When I first started college at Quinnipiac University, I was a media studies major with a vague idea of working in entertainment or digital media. I had no clue that a single class, (Visual Design) would change my entire direction. That one class lit a creative spark I didn’t know I had, and before long, I had officially switched my major to graphic design. While it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made, there are definitely a few things I wish someone had told me before diving in.

1. You Will Never Look at the World the Same Way Again

Once you start learning about design, you can’t unsee it. Fonts, logos, posters, packaging, and color palettes are just the beginning. You start mentally critiquing menus at restaurants, admiring the layout of your shampoo bottle when you’re taking a shower, or catching kerning errors on billboards when you should be focusing on the road.

It's both a blessing and a curse. You develop an appreciation for good design in everyday life, but you also become way more aware of bad design. I had no idea how much graphic design subtly shapes our experiences until I started recognizing it around me. Now I can’t walk into a coffee shop without analyzing their branding like I’m working for their team.

2. It’s Not Just About Making Things Pretty

Before switching majors, I thought graphic design was mostly about creating art. I didn’t realize how deeply it’s tied to communication, psychology, and problem-solving. A design might look beautiful, but if it doesn’t work for the audience or doesn’t serve its purpose, it fails.

You have to ask questions constantly: Who is this for? What emotion do I want them to feel? How will they interact with this? Graphic design isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s a visual strategy.

3. Feedback is Your Best Friend

In the beginning, I took critiques way too personally. When I’d spend hours on a project and someone pointed out flaws, it felt like they were criticizing me. But I quickly learned that feedback is gold, especially the constructive kind. You need fresh eyes, honest opinions, and the willingness to iterate. The sooner you separate your identity from your work, the faster you grow. Now, I actually look forward to critiques (most of the time), because I know they’ll make my work stronger.

Switching to graphic design was a leap, but one that opened up a whole new way of seeing the world and expressing myself. And now that I’m on this path, I’m happy this was the route I took.

Works Cited

Gibbons, Sarah. “Design Critiques: Encourage a Positive Culture to Improve Products.” Nielsen Norman Group, 23 Oct. 2016, www.nngroup.com/articles/design-critiques/.

Jennings, Bert. “Why Graphic Designers Need to Be Problem Solvers.” Saffron Interactive, 21 Apr. 2020, saffroninteractive.com/graphic-design-problem-solving/.

Paun, Goran. “The Integral Role of Graphic Design in Communication.” ArtVersion Creative Agency, 31 July 2023, artversion.com/blog/the-integral-role-of-graphic-design-in-communication/.

“Using Psychology in Graphic Design.” Syntactics Inc., www.syntacticsinc.com/news-articles-cat/using-psychology-in-graphic-design/.