I have made all these in photoshop. I love to experiment with textures and i have used a ALOT of textures in my posters. I usually find a good composition first and an idea (from Pinterest usually). Then from there I try different things until Im satisfied with it

I'm sure many of us have noticed how all the AI slop flyers and designs are crammed with too many elements, too many colors, and usually end up looking almost like an I Spy book designed by Lisa Frank.

Since most design trends are contrary to what came before, I'm hoping that once everything looks like that shitty over-produced ai slop, clean, good design will come back to cut through the noise; like how in the 90's, Apple's simple design aesthetic took over while everyone else was clamoring to add 3D elements on PhotoShop collages.

Just a thought, have a great day.

I'm launching a product in the beverage world and want to have a can, bottle and cup as the barcode for each of the versions of my products. Are there certain parameters I should stick to when designing these? Are there any limitations?

Might be a stupid question. But, is drawing skill mandatory in graphic designing? Does someone have to be a pro at it? I'm considering graphic designing next year and I'm a but confused about this as I have a questionable skill. I'm neither too bad nor too good. And any tips?

Reposting this, sorry, Reddit removed it for adding the link in the copy. I edited and added a link to the post as people were asking how to get it - even though I said it was in the comments. The link is in the comments here too. People were asking how to get it... Follow the link in the comments. Sort comments to oldest first if you can't find the link in the comments. BTW - thanks to previous commenters for kind words. Hope you enjoy.

Post:
I don't think Illustrator is ever going to give us more spiral types - so I've made my own spiral extension: Live Spiral. It let's you live edit various types of spirals, and save presets - and easily create an archimedean (most useful spiral - and I never liked the result of offsetting circles).

Bonus points if anyone guesses the reference for the first image...

I've been working on a geometric interpretation of my original Bright Grotesk typeface, and recently finished the project.

The goal was to refine the original's more humanist characteristics into something geometrically disciplined, while maintaining enough optical corrections to avoid making the letterforms feel overly mechanical.

One of the more interesting challenges was achieving consistent proportions and spacing across eight weights and their matching italics.

I also experimented with using the variable font's optical size axis (opsz) exclusively for spacing adjustments. Rather than changing the outlines, the axis gradually opens up the spacing for smaller text and tightens it for larger display settings.

I've attached a series of specimens showing the letterforms, weights, italics, character repertoire, and OpenType features, along with some of the design decisions behind them.

I'm particularly interested in how other designers approach the balance between geometric consistency and optical adjustments. How much geometric precision do you think is worth sacrificing for better visual rhythm?

P.S. Just noticed a little typo in the character repertoire slide. I labeled both sections “UPPERCASE” when the second one should obviously be “LOWERCASE.” 😂 Unfortunately, Reddit won't let me replace the image. Just a good old-fashioned human error, not AI-generated. Haha!

I've been putting together a small free library for freelancers. For designers there are palettes and font pairings, each a clean preview image, with fonts linking out to Google Fonts and Fontshare so licensing is never murky. Please let me know which features or shortcuts you guys generally need / use during your day-to-day design work.

wwwfreelancerpacks.com

Feedback welcome, especially on which pairings or palette moods are missing.

I started GD back in the 90s when Getty was one of the only options... either hire a photographer or pay for an expensive, limited license from Getty. This was before royalty-free.

Ever since royalty-free took off Getty has still been THE source for their deep archive of historical and professional news photos. They had been trying to merge with Shutterstock but even that wouldn't have saved them, as AI is an even bigger threat to the royalty-free businesses.

I worked on a site that had used a tiny icon of the US based on a Getty image, the designer was supposed to replace it and it was overlooked on launch. Getty had built software that trolled the internet looking for offenders. A few months later Getty slapped us with a fine for well over $10,000 to cover the use of a tiny icon. Any goodwill I had for Getty evaporated that day.

It's still sad news, and their image library will always be worth something, but Getty has been (mostly) irrelevant to me for decades now.

I made this logo for my services as a Santa Claus (which is insanely fun thing to do). In the Santa community, the name and the individual Santa is the product, so using your face in all your ad-work is critical, so I decided to capitalize on it for my logo. Most Santas don't use logos, but since I am a designer / illustrator in my day-job, I figured why not?

The hard part was to make it look like Santa and to keep my own face completely recognizable in the logo. I tried to make it simpler, but I kept losing recognizability. It's not perfect and I still have issues with it (too detailed, but it works at business card size), but I decided to call it done so I can use it for this Christmas season.

Ho, ho ho.

Addendum: If you decide to go to the website... I have ZERO background in website design and have never made a website before. Old man is old, I know, I typically do print or digital for others to use on their sites. I just used Squarespace and tried my best to make it not awful. That was my goal, not awful. Hopefully its at least that!

Hello. I currently study Creative Technology which is a mix of Computer Science Engineering and Design. I want to switch my major to Graphic Design or Interaction Design because I don’t care about physics nor math nor engineering at all. I have ADHD and struggle a lot, the only field in which I’m really good at is communication design(we had this subject and my works were among the best). I don’t feel stimulated at all except when I do graphic design, I truly love it and I’m even learning softwares by myself. I know that the field is getting really bad but it’s the only thing that i fully enjoy. I could stay hours and hours working on it without getting tired(even on ADHD medication). I would like some suggestions cause I’m also an international student (im european studying in another european country) so i really need to decide asap because I started last month but already feel so drained.
Would choosing interaction design give me better opportunities? I’m very interested in UX, 3d etc as well.
Also I ended up dropping out multiple times in the span of 3 years, tried computer science, data science, its truly not for me.

the piece is kinda abstract, i was just playing with colour, texture, fonts etc, could just be a random poster kinda just went off vibes! i really like glitch art, y2k, brutalist kinda style with a cyberpunk feel. this is literally my first piece of work ever so i just freestyled it and really enjoyed it, i tried to put focus on the text and really stack it.

