Online and mobile audiences are forcing graphic designers to focus on user experience and interactivity

Graphic design has become a diverse field with new media, making it an expanding field that touches more aspects of our everyday lives than just print.  

    Thanks to growing new media and technology, graphic designers now have a place in not only designing for print, but for anything from apps on your iphones to the Facebook page you log into on your lap top. With this changing and growing profession, it is important to realize that there are more skills that graphic designers need to acquire and be aware of. Interactivity is one of the main elements that one now needs to take into consideration when designing in newer media types. It has gotten to the point that now a days, it is nearly impossible to get hired as a graphic designer without some sort of experience in web design because it has become one of the most prevalent design professions and skills in the world.

Graphic design is something every person in American society is likely affected by on a daily basis.  Whether you look at a billboard on the highway, a poster on the street, or a website on your computer, it is likely you are being influenced by graphic design. It is something that can visually hold our attention or lose it within seconds. What used to be a field based in print, is now one that touches all sorts of media outlets.  In 1984 Apple Launched the Mac PC which cause a revolution in the graphic design field.  With the increasing development of the ease of use of PCs in the 80’s and 90’s, graphic designers became involved in what is called interface design.  Interface design is the design of computers, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software applications and websites which focus on the user’s experience and interaction.  It was not until during the 90’s and 00‘s when the internet, and smartphones began to expand tremendously, that it became commonplace for graphic designers to work their way into the new language that is designing for interface. 

Online and mobile audiences are forcing graphic design students to focus not only on learning about print design but about interactive design. 

When it comes to this changing field, it is vital for people who are interested in becoming graphic designers to take advantage of every opportunity they have to learn more about interface design. Quan Vu,  Director of Design and Publications at the Department of Resident Life at the University of Maryland says that while there "will always be a separate niche for web design and niche for print design," things are changing in terms of what students now need to be educated about before they enter the field. Vu explains his opinion about this matter when asked about the focus for the way design students will be taught in the future.  


Vu stresses that traditional print design is only one part of design now, and especially designing for mobile devices is extremely important to learn about. This skill of designing for multiple media outlets is what will give a designer an upper hand in terms of getting jobs. 

Usability and interactivity in design become ways of getting an audience engaged. 

Simple design and touchable buttons make for good interactive design

There are some unchanging aspects of design such as the basic principles of design which remain consistant no matter what the project is or what form of media it is. Alignment, proximity, effective color schemes, repetition are some of the constant things that graphic designers need to pay attention to. However when thinking of ipads, iphones, droids, or web in general there are different factors that become important in creating successful design.  Usability and interactivity are key elements of good design for interface. For example, when you think of ipads or or applications for touch screen phones, the designer must take into consideration that the user is using their fingers to interact with the device, rather than say a mouse. This means that design elements need to be user friendly with buttons and links which must be made large enough and appealing enough to be clicked on with a finger.  As these devices become even more popular, there will probably less traditional hyperlinks and more touchable buttons.  Another element of usability that is important to think of is the loading time of the page.  A designer who is creating something for the web or for a mobile device application must be educated on good principles of file sizes, page loading, optimization, etc. If these considerations are not made then the user will have to wait longer to access the content, which in turn will mean that they will likely leave the page and move on to something that they do not need to wait for.

Good graphic design for web/mobile media means that there is a smooth user experience.

There is a common misconception that in terms of interface design, graphic designers decorate things frivolously. However often this is because what designers do become invisible to users. In fact, a user is more likely to notice a bad design of an app or site than they are to notice good design. In this way, it is better when design is not noticed because that means that it is serving its function and has ease in its interactivity. This can be achieved by keeping pages short and to the point as well as considerations such as screen size, font sizes and page navigation, along with many others. This way the user will have the most optimal, smooth experience using whatever application or website they prefer. What does the average person think about design on their mobile devices and its impact on their usability?  

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