Become a Film Graphic Designer
Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned pro, specific graphic design skills are essential for success in the film and television industry.
part one- beginners series
Welcome to my first post on how to get into graphic design in the film industry.
Today we're starting at the very beginning. This is the first of ten posts discussing how to be a graphic designer in film and television. As a graphic designer for 15 years, I know firsthand the unique challenges and opportunities of working in this exciting field.
In this blog post, we'll examine the graphic design skills and education needed to work in film and television. This post is excellent if you are a beginner, transitioning from other graphic design niches (like marketing), or are already in the industry and want to design for specific genres.
So, let's dive in!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIFELONG LEARNING Graphic design is a non-stop learning process
EDUCATION What to learn and where to learn it
SOFTWARE The essentials software programs to begin or to level you up
DESIGN Creative knowledge is an ongoing learning endeavour
STYLE The best designers have stand out style. Develop your distinct identity
PRACTICAL SKILLS All the things you need to learn to do by hand
GET A JOB Get experience before you dive into the film industry
Lifelong Learning
Each show brings a new story and a new world, along with a new graphic design challenge. So how can you stay on top?
There are basic skills you need to master for a successful graphic design career in film and tv. And, like many design careers, you will need to continue to learn after you land your first job. It’s a lifelong process of learning a (literal) world of information.
While some skills are needed for everyday jobs, like creating signs or beer labels, others are more random. For example, you might have to design a sigil to be hand-engraved on a magic stick from a fantasy world in 900 AD, create a vinyl wrap for a submarine in a fictional adventure, or design a new font for an alien language in an off-world sci-fi thriller. The possibilities are endless, and that’s what makes it so exciting!
But it can also be exhausting to catch up with the latest technical innovations and learn all you can about design. So the long-term goal for this blog is to build up a database of resources, instruction, and information specifically for graphic designers in film and TV.
To better understand a graphic designer’s career development, let’s divide the learning process into three distinct levels:
Learning graphic design basics: Entering the field
Honing your skills: Getting fast, efficient, and talented
Leveling up: Being an expert and having a distinct style
So how do you start? How do you hone? How do you level up??
Basics: Your Graphic Design Education
Do you need formal training, or can you teach yourself graphic design?
It starts with learning graphic design. Whether you choose a traditional school, online classes, or go the self-taught route, it makes no difference. What matters is you know graphic design software and theory and have a portfolio demonstrating your talent. Plus, you need to be fast, efficient, and able to work independently.
The entry-level skills for most union or guild art departments are as follows:
Basic knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator
Graphic design fundamentals
Have a portfolio that demonstrates graphic design skills
Ability to work a cutting knife and measure accurately
Drive a vehicle. This varies depending on the film region.
Able to manage your schedule and deadlines
The good news: you don’t need a formal education to have a career in graphic design. You can be self-taught. There are excellent online courses to help get you the knowledge you need. Here is a list of places I use:
ADOBE’S DISCORD free live courses on Discord with your Adobe subscription. Recommended for any skill level, as they’re packed with technical tricks and creative secrets.
The bad news: a Graphic Design education is just one part of being a graphic designer in the film industry. There are film industry-specific skills you will still have to learn. It’s an ongoing process, from learning design history to learning how to produce ALL types of graphics in collaboration with other departments or vendors.
Basics to Levelling Up: Software
What design programs should a beginner learn, and what additional software is helpful?
Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are priority number one. These are easy to learn and provide the technical skills to create most graphics.
Adobe Indesign is a graphic design program for creating multipage documents, like books, magazines, and newspapers. It’s great to know but not required, as most film documents are fake; we rarely (if ever) make an entire book. However, this program is good for the art department coordinator to make a “tech pack” or technical survey package.
Adobe Dimension allows you to mock up a graphic in 3D, like a label on a beer bottle. This is nice for submitting a design approval. Dimensions have other interesting tricks for film graphics. At some point, Adobe will replace Dimension with Substance, which requires a separate subscription…so dive in while it’s still a part of the graphics subscription.
Adobe Substance is a more robust 3D graphics program, including modeling, textures, and staging.
Adobe Fresco is a free and fun digital drawing app like Procreate. It draws in pixels and vectors and works seamlessly with Illustrator and Photoshop. With the Adobe subscription, you get access to additional custom brushes.
SketchUp is a drafting program. This is good to learn for advanced graphic designers. For instance, you might use it to draft a sign base rather than only designing the sign face.
Rhino, Blender + Cinema4D are advanced tools for creating 3D objects and environments. This is specialized and advanced. These programs are great if you want to establish a niche or work on big-budget feature films. It will also be more prevalent as productions shoot in virtual space.
