Graphic arts

A type of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of art forms. Graphic art is typically two-dimensional and includes calligraphy, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, lithography, typography, serigraphy (silk-screen printing), and bindery. Graphic art also consists of drawn plans and layouts for interior and architectural designs. Today, graphic art is usually associated with commercial art that is used in marketing. In this case, the purpose of the graphic art is to capture the interest of the audience on the product or service in order to increase the volume of business.

Tools of the trade

Graphic artists applying for positions in today's job market are expected to be familiar with computers and a variety of software in order to create the most appealing, up to date designs.

Graphic art software includes applications such as:

* Adobe Illustrator – an application that allows artists to manipulate vector graphics
* CorelDRAW – similar to Adobe Illustrator, it is another vector graphic manipulation tool
* Adobe Photoshop – a bitmap graphics software including powerful graphics editing tools that provide a large variety of editing functionality
* Adobe Dreamweaver – a tool that facilitates the creation of webpages and dynamic internet content
* PhotoImpact – a digital photo editor
* Adobe InDesign – desktop publishing software used for layout and design manipulation
* QuarkXPress – similar to Adobe InDesign, it is another desktop publishing software tool