Graphics vs UI / UX or Web Design Functions 2020

Today I want to talk about the difference between traditional graphic design and all these technical terms for a design we have today UI design UX design.

I will briefly go over what they are and also how the companies tend to be run and what you can expect in either type of job. So we’ll start with the easy one graphic design so this is your traditional graphic design that you probably studied in school or are studying or are going to study it is an excellent foundation for any design career that has anything to do with graphics so graphic design is going to help you in mostly you will learn things like how to design logos wayfinding typography colors grid systems.

Anyway first you have UI design which is user interface design and what that means is basically you are designing the top layer of either the website or the app or a piece of software you are deciding,  what the colors are what the fonts are how much space goes between each little.

Anyway first you have UI design which is user interface design and what that means is basically you are designing the top layer of either the website or the app or a piece of software you are deciding,  what the colors are what the fonts are how much space goes between each little.

Now, what’s beneath that’s the UX design user experience design is everything else that goes into the structure so think of it as the blueprint for the design to layout the way the user will go and use the app and accomplish the tasks that you’re setting out for them to accomplish all those decisions and the hierarchy of information what content is under which section in the website, for example,

All those things are considered in user experience design often user experience design, and user interface design and work pretty closely together and in some cases can even be the same job role so in my case.

I’ve been doing UI and UX for a company and I’m able to sort of have my hands in both parts the planning and the testing and the organization, as well as actual visual interface on top of that there’s also product design visual design all kinds of other terms you can design for AR VR that’s augmented reality virtual reality all the other realities that are coming out but basically be whole tech software kind of world.

So you’ll most likely be working on behalf of the company so if the company is Snapchat and you’re designing for Snapchat you’re not designing for a specific client you are designing Snapchat the project management style is also really different so whereas in traditional graphic design you have all the requirements upfront it gets handed off you do the work and send it back.

That’s it in technology it’s more iterative and you may hear something called agile development or agile methodology and what that means is that you take little pieces of the project come up with ideas and solutions rapidly prototype something out that’s usable and workable test it see if it works does it meet the goal we wanted it to meet if it does great move on if not we keep testing and keep refining until we have something that works so instead of this big mountain of work handed to you.

You are working on smaller pieces at a time making changes on the go because technology move so fast and requirements change all the time and your users will tell you things you didn’t even think about when you go in and test with them that style allows you to continually make the product better.

If you want to work in tech it’s helpful to have at least basic coding knowledge, especially for designers to know how something is going to be built by developers so you don’t design something that’s not actually possible through the technologies that we have today and having that user experience knowledge.

Expect what’s going to meet them exactly where they’re at how are you going to meet their need before they realize they have that need so all these things are going to be really important when it comes to design for tech now in traditional design.

You may have a more specific role like a graphic designer but in technology, it’s a little bit more loosey-goosey because we have all these terms and they often overlap and they’re all basically parts of user experience you may find that your job title isn’t quite as defined. which is kind of nice which that could be kind of nice another thing I want to touch on is the speed at which a traditional graphic design and design and tech go technology is constantly changing every year.

There are new development languages coming out new tools coming out new design methodologies and systems it’s like you’re always learning something new and if you are someone who likes that it needs to keep learning and growing and trying new things and even trying new project types altogether.

As new thing come out technology is definitely for you but if you’re more interested in getting deep into design and pushing how far you can go with a design in one specific medium that doesn’t change a whole lot totally go with traditional graphic design I would say the biggest difference between traditional design and designing in tech is that graphic design is more focused on the visual appeal you know screaming from the mountaintops you want everybody to see this to love what it looks like.

whereas in technology it’s really not so much about the visual appeal as it is usefulness and being functional interestingly enough for example,  if you’re using an app the best design for that app, you wouldn’t even know it was there it’s almost like it’s invisible when the design is Oh usable and so intuitive that the average user does not even realize it has been designed to perfection that is good design according to tech

So you’re really not going for that high visual appeal you are going for usefulness you are going for does it get the user to do what I want them to do without them having to think and that is HUGE don’t make me think you may hear that quote so if you love design and pushing the limits of design as far as visuals go and you’re very into the aesthetics side of it graphic design is totally something you should do if you are very curious like I am about how to make design seem seamless and like it’s almost not even there because it’s so perfectly done to where it’s just usable and it feels natural then go more into you in the tech space I know when I was first getting into technology.