What is Graphic Design?

It seems self explanatory - Graphic Design is work done on the design of graphics. It's not that simple though. Graphic Designers do much more than work with photos and illustrations. They also work with typography - the placement of words, size color, and style of fonts. And they work with the placement of imagery and words on pages to convey not only information but also moods and emotions.

Designers are the link between the client and the audience. Clients may be too close to their business and their own needs to get a clear picture of their audience's needs, and they also may not understand there is more than one way to convey the same message. Graphic designers work with their client to understand the purpose and the content of a message.

Designers may work with many other people such as photographers, and printers. Some of the visual medium they work to produce are; business logos, magazine ads, album covers, posters, flyers, graphics and web designs. Before I read the description of what a graphic designer does at http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/guide-whatisgraphicdesign I knew the basics but I didn't realize the description of graphic design was so involved and complex.