Basics to Levelling Up: Design knowledge
You need to know design theory and design history, as well as know how to design.
As a graphic designer, you need to know design: typography, color theory, printing, paper, and media. As a graphic designer in the film and TV industry, you must know the history of design, art, fashion, interior design, architecture, and any other specific thing the script references. While you can’t know everything, you should know the timeline for the significant art and design movements throughout history. Even better, you master a few design sub-genres like the history of heraldic crests, ship flags, poster art, or internet design.
Many experienced graphic designers become collectors of niche graphic design items or books about graphics in an array of disciplines, such as maps, uniforms, textiles, photography, national park signs, heraldry, mural art, flags, ghost signs, bookbinding, posters, logos, mosaics, hieroglyphs, pottery, sport teams logos, tapestry, typefaces, stamps, old menus, ephemera, calligraphy, and the list goes on….
It takes time to digest centuries of design from all over the world. In fact, it’s a lifelong pursuit. After designing on a few shows, you quickly realize what you love to create (and what you don’t). When you know what types of worlds you want to build, dive into those design areas. Started to build an interesting identity as a film graphic designer.
This is part 1 of a 10 part beginner’s series on starting a career in film graphics. Next week we discuss what should be in a graphic design portfolio for film and tv.
Leveling Up: What is your Style?
How to develop your distinct graphic design identity.
Your identity as a graphic designer is showcased by what you can design, which is often affected by what you are influenced by. I realize that if you are on a show about pirates, graphics will look “piratey.” However, how you approach the design and how this graphic looks when completed will be influenced by you. Your design work will speak to your taste and style.
On your journey to master graphic design, you must discover and develop your design style. You must be confident in what you like and want to do. This allows you to take control of your career and pursue film and tv jobs in genres that suit your style. Sometimes that means rebuilding your portfolio to reflect the genres you want to work in and what types of worlds you want to build.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking about your design style:
Go to galleries, museums, and design and cultural events.
Find your favorite graphic designers and follow them on social media.
Follow interesting creatives in other disciplines.
Make mood boards and Pinterest collections.
Get books…online, real ones, or borrow from the library.
Photograph graphic design in our world, such as neon signs, billboards, wallpaper, shop signage, murals, graffiti, and ghost signs!
Start a physical graphic design collection, like old matchbooks, vintage postcards, merit badges, or sports cards.
Once you are confident in your style and abilities, you can shape your portfolio to win over the jobs you want.
Basics: Learn Practical Skills
What skills will you do by hand — without a computer?
You will need some practical skills that require your hands. As a graphic designer, I do all of these things regularly.
Learn how to measure (accurately) Measure a book, a framed poster, a shop sign, or a food package. Redraw it with the intention of making a new graphic.
Learn how graphics are built or manufactured (today and in history) and make it yourself. Take a box or book apart and figure out how to remake it. Adobe Illustrator or by hand.
Practice drawing, painting, and illustration. As well as learning to draw and get familiar with tracing and paint-overs in Photoshop or Fresco.
Cutting and building graphic props Graphic designers trim a lot of paper and mock up a lot of props.
Practice hand-lettering and calligraphy. A few graphic designers specialize in calligraphy, but we all need to do hand-lettered notes, letters, posters, kids’ art, and protest signs.
Visit a print house for a tour; one that works with film productions is best. Most vendors would happily schedule a facility tour — they love to talk and share their knowledge.
Learn to spell Or learn how to proofread. The pain is real; check out this poor graphic designer on the IMDB Goofs page:
In the 2014 movie Catch Hell, this graphic designer was immortalized on the IMDB goofs page. A newspaper headline reads: “Scandal or Fowl Play?” which probably should say “Foul Play.”
Learn how to research. Today research online is flooded with real, imagined, forged, mislabelled, and photoshopped graphics. Having good design knowledge will help you weed out the unauthentic. Books are good. Also, building a resource database of reliable sites, online museums, and archives will save you the embarrassment of copying a fake graphic from history.
Now What? How to get a job.
If you made it this far, you must be excited to become a graphic designer in film and television! And you should be because it’s a fun and rewarding career.
This is the section where I recommend you get a standard 9-5 graphic design job before applying to a film or tv union. Since graphic designers work autonomously, there are basic skills you need, like:
Build your design skills; you will need many, many tricks up your sleeve
Increase your speed, television especially in very fast-paced
Learn how to work with a vendor
Learn about modern paper and substrates
Learn about the printing process
Learn to manage your schedule and meet deadlines. You’ll be your own boss.
Getting a job on a movie or television show requires a guild or union membership. In addition, you will need to apply with a portfolio. Your application and design work will be judged by a group of peers in the art department. They will look for computer skills, graphic design knowledge, and a portfolio that reflects talent.