There are dozens more types of design projects that can be created in whole or in part with your computer and desktop publishing and graphics software. I've put those projects into 16 categories or groupings. Find your ideal specialty for desktop publishing and graphic design jobs or freelance work or hobby.
Use the descriptions, tips, plus pros and cons on each of the following pages to help develop a niche or focus for your business, to expand your services, or to simply find new ways to use your computer for fun or profit.
- Annual Reports & Proposals
Some companies devote as much or more attention to the look and feel of their annual reports as they do to the content. - Business Forms
There's more to designing effective (and attractive) business forms than just stringing together a bunch of fill-in-the-blank fields. - Catalogs, Menus, & Product Lists
From a simple list of what's for dinner to detailed descriptions and photos of each and every widget a company sells, you can make your mark helping clients to show off what they offer with well-designed catalogs and other lists. - Collaterals
It's a fancy name for the brochures, fliers, posters, and other materials that help a business describe its product or service. Collaterals are used by all types and sizes of organizations. - Crafts, Creative Printing
These are those fun projects that you may do for yourself or to sell. Think: scrapbooks, iron-on transfers, greeting cards, and banners. - Identity Systems
Along with logos identity materials include business cards and letterhead. - Marketing Materials
While advertising and marketing are not exactly the same thing, they're closely related. Specifically we're talking ads and direct mail here but it also includes brochures, business cards, and promotional items. - Packaging
Someone has to design the lettering on that plastic wrapped around a pack of toilet paper. Packaging design can be the shape of the package, the material it's made of, and the pictures and text on the package. - Periodicals
Read all about it. We're talking about newsletters, magazines, newspapers, and other publications that come out on a more or less regular, recurring basis. - Presentation Graphics
You're probably thinking PowerPoint and that could be it. But we're also talking about any type of presentation graphics including traditional slides, flip charts, and various multimedia presentations. - Publication Art
Book covers and CD inserts as well as magazine covers, newsletter nameplates, and technical illustrations fall into this category. These types of projects can be very drawing or photo-focused. As the designer you may or may not be the person creating the actual illustrations but you will be arranging it along with any accompanying text and preparing the digital files. - Publications including Books and Booklets
Longer documents such as books, booklets, and manuals often require excellent typography skills. - Self-Publishing
When you're the writer, editor, and the designer of a newsletter, magazine, newspaper, greeting card, or book you're wearing many hats. Non-designers can do self-publishing and still turn out a nice-looking product if they heed basic desktop publishing guidelines. - Signage
From highway billboards to restaurant signs to garage sale signs, you can design a sign to announce something, sell something, give directions, or identify something. - Web, Mobile, & Electronic Publishing
Not just Web pages, Web & electronic publishing includes PDF documents and anything designed for viewing online or on various electronic devices (such as an iPad or a smartphone). - Word Processing & Resumes
There's more to word processing these days than just getting the words onto paper.
Your Assignment
If you're looking for a job or starting a business do this assignment to help you focus your efforts.After reading the description for each of these categories, make a list of the ones that most appeal to you, in which you have an interest in pursuing as part of your career goals for desktop publishing or graphic design jobs or a freelance design business. Additionally identify those areas in which you already have experience or skills that will enable you to do those types of projects without additional training. If specific software needs are mentioned, note whether or not you have the required software or other tools.
If you are currently starting or planning to start a desktop publishing business, this information will help in developing parts of your business and marketing plans including description of your business and marketing focus. It can also assist you in determining software and hardware needs and any additional training required in order to operate a successful business or pursue desktop publishing or graphic design jobs in the areas that most interest you.
| Pick Your Path to Desktop Publishing | |
| Get Started: | Basic Guidelines and Requirements for Desktop Publishing |
| Choose Software: | Desktop Publishing and Design Software |
| Tips & Tutorials: | How to Do Desktop Publishing |
| Training, Education, Jobs: | Careers in Desktop Publishing |
| In the Classroom: | Back to School With Desktop Publishing |
| Make Something: | Things to Make Using Desktop Publishing |
| Use Templates: | Templates for Print and Web Publishing |
