What’s the difference between Graphic Design and Service Design?

Illustration of two people designing together some art

My two cents

Graphic Design and Service Design are two very different fields of the design world.

In Graphic Design, we shape how communication looks, whether it's on paper, in a book, on signage, on a website, or in a presentation. On the other side, the goal of Service Design is to create lovely experiences and interactions between organisations and the people they serve or work with. These interactions can happen via a phone call on a hotline, through a contract, in a shop, etc.

Graphic design is often used within Service Design, as communication is always an important part of creating lovely experiences.

Many of the skills and methods that service designers use are the same skills as graphic designers. For example, many graphic designers use ideation technics and prototype multiple ideas before committing to one, as any service designer would do too.

So, even if these two fields are very different, they use similar ways of working and are very complementary.

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