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Creative jobs are growing in demand and pay reasonably well. And for people whose passion lies in creative fields, graphic designers and illustrations might be two of the most popular and desired jobs in the field.
However, many of us still struggle to find a clear line between graphic designers and illustrators – what makes them different? Both of those creative jobs do design-type work and are trained to use artwork in a specific manner. Not to mention that sometimes, there is also a crossover that has become so common in the world of art and design, making it even harder for us to tell them apart.
That said, there are some quite visible differences between graphic designers and illustrations. After all, both are two different creative fields. In this post, we’ll dive more in-depth into the differences between graphic designers and illustrators and other essential things you should know about the two creative jobs.
Graphic Designers
Graphic designers mostly deal with digital images for advertising, magazines, or websites. You can also say that they are marketers of art. Their main goal is to communicate brand messages with their visuals, imagery, and captivating typography or text.
For instance, they create logos for your brand, helping you to showcase your brand identity and increase your brand recall. They also design websites, flyers, brochures – anything your business will require for marketing campaigns.
Graphic designers focus a lot on the composition of the layout of the designs, organization of texts and images, graphic elements – and things along those lines. It helps them ensure that everything they’ve pieced all together is cohesive and visually appealing for your target audience.
To get involved in the graphic design field, you do not actually need superb artistic skills. You do not have to be a great artist as you do not have to draw the design from scratch. It’s more about mixing images with text to produce a piece of art that catches audiences’ eyes.
Therefore, you need to leverage some design software. Graphic designers mostly work on Adobe InDesign. You may also use Adobe Illustrator and even Photoshop to compliment your work within InDesign. The combination of those tools is the main workhouse for a graphic designer to do their final production.
So, the most important thing here is to have a creative mindset and help your clients to get their brand message across and separate themselves from their competitors.
Illustrators
Illustrators focus more on cartoons and the drawing side of them. They make concept arts, children’s books, comic books, animated explainer videos, YouTube video, video games, films and animations, product packaging design, even novel covers.
As the job title goes, you are making illustrations. It means that drawing skills are highly needed when you aim to be a great illustrator.
Some illustrators feel comfortable sketching or drawing their illustrations on paper before scanning and uploading them using the computer or using a tablet with a stylus to create images. You can say that their primary medium is not software.
They use computers and software mostly to digitize their works. So, it’s common to see an illustrator with a notebook and pencil at all times. But, today, more and more modern illustrators typically use vector software and drawing tablets (Wacom tablet or iPad) to create and manipulate and render line art seamlessly.
When an illustrator uses a computer, mouse, or drawing tablet for their work, they will use Adobe Illustrator to help them create very clean and scalable shapes.
A great illustration will always make sure that their illustrations tell stories and have the ability to convey feelings and emotions. The key to their works is to give a visual explanation or interpretation of an idea, process, or concept.
Can a Graphic Designer Be an Illustrator – and the Other Way Around?
The scope of creative jobs has widened over the years, and it’s possible for a person to be both an illustrator and a graphic designer, making the lines between graphic designers and illustrators become blurred.
In a startup or creative agency, illustrators work with graphic designers on a project that needs a wider artistic angle. Illustrators will draw art and give them to graphic designers. Then, it’s the graphic designer’s job to add the illustrations to the layout of whatever they are working on.
It’s not unusual for some overlap to happen depending on the skills of the respective designers or illustrators and the project’s requirements. A lot of artists dabble in both.
Sometimes, illustrators also do design work and can use advanced software as graphic designers do. It’s normal to see an illustrator play a graphic design role. That is why you might see online courses or webinars with titles like “Graphic Design and Illustration.”
Meanwhile, it can be quite hard for graphic designers to master the illustrator role – as illustration itself sits more in the realm of art than design. Only graphic designers who have a strong artistic background can be good illustrators.
By all means, an illustrator might be a great designer, but the reverse will not necessarily be true, at least in most cases.
Graphic Designers vs Illustrators: The Responsibilities
Now that you understand the significant differences between graphic designers and illustrators, it’s time to break down their responsibilities to give you a more in-depth understanding of those two creative jobs.
Graphic Designer Responsibilities
Most graphic designers’ responsibilities are all about ensuring that every design element wins attention in what order on a busy page or platform. Here are some of the essential responsibilities of a professional graphic designer:
- Graphic designers decide whether an illustration will enhance the creative project and solve the design/communication problem.
- Graphic designers combine many design elements, from illustrations to typography to photography, in order to convey messages effectively through visual communication.
- Advanced graphic designers have a broad knowledge of leveraging computers and software to design their work – various layout, typography, branding, and image development for commercial clients.
- Graphic designs will help their clients to stand out among their competitors and industry fields.
Illustrator Responsibilities
On the other side, illustrator responsibilities mostly involve a more creative visualization, such as creating and using drawings to tell stories and elicit emotions. Below are some of the illustrator’s responsibilities:
- Most illustrators specialize in a particular type of drawing, giving them a specific and representative style or technique.
- Illustrations use their illustrations and add personality and character to make sure that it conveys story-driven messages for the target audience.
- Illustrators combine self-explanatory hand-drawing and painting with digital media to create complete stunning illustrations.
- Advanced illustrators combine arts, designs, creative skills, and artistic skills to develop original creative ideas and translate them into artistic hand drawings.
The Similarities
Besides all of those differences mentioned above, graphic designers and illustrators have some similarities. That is why it is pretty challenging for some people, especially a complete beginner, to distinguish between a graphic designer and an illustrator.
Simply put, both graphic designers and illustrators create original artwork or images to construct visuals. They both also art majors and do digital arts. In this case, both of those creative jobs also have a solid understanding of the use of colors, lines, typography, and more.
Also, both illustrators and designers use similar software or tools and have similar skills and training. The Adobe Suite is the go-to in the professional industry for both graphic designers and illustrators.
Which One Is Right for You?
If you have basic drawing skills, or you simply have loved to draw since you were a kid, being an illustrator is one of the best options for your career. You can start by uploading your showcase on social media.
To become a great illustrator, you also need to pay attention to the smallest details and self-explanatory images.
On the other hand, if you enjoy mixing color and create a great composition of layout, lines, imagery, and space to convey a message, graphic design could be your better choice.
That said, as mentioned above, the two fields aren’t mutually exclusive. You can develop your skills and dabble in both fields.
Wrapping Up
From all things mentioned above, now you understand that the main difference between graphic design and illustration is how and where you use them.
Graphic designers mostly focus on creating images for marketing and advertising purposes, helping brands to stand out. Meanwhile, illustrators’ intention is to present something in the form of art. You can also say that graphic design is commercial art and illustration is a more fine art.
To make it much easier for you to distinguish the two creative jobs, think of an interior designer and a furniture maker. In this case, illustration is the furniture maker who builds everything from scratch. Meanwhile, a graphic designer is the same as an interior designer, where you have to mix art elements (including illustrations), piece everything together, and create the overall beautiful composition to complete a project.
Also, graphic designers are mostly glued to their computer and software to start and complete their work, while illustrators may draw or paint images and upload them to a computer to make digital copies.
Author
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com
LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro
