How to prepare for you new hire
Design is an incredibly emotive tool, and graphic designers hold the literal paintbrush when they choose how and why a consumer will respond to their work. Of course, this skill set isn’t one that can be leveraged with any run of the mill hardware. If you have made the exciting decision to hire a graphic designer for your workforce, then you need to be prepared to invest in the right programs and tools to get the best quality of work from your talented designers. Let’s take a look at what those purchases will be.
A high-performing printer
Any designer will tell you that a premium printer with Epson inks will best portray the quality of a designers work. If you have survived on an average printer until this point, this will not be best practice with a graphic designer on hand. A modern printer can produce A3 works, print remotely, and to a stock and color quality that is superior to what you may believe a printer is capable of. This is also a cost-saving exercise, as you and your team will not have to rely on third-party printing services which can be wildly expensive and often the only alternative to your own premium printing units. Don’t overlook the benefit of a great printer, and start the hunt for the printing unit that will be best for your team.
Photoshop and Illustrator
You don’t even have to know a thing about graphic design to know that Photoshop and Illustrator are the vehicles used to create those memorable artworks. Photoshop is a photo editing program that allows you to crop, correct and color images, to be used for a number of purposes internal and external within a business. Photoshop is one of the better-known programs in the Abode suite and is available to businesses under a subscription payment arrangement. Illustrator is the other well known Adobe products and allows designers to illustrate free-form in the program. Illustrator is where shapes, drawings and text can be created and manipulated. This program is best used with some accessories, such as the Apple Pencil. Like many professions, graphic designers need more than one software to do a great job, but these two are the ones to get started with.
Drawing tablets
Drawing tablets are another great tool for designers. Some would argue that all graphic designers are not artists, but there is always a use for a drawing tablet to conceptualize an idea, correct a curve or even just mood board a potential body of work. Especially if you and your greater workforce are not familiar with the aforementioned Adobe programs, the drawing tablet might be a great way for your new designers to show a clean concept in a ‘page’ rather than a Photoshop file that could bamboozle those who are unfamiliar with the program.
Design magazine subscriptions
An artist needs constant inspiration so that they can continue to develop their craft and keep their eye on industry trends and new styles hitting the market. There are a number of global design magazines you can subscribe to, which will get the best from your team but also show them that you respect their craft. If you don’t want to commit to anything upfront, you can always give your creative team an allowance each year to invest in further education and resources.
There you have it, a guide of what to buy for the arrival of your new graphic designer. Bringing this talent in-house will save an infinite amount of money, so don’t be afraid to spend money now to get them started on the right foot.
Leave a Reply