The Graphic Design Hound

Graphic arts, a term traditionally applied  to the art of drawing and printmaking.

Graphic art, as a trade, traces back to the first instances of a stamped image or word during the Tang dynasty. In modern usage it refers to the applied skills of a typesetter, graphic designer, or pressman.

Today, receiving art instruction and a degree in graphic design is a requirement to become a graphic artist.

Usually, graphic art is the produce of a design on materials such as paper, cloth, wood, metals, and plastics etc. The production is completed with the help of mediums like rubber, Plexiglas, or printing machines, in order to transfer the images and/or make an impression/print.

More recently, graphic art referred to the advent of 2D, computer-generated images. These images quite frequently contain text as a caption along with other drawings. In fact, the “computer age” has made things like offset lithography, and serigraphy (screen printing) easier due to the ability to correcting mistakes on the fly.

Where do illustrators commonly apply graphic art?

Graphic art is commonly used in marketing (advertisement)–just take a look at all the ads on TV, billboards, magazines, and even newspapers. It is mainly used to excite or intrigue people and to help produce sales of a product or service.

Additionally, there are many career titles associated with graphic arts.

Ten Things You Can Do With a Degree in Graphic Design

• children’s book publishers and/or illustrators
• director (radio, motion picture, state, and television )
• graphic designer
• visual artist
• animator
• art director
• cartoonist
• comic book artist
• picture book illustrator
• online producer

Besides having an outlet for your creativity, graphic art is also a good paying niche with plenty of career choices.

With all that being said, I think the following quote sums up the idea of graphic arts quite nicely:

“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.” -Steuart H. Britt

More articles:

• Art Instruction – An Illustrative Design Software
• Illustrators – Caution: Creative Minds Inside
• What Children’s Book Publishers Look For in Manuscripts
• The Picture Book – A Designer’s Portal to Creativity
• Earning a Degree in Graphic Design