Graphic Designing is visual communication through Images, Designs, Sketches, and Animation. One requires passion and creativity to thrive in the highly competitive market of graphic designing.
Graphic designers who dominate in the job market are the ones who are equipped with the best skills and, more importantly, the Best Gadgets for Graphic Designers.
1. Laptop – Dell XPS 15
15.6-inch screen, 4k display with Adobe RGB Color space, this laptop has the most accurate colors and the most vivid display. The colors in images and videos simply pop.
When using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign, the color in print quality and online presentation are precisely the same as those on the laptop. It is simply the best tool for power editing of 4k media content.
This computer comes with 1080p XPS 15 packing a 2.2-GHz Intel Core i7-8750H processor with 16GB of RAM. You can multitask on RAM consuming software, for video editing and graphic designing, with slight to no decrease in performance, which is something that other systems can’t handle easily.
Its 512GB SSD hard drive is fast and reliable which is a must for every graphic designer.
XPS 15 has some decent battery life with around 11 hours of unplugged usage. You can do graphic design for approximately 6-7 hours and video editing for about 4-5 hours without burning out your battery.
It is one of the best gadgets for graphic designers who like the 4k display, bright popping colors, and designers who want to work while commuting to the office or college.
2. Desktop – 21.5” iMac Retina Desktop
Though a lot of designers work on laptops or laptops with extended screens, some designers use desktops.
Because of their reliable processing power, unlimited power option and durability, desktops come out on top as the best-designing gadgets for working extended amounts of time.
Apple’s iMac comes with an amazingly bright screen and 4k display whose colors are a delight to the eye.
Its 8GB RAM and high processing power make it an ideal machine for working on video editing, animation, and graphic design.
The iMac is compatible with all Adobe software, so it is a playground for graphic designers. And it is, without any question, one of the best gadgets for graphic designers.
3. Monitor – EIZO ColorEdge CG318 4K
EIZO’s CG318 is hands down the best monitor for graphic designing.
It is an IPS technology which packs 1 Display Port, 1 Mini Display Port, 2 HDMI, 1 VGA, 4 USB 3.0 and a 31.3” screen with 4096×2160 resolution.
It has 100% of the sRGB spectrum and 99% of the Adobe RGB spectrum. When calibrated, it can display almost every color with utmost accuracy due to its built-in calibration tool.
Graphic designing is very color-based, and investing in this monitor will give you an advantage over your competitors.
It hIt has a built-in hood, which blocks the glare (and can negatively impact the user experience). It is the perfect device that will help your work outshine all others.
4. Tablet – Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet
Drawing and sketching are integral to graphic designing. Sketching on a computer can be an arduous task and pretty straining on the hand. That’s why graphic designers use tablets. These tablets give us even better options and results than drawing on paper.
Wacom’s Intuos Pro Tablet gives us the freedom to unleash our creativity.
It is incredibly accurate and possesses 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity. Its stylus pen gives you control over thick to thin lines, which is not possible with a mouse.
It is a battery-free design that connects to the system through its USB cable. Intuos is compatible with major operating systems like Windows and Mac OS.
Wacom’s Intuos Pro is, without a doubt, one of the best graphic designing gadgets ever invented and it is a must-have for every Graphic Designer.
If this one is too expensive for your pocket, you can choose among others on my list of cheap drawing tablets.
5. Camera – Canon EOS 80D DSLR
One of the primary devices that every Graphics Designer must-have is a 35 millimeter DSLR camera. Stock photography can be costly, overused and 98% of the photos on Google are copyrighted.
Canon’s camera comes with a kit lens which measures anywhere from 18 to 55 millimeters. The best thing about a 35mm DSLR is that you have a lot of flexibility in shutter speed, aperture, different lenses that you can use for zoom, time exposures and also the video capabilities.
So it is highly recommended to have a 35 millimeter DSLR.
6. Hard Drive – OWC 4 Four-Bay Thunderbolt 2 RAID Array
Graphics Designers can’t afford to lose the work they’ve spent so much time and effort on, so they usually back up their work in the cloud. But being a professional means being serious with your data. Proper back up is necessary for smooth workflow and no data loss.
OWC 4 Four-Bay external hard drive contains four 2TB hard drives, two of which are the main ones and the other two are backups or the duplicates of the main drives. It has a beautiful balance of storage and speed.
It’s crazy how people still lose data in this day of technology.
So, an external hard drive is an essential gadget you should own. And this OWC 4 Four-Bay is most certainly in the Best Gadgets for Graphics Designer list.
7. Headsets – Bose QuietComfort 35 (Series II)
Concentration is the key to get the creative juices flowing, and a graphics designer’s value is measured by their creativity and their imagination and you need the proper gear to get you going on the artistic path.
Bose’s QuietComfort 35 headset does it for us.
The high-quality sound system in wireless headsets is a new stepping stone in the world of sound technology.
Its oval-shaped ear cups surround the whole ear, providing a heightened level of comfort, and the LEDs around the cups tell you how much energy is left.
Its noise-canceling ability gives you a feeling of solitude, which gives birth to innovation.
The most fantastic feature of these headphones is that it can pair with two devices simultaneously through NFC, its battery can last around 12 hours, and they would work just fine when plugged to the cable.
8. Mouse – Anker 2.4g Wireless Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse
As a graphic designer, you will be using your mouse A LOT. All the work from illustrations to editing and tweaking are done using a mouse, which can affect the tendons in your hand, due to the unnatural hand posture, which can affect you in the long term.
Keeping that in mind, Anker has developed a new innovative design for the mouse. This optical mouse is as ergonomic as its name suggests. Its optical design is in harmony with the natural position of the hand.
Final Words: 8 Best Gadgets for Graphic Designers
This gadget will save your tendons from hurting when you’re working on long projects. This is without a doubt an essential and time-saving gadget for graphic designers.
All this is not to say that if you don’t own these gadgets, you won’t succeed in graphic design.
But if you want a successful and long-lasting career, then you need to invest in your dream, and these best gadgets for graphic designers will help you achieve your dream as an accomplished graphic designer.
