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Graphic Design: How Is It Different from User Interface Design ?

“There are three responses to a piece of design- yes, no, and wow! wow is the one to aim for”          -Milon Glaser

This blog intends to puzzle out the differences between Graphic Designing and User Interface Designing. The first important point to be aware of it is- when it comes to design, that it’s all related!

Let us keep it simple- Graphic Design is all about the look and User Interface Design is all about the ease of use
Graphic Design is the beginning of all virtual design. It is the art of visually satisfying the viewers by making the presentation beautiful by using colors, perfect fonts, and proper arrangement of elements- just how you make an ice cream sundae pretty by adding jelly beans, chocolate chips and yummy sauces.
This method is used both online- in the form of a website and mobile apps; and in printed materials such as- book covers and magazine ads. Thus graphic design can be the design of pretty much anything! It is just a good-looking layout that is not interactive. A beautifully and properly designed website would be something you want to use, and not something you have to use. 


Graphic Designing is definitely an artistic skill where they take up visual enhancing tasks like selecting colors, designing logos and choosing images. The easiest way to recognize is the design that can be experienced in a jiffy!

A designer working on a sketch board
A designer working on a logo design on a computer

A plain poster or advertisement is something that no one would be interested in looking at. On the other hand, an ad with properly balanced colors and perfectly placed images would steal the eye of all the onlookers. Thus the ‘crowd-pulling’ task is something that the Graphic designers have to deal with! Any good advertisement, poster, or any other printed matter such as a newspaper or magazine with good graphics- all have a graphic designer’s unseen hands on it!

Moving on to user interface design

Designers also work on the User Interface, which is the layout of what the user is seeing on the website. User Interface Design focuses mainly on the delightfulness and ease of use of the user. The products that result from the hard work of a designer should consist of really good interactions such that the users do not even discern that they reached from one point to the next. The only way a user can interact with and use a software is through a properly designed User Interface. One such User Interface creates a User Experience that the user appreciates and understands clearly. All other ones tend to be confusing to navigate and thus would result in the user spending an inessential amount of time on the site. This may further result in a negative feedback from the user which would lead to little or no progress on your website.

User Interface Design deals with the User Interaction- like the way a mobile function with the touchscreen, sensors and other interfaces that add up the internal experiences of how the app looks and feels to make the users feel comfortable. Thus the users would find it easy to reach their goals in a fast and efficient manner, without getting bothered or even aware of the User Interface that is helping him/ her to do so.

Well, the main aim is to make the user say wow both look wise and feel wise!