If you have an artistic eye, are good with computers, and love clothing, then becoming an apparel graphic designer could be a great option. There is a lot of demand in this field right now and graphic designers tend to enjoy very good wages in the apparel industry. It’s also a field with a relatively low barrier to entry. Not everyone was made for this field, however, and there are realities of the business that you’ll need to know before you get started. Here’s what you need to know if you want to become an apparel graphic designer.
You Don’t Need to Go to School to Become One
One of the things you have to understand about apparel graphic design and graphic design, in general, is that you don’t necessarily need to get a formal formation or need specific credentials to get a job. It would certainly help, but many of the top graphic designers in the business are entirely self-taught. At the end of the day, it is the quality of your portfolio that will matter. So, if you’re consistent and you create great designs, then there’s a good chance that someone will notice you.
You Can Work Independently
Another thing you should know is that you don’t need to work for a company. You can always work as a freelance designer at the beginning or even start your own firm.
Once you’ve learned the basics, you can start working on independent projects and build a portfolio. But you will need to have the right equipment to work. Graphic designers need certain specs to run the programs they have to use, and unless your PC is powerful enough, you’ll either not be able to use those programs or deal with performance issues.
If you’re looking for a great machine for apparel graphic design, we suggest you look at a Lenovo Desktop for Graphic Designing. Make sure that you pick a machine with at least an i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and between 500MB to 1 TB of internal storage. Contrary to what you may assume, graphic design programs don’t require uber-powerful graphics cards as those are more in charge of rendering moving 3D pictures than static 2D ones, so even something more than an integrated graphics card could work here.
It’s Hard Work
Making a name for yourself in this industry demands a lot of work and unless you’re a highly motivated and proactive person, you won’t get far. Like we said earlier, your work will do most of the talking and you have to put that work in front of the right set of eyes if you want to get a job or a contract. This means that you may have to attend industry events, build your brand online, and even be ready to do work pro-bono or go through multiple internships until you get a gig.
Now that you know a bit more about the world of apparel graphic design, we suggest you start looking at courses you could follow to at least get a foundation in this field. You can then start looking at different positions and what you would need to do to get there.
