Steps to becoming a Graphics designer in Cameroon 2022

Graphics designing as the name specifies is the activity or profession of creatively editing and creating graphics in order to convey a message to those viewing your images or graphics.

In Cameroon and the world at large graphics designing has become a high paying job, whether part time or professional. This is due to the rapid growth of the digital age in Cameroon and the world at large. Therefore having graphic designing skills can be what puts food on the table today. The steps to becoming a Graphics designer in Cameroon are as follows.

1. Know what Graphics Designing is all about.

This step may seam unnecessary by it is necessary to point out that many so called Graphics Designers in Cameroon don’t have a clue about what Graphics Designing is all about. Must people thing it is just about going around editing pictures and making funny memes. Put there is more to it, Graphics designing is a very active means of conveying useful information to the public Creatively and Precisely in a way that only graphics designing can. Therefore Graphics Designing requires a lot of creativity and Understanding of the Audience in order to be successful.

2. Master a graphics designing Program or App (General Knowledge).

Mastering a graphics designing program or App is like learning how to use your pens, pencils, erasers, and books in primary school (kinder garden).

In the same way that learning how to use your pens in primary school (kinder garden) does not mean you can solve math and so on, learning and mastering a graphics design program is a basic step which requires time and devotion. This is arguable the longest and the most difficult step. There are a variety of Programs and apps available for free to learn. The most popular ones include Photoshop, MS Publisher, Corel Draw, Pixel Lab, Canva. The most recommended by me so far are Photoshop (for windows) and Pixel Lab (for Android).

3. Choose a suitable Niche to focus your skills on (Professional Knowledge).

This step is analogous to choosing your field of study after high school. It is important to have a niche of graphics designing on which you are best at and on which you can focus your efforts and time on. This is because graphics designing is composed of numerous niche and mastering all can be time consuming and can lead to wastage of resourcing. The various niche of Graphics Designing include Logo Design, Flyer Designing, Background editing, text book cover design, Poster Design, Shirt Graphics and so on . it is also possible to master more than one niche as many niche are easy to master if your General Knowledge was good.

4. Marketing your skills.

Most people today have skills but don’t know how to go about marketing. After Mastering your skills, do not expect job opportunities to simple come and meet you at your door step. You have to search for costumers.

Advertising your skills can be done in numerous ways, which include, Joining Free Lancer platforms such as Fiverr and creating Gigs, pasting poster in public locations, displaying your work on social media platforms, Linking with people in need of your services. 

5. Give Free Services.

As a beginner, for people to appreciate your work, you can carry out graphics designs where necessary for free. For example, on your friend’s birthday you can create a Birthday poster for him/her for free. This goes a long way to advertising yourself.

6. Create a Brand Name and social media pages.

This step is important as it makes your work more professional and adds more visibility and transparency to your costumers. Social media pages also help expand your audience and eases advertisement and also aides you to create a portfolio.

7. Develop a portfolio.

Most costumers will ask you for a list of your past works and if you did not care to keep and organize past works, you will risk losing costumers and hence money. Developing a portfolio is slow but the further you go the better it gets and the more comfortable It is for you. Your work should be stored in multiple locations in order to avoid loss of your past works

If these steps are followed carefully and chronologically you can be sure of making lost of money as a graphics designer whether as a part timer or a professional in Cameroon and in the world at Large.