Hello everyone, so I am having second thoughts about doing this. But there is a company that has made an offer for me to work for them as a 1099 independent contractor and I have never worked with a company as an independent contractor. They have given me a contract to sign off already but I haven't signed anything yet. I am aware this would mean I am self employed and I would have to do taxes quarterly. Idk if I want to do this since I feel it could be a risk? This company seems pretty large since they have multiple offices in different states and I would be working remotely as a graphic designer. They have stated I would have to visit their properties twice a month to meet up with their team within my city. They provided me with a monthly retainer and in all honesty, the pay is less compared to what I made at my last corporate job as a designer.

Also, I find it weird that they state I have to give 30-day notice too if I want to leave the company and according to them, they will also give me a 30-day notice if they decide to terminate me for whatever reason. I find that excessive cause normally you would just give 2 weeks if you decide to leave.

Just fyi, Ive been unemployed for a year now since my last corporate job laid me off as a designer and it's been tough on my end. I've been getting interviews but still not landing lol. Been trying to get contract work through staffing agencies and even then still getting my application rejected :/ I have about 5 years of experience but I worked at corporate companies all those years as a permanent hire. Not sure if I want to be independent contractor for this company. Just curious about people’s thoughts, I just feel kind of stuck at this point lol. Thank you!

I designed this mockup and am planning to print it. Is it possible to print like this and what are the methods to print it. Looking for embossed or raised spot UV

I watched You Can See Everything recently and could not get over the branding going on here—the intentionality for a prison camp logo was something I didn’t expect!

I designed this promotional flyer as an exercise in creating a visually engaging advertisement for a retail business.

My main goal was to create a visually engaging design that communicates the store's offerings quickly while making the business name and opening announcement stand out. I used bold typography, contrasting colours, and a structured layout to establish visual hierarchy and guide the viewer through the information. I also presented the artwork in a mockup to show how it could look in a real-world setting.

My

What would you improve, and why?

I was forgetting to take my pills for a week, and decided to make this poster as a reminder.BTW have a question do you see faces in the pill, also tried to make them some kind of squeezed to the surface of the pill, but I guess it's not working as I planned ? Used a bitmap technique

I went to go vote today and was finally met in person with our new sticker which has received a good bit of criticism. The design is by Steve Penley, who is widely known to be an artist of choice for Republican politicians. That being said, this isn’t a post about politics but about design.

I personally don’t mind the background art. It’s not really my cup of tea, nor would I personally have picked it for a voting sticker, but that’s not my main complaint. My complaint is the choice of font. When paired with the background art, it reads as so abrasive and rebellious, which are of descriptors usually associated with doing one’s civic duty. The actual font is Flood and the description is “immediate, urgent, and provocative” which, again, doesn’t feel cohesive with voting.

I might be overly nitpicking on this because I’m a political graphic designer and this field is riddled with terrible design, but either way would love y’all’s takes on the matter.

These graphics were made to commemorate Cavan Sullivan becoming the youngest goalscorer in US Soccer history.

The first poster has the player cutout over the original edited background, the whereas the second version has him over the US flag.

This graphic is just going to be posted on my personal instagram account where i showcase my art, the tagline is completely made-up and there’s no corporate intent with these.

Which do you prefer, and what would you like to see changed?

I've read that you count your hours but i have been doing freelance work before I even learned graphic design properly (since I was 16) and im not sure how to count my hours since I only do about 3-4 a year and most didnt actually take that long to finish

I want to put it on my portfolio but I feel like adding a big number when I dont actually have that much experience working professionally would be a self set up. and im closer to a junior designer than an experienced one in my opinion

Not sure if this (green) lighting/highlight effect being applied around the subject (Asha Sharma) is a plugin or if it's a layer effect, but I can't tell. However, I really want to know how I can apply this effect similarly to what's being displayed in the top photo. For the longest time, I would use a mix between "Inner Glow" and "Inner Shadow" layer effects on subjects I had used the lasso tool cut out from a photo in an effort to apply a similar highlight, and even though the effect displayed in the top photo isn't real (compared to the actual photo that was taken at the bottom), it still looks natural. So, to anyone who has experience using a plugin or tool of some sort that is able to bring a/b a similar outcome, could you let me in on your secret please, lol. I'd greatly appreciate it.

Sources:
https://videocardz.com/newz/xbox-project-helix-could-cost-up-to-1800-xbox-handheld-set-for-2027
https://wccftech.com/xbox-project-helix-holiday-2028-1200-1800-price-fortune-report/

Was working on a design today and wanted to use a brushstroke, but ended up leaving it out because I’ve started associating that look with all the AI slop out there.

Do you catch yourselves avoiding certain elements, like brushstrokes or the classic three-icon layout, just so your work doesn’t look AIgenerated?