Should You Hire a Digital Designer or a Graphic Designer?

Is a digital designer the same as a graphic designer? The answer is often yes in marketing, but if we were to get technical, there are distinct differences between the two professions.

What is a digital designer?

A digital designer specializes in creating visual content for online platforms, including website design (UI/UX), mobile app interfaces, social media graphics, digital advertisements, etc.

What is a graphic designer?

A graphic designer is more concerned with following the principles of design and effectively communicating your brand's message, rather than focusing solely on the functionality of design within a digital platform, such as a website. To understand what a graphic designer does, you need a solid grasp of what graphic design is. Here’s our definition:

Think of brand collateral, such as business cards, letterhead, mailers, etc. These are all tangible, visual pieces that require professional styling and design to be consistent, legible, and eye-catching. As digital graphic design continues to permeate every aspect of our visual landscape, the distinction between these two practices is becoming less clear.

Pro Tip: Graphic design is visual content that conveys a message. This messaging can be tied to your brand, an artistic expression, or a promotional event. It’s the text and graphics that you apply to various touch points.

In this article, we'll delve into the similarities and differences between the two, highlighting the necessity for digital designers to acquire and implement the skill set of traditional designers to truly elevate a brand.

Digital Design vs. Graphic Design

Remember, the goal of graphic design, whether digital or traditional, is to effectively convey a message or idea through visual means. So, it's no surprise that both share the same fundamentals: composition, color theory, and typography.

A digital designer works to ensure that your digital assets are optimized for user interaction and conversion. They understand the guidelines of user experience (UX) design and can help create intuitive interfaces and engaging visuals that support your business objectives. However, if they have not been taught proper graphic design rules, they will fail to produce anything of value.

The Reason?

Graphic design is the foundation for all design elements, from letter spacing and font families to color contrast. Let's look closer at letter spacing, also known as kerning. Although it may seem like a minor detail, proper kerning significantly impacts legibility in both print and online designs.

As a general rule, larger letters require tighter spacing, whereas smaller letters benefit from wider spacing. Neglecting or improperly executing this design principle can result in a disjointed overall design, ultimately detracting from the intended message.

While graphic design is not synonymous with website or digital design, it is a cornerstone for creating effective websites. If you don’t know the rules of graphic design, you can’t design a website…or maybe a better way to say this is you can’t design one well.

Think about it this way: all graphic designers can be digital designers, but not all digital designers can be graphic designers. Remember, graphic design is the rule book of design. Take, for instance, a few basic design elements of a website:

• White Space
• Hierarchy
• Text Size
• Color Palette
• Aesthetics

Whether you're working on a custom website or digital graphics, adhering to these guidelines is crucial for achieving optimal results.

How else can a graphic designer benefit your brand?

Graphic design is essential to advertising your products or services—all while creating a consistent brand image. If you already have a logo or style guide, you’ll need a professional to help you apply these brand assets to tangible items. If you’re a restaurant owner, for example, you’ll need menu designs, table-top displays, coaster designs, window signage, etc. You might even invest in some out-of-home (OOH) advertising with billboard displays, too.

Having a professional who knows how to combine your messaging, images, and color palette into one cohesive, eye-catching advertisement is invaluable. Too often, you'll see billboards or signage that either display too much information without any hierarchy or not enough. This can leave potential customers at a loss for words. A graphic designer knows how to strike the right balance, whether it’s print or digital.

What do you look for in a digital designer?

We’d recommend a pixel pusher—someone who obsesses over the small details to make a big impact—but we’ll also settle for someone with a graphic design background. Again, you want to ensure this person has the primary skills before coming in contact with your brand. You also need this person to explain his or her reasoning behind each design.

Of course, you may not always agree with a designer's initial draft, but that's okay! If designers can explain their work—down to kerning—it demonstrates their understanding and skill in graphic design. Those who cannot justify their design choices may be showing that they don’t understand the basics of graphic design. It’s up to the business owner to ask why, and it’s up to the designer to explain why.

Need Professional Design Services?

Clokendagger bases every service we provide on the foundational principles of graphic design. We consider ourselves pixel pushers because we’re committed to delivering the best possible results for the small businesses we have the pleasure of partnering with. If you need graphic or digital design services, our team can help! Contact us for a free consultation to learn more.