Switching From Graphic Designer to UXUI Designer: The Short Guide to Career Change
My background was in graphic design and I spent 5 months preparing for a job as a UX/UI designer. This includes learning new skills that were required for the role and preparing a design portfolio and a medium blog to demonstrate my writing and thinking skills.
Now, I would have assumed that I will make a pretty good candidate for a UX design role. It turns out that it wasn’t sufficient for the jobs that I applied for. Potential employers are quick to label me as a UI designer as I was clearly a newcomer in UX design.
According to PayScale, the average salary for a graphic designer in the US is $42,000, while an average UX designer receives $74,000!
Many of us think that before if you were a designer, that meant you could do it all, now it’s just not that easy.
UX designers are in high demand
From mobile gadgets to smart appliances, plugins, dongles, and paraphernalia, tech has become an essential part of our lives. With these, comes the need for UX and UI design. Interfaces may be found on almost every gadget and appliance; to display the time and music selection on smartwatches, or to display the ingredients that can be found in a smart refrigerator. The design of interfaces has become a specialized design discipline in recent years.
With the rise in tech, UX/UI Design is in high demand. Many graphic designers are willing to make the switch to UX design roles.
As UX design is closely related to business strategies, companies prefer to keep the UX design job within the organisation rather than outsourcing them.
Wish I could know all this before I switched from Graphic Designer to UX/UI designer.
1. Understand the Difference
A graphic designer develops the overall layout and production design for various applications such as advertisements, brochures, magazines, and corporate reports.
A UX designer is concerned with the entire process of acquiring and integrating a product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and functionality.
2. Graphic Designer vs UX Designer
Graphic Designers are Pixel-Focused
A graphic designer’s primary goal is to create great aesthetics.
UX Designers are User-Focused
Ux designer’s main goal is to solve the end-user’s problems and provide a delightful experience.
3. Advantages of being a UX designer
Aesthetics: The biggest benefit for graphic designers moving to UX design is that they can make things attractive.
Emotions: Both graphic designers and UX designers try to create an emotional connection to the users
Design skills: A lot of design principles used in graphic design can be used on UX, even the same software.
Problem-solving: Graphic designers and UX designers are equally skilled at creative thinking and solving problems through design.
4. Understanding UX Design
(UXD UED XD) is the process of enhancing user satisfaction with a product by improving the usability, accessibility, and desirability provided in the interaction with a product for brand experience.
5. Understand the UX Design workflow
A UX Design workflow process typically follows something similar to a design thinking approach, which consists of five basic phases:
6. Common Mistakes
1 — Usually designers who make the switch tend to pursue pixel perfection in their designs, however, UX Design is primarily focused on users.
2 — Graphic designers tend to back up via visuals, but in UX every element must have a purpose, and that purpose must be backed up with research.
3 — Architecture Matters. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is if people don’t like using the product. We call this Bad User Experience.
7. How to get started
- Stay up-to-date with the latest trends.
- Challenge yourself to redesign interfaces, be part of Daily Challenges.
- Build up a rich mental library to draw upon, filled with materials to borrow, to remix and adapt, and to be inspired by.
- Practice, Practice, Practice & Practice again.
