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I'm brand-new to graphic design and this website; I hear graphic design is a nice field for those who want to be creative, but want to get some good freelance experience before I would go for a GD degree (I'm currently going for my Associate's in Computer Science). I've heard of an app called "Canva" where you can create PNGs, JPGs, etc. for social media. I've already created some flyers with this app, but I'm not sure if this is TRUE graphic design. So is it?

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  • Don't go for a design degree... Use online courses and when you feel comfortable enough with the needed software, go for an internship or traineeship at a company.
    – Summer
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 16:06
  • @JaneDoe1337 why would you say that?
    – Ryan
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 16:08
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    Try to be an engineer and "not get an engineering degree, just do online courses" and see if you can land a job in the field. A degree would give you a lot of background and the basis for why things work, not just the final how to do this in Photoshop. It's more useful than you think.
    – Luciano
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 16:28
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    I've been working as a designer for nearly 24 years, but there are plenty of agencies who wouldn't even consider me for a creative role on the basis that my degree is not in graphic design. If you're serious about a long term career in graphic design then a degree is still the best start, assuming you can afford to do it.
    – Westside
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 18:00
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    @Westside Also a degree can help you get jumpstarted in craeating a portfolio having contacts in industry and so on. Its also much harder to get into the field today.
    – joojaa
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 6:49

3 Answers 3

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This question is rather opinion based, but here's mine...

If you're making decisions about how something looks (images, text size, colour, etc, etc) then you are designing it. So using template based systems like this is definitely a form of design.

It could (and may well) be argued that this is a fairly light form of design because you are being guided and hinted towards something that looks pretty good while avoiding the potentially poor results that can come from having total freedom to make terrible mistakes. Also, you are being given a head start by not starting with a blank canvas, which is scary. However, if you are just getting started with graphic design then this is exactly what you want IMO.

You'll know when you are ready to graduate onto more 'proper' design methods and software when you start to feel constrained and frustrated by the limitations inherent in the template based systems. That's when it's time to learn Illustrator or Photoshop (or similar) and start pushing envelopes and making mistakes.

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I have never used that App. In fact It is very unlikely I'll ever use a phone or tablet to make "Graphic Design".

But also, doing something in Photoshop, Illustrator or Corel does not mean the resulting work it is Graphic Design.

Deliver something in PNG or JPG does not mean is designed at all. Graphic Design is a process of visual comunication, not a file.

On the other hand, Graphic design has being done since long before computers were invented.

Edited:

Ok, I looked for the App.

It is a template system. Is like having pre made food for the microwave.

Does using that turns you into a Graphic Designer? Does the microwave food makes you a Cheff? No.

Does the App and the microwave free us from an ugly and tasteless world? It helps.

The point here is:

want to get some good freelance experience before I would go for a GD degree

Do you want to consider you a Cheff heating pre made food in a microwave? It could be a business. Some Franchises do that. But do you want to learn how to design, well...

Is this TRUE graphic design?

Yea, in a sense. But not made by the user, but the people that are designing the system, the templates, the photos, the fonts.

The final user is doing a bit, making some last step decisions, adding cheddar cheese or not. But somehow people always find ways burn boiled water. So read the first version of my answer. Xo)

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  • I followed you up until the last No. And now im confused as to what you answered.
    – joojaa
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 7:28
  • Ok, I edited it a bit.
    – Rafael
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 8:22
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and answer this question perhaps a little unconventionally: Graphic design is not a product, but a process. It is not the end result or the aesthetic quality of the graphics you produce, but, rather, the learned cognitive, spatial, numerical and typographical choices the designer makes. Typically, in the world of graphic design as a profession, that process involves five broad steps:

  1. The design brief
  2. Research and brainstorming
  3. Sketching/Prototyping
  4. Rendering in graphics editor
  5. Packaging/presentation

Canva is not conducive to any of the above steps of the graphic design process, except, perhaps, as a rapid prototyping tool (#3). So, based upon that analysis, I would contend that, no, Canva is not graphic design. Perhaps a better term might be digital illlustration.

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