but UX designer Isaac Hammelburger says uncomplicated sketching tin can get the job done.

"I tin't draw and it used to exist a real hindrance until I discovered the art of simple sketching," Hammelburger says. "With unproblematic sketching, the bespeak is to recollect about the message y'all're trying to drive so describe simple figures to showcase it."

Beak Sattelmeyer, Rasmussen College Schoolhouse of Blueprint dean, supports this claim. "Do designers have to be bully artists? Absolutely not," he says. "Essentially, all a designer needs to know is how to sketch out basic pattern content."

5. Discover your niche in a more technical field

"...y'all can observe success regardless of their drawing talent."

Luckily, design is a growing industry. If you're non interested in drawing, Erin Morris, founder of Evergreen Blueprint Studio, suggests seeking out a specialized role in a more technical field. Yous may not realize how many unique types of graphic pattern jobs are really out there.

"Graphic pattern has become such a wide field encompassing roles ranging from the technical and analytical to the visual and illustrative," Morris explains. "If you lot're not good at drawing and don't aspire to be, yous can focus on the more technical fields like user interface design and UX design."

Put your worries aside

Y'all tin can no longer employ your artistic abilities (or lack at that place of) every bit an excuse for not pursuing a profession in graphic pattern. Sattelmeyer encourages aspiring designers to pursue their dreams regardless of their drawing talent.

"There's no demand to worry over having to become an accomplished illustrator," he says. "As long as you tin get the point of your designs beyond to your clients, you can discover success despite what you recall of your cartoon talent."

Are you lot ready to overcome your fears and become started on your career path? Become some insiders' insight on what to look in our commodity: What I Wish Someone Told Me Before Becoming a Graphic Designer.

RELATED Articles:

7 Things Self-Taught Designers Don't Know They're Missing
What Tin can You Do With a Graphic Design Degree?
Is a Graphic Pattern Degree Worth information technology or Worthless?

*Called-for-Glass.com (assay of 46,387 graphic design job postings, Nov 01, 2016 - October 31, 2016).
EDITOR'S Notation: This article was originally published in January 2014. Information technology has since been updated to include data relevant to 2016.