Graphic design and branding

What interviewers look for

• A process, not just nice pictures: you start from the brief, the audience and the goal, try more than one idea, then refine. Panels will ask “how did you get to this?”
• Technical basics done right: the correct colour mode, resolution and file type for print and for screens, print files with bleed, and layers and files that are named and organised.
• Brand discipline: you can work inside someone else's guidelines (logo, colours, fonts) without “improving” them, and you can write simple guidelines for a small brand yourself.
• Clear typography and layout: an obvious order of what to read first, text that is readable on a phone in Somali and English, alignment to a grid, and enough white space.
• How you take feedback: you stay calm, ask what exactly does not work, go back to the brief, and can explain your choices without being defensive.

Questions they ask

1. 1“Talk us through your design process, from the brief to the final file.”

   Why they ask: They want to see that you work in steps and ask about the audience and purpose before you open Photoshop, not that you guess until the client is happy.

   How to answer

   • Start with the questions you ask: audience, goal, where it will be seen, size, deadline, brand rules.
   • Then research and rough sketches, two or three directions, and why you pick one.
   • End with review rounds and handover: print PDF, social sizes, source files named clearly.

   When I get a brief, I first ask who the audience is, where the design will appear, what size it needs to be and whether there are brand guidelines. For a school enrolment poster, the audience was parents who read Somali more than English, so Somali became the main text. I sketched three layouts on paper, built two in Illustrator and showed them to the principal. She chose one, we did two rounds of changes, and I delivered a print PDF with bleed for the print shop and a square version for Facebook.

2. 2“What is the difference between CMYK and RGB, and when do you use each?”

   Why they ask: A basic technical check. Many junior designers send RGB files to the printer and the colours come out dull; the panel wants to know you will not waste their print budget.

   How to answer

   • RGB is light, for screens; CMYK is ink, for print. Say it in one sentence each.
   • Explain the practical risk: bright RGB colours cannot all be printed, so they look duller on paper.
   • Say what you do: set up print documents in CMYK from the start and check the printer's settings before export.

   RGB mixes red, green and blue light, so it is for anything seen on a screen: social posts, websites and presentations. CMYK mixes cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink, so it is for print. Some bright RGB colours, like strong greens and blues, cannot be printed exactly and look duller on paper. For a print job I set the document to CMYK from the start, use the brand's CMYK values, and ask the print shop which settings they want before I export.

3. 3“When do you use a vector file and when a raster file?”

   Why they ask: They check that you know why logos are built in Illustrator and photos are edited in Photoshop, and which file format to send for each job.

   How to answer

   • Vector is made of paths and scales to any size without losing quality: logos, icons, signboards.
   • Raster is made of pixels and loses quality when enlarged: photos and painted textures.
   • Name the formats: AI, SVG, EPS or PDF for vector; JPG and PNG for raster, PNG when you need a transparent background.

4. 4“Show us a logo or brand you designed. How did you arrive at it?”

   Why they ask: They want the thinking behind the logo, the options you rejected, and proof that it works small, in one colour and on a dark background.

   How to answer

   • Start with the client and what the logo had to say about them.
   • Show two early options and say honestly why the final one won.
   • Show the versions you delivered: full colour, one colour, white, icon only, and a one-page guideline.

5. 5“Your manager or the client does not like your design. What do you do?”

   Why they ask: This checks your attitude. Designers work for other people's goals; the panel wants someone who asks good questions and does not take criticism personally.

   How to answer

   • Ask what exactly does not work: the colour, the photo, the amount of text, the size of a logo.
   • Go back to the brief and the audience instead of defending your taste.
   • Offer one or two revised options, agree the number of revision rounds, and keep every version.

   First I ask what exactly does not work for them, because “I don't like it” can mean the colour, the photo or too much text. On an NGO poster, the programme manager rejected my first design. When I asked, the real issue was that the donor logo was too small. I checked the donor's visibility rules, fixed the size and placement, and sent two versions the same afternoon. I try not to defend my taste; I go back to the brief and the audience.

6. 6“How do you prepare a file for the printer?”

   Why they ask: Print mistakes cost real money and time. They are checking that you know bleed, safe area, resolution, colour mode and how to export a clean PDF.

   How to answer

   • Ask the printer first: final size, bleed, file format and colour profile they want.
   • Set up the document at final size in CMYK with bleed (often 3 mm) and keep text inside the safe area.
   • Use images at about 300 ppi at print size, export a PDF with bleed and crop marks, fonts embedded, and check the proof.

7. 7“How do you design when the text is in Somali and English together?”

   Why they ask: Most local work is bilingual. They check that you choose the main language by audience, keep a clear hierarchy, and get the Somali checked instead of trusting a machine translation.

   How to answer

   • Decide which language leads based on who will read it, and make that one larger and first.
   • Leave room: Somali sentences are often longer than the English, so do not squeeze the font size.
   • Have a fluent speaker proofread the Somali and check names and phone numbers twice.

   I start by asking who will read it. For a clinic poster in Burao, most readers were local mothers, so Somali was the headline and main text, and English was smaller underneath for partners. Somali text usually runs longer, so I plan the layout with space for it instead of shrinking the font. I never rely on machine translation; a colleague who writes Somali well proofreads it, and I check the phone number and address twice before it goes to print.

Example answers are in English, the language most panels use. Say it in your own words.

Topics to revise

• CMYK vs RGBRGB (red, green, blue light) is for screens; CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black ink) is for print. Bright RGB colours can look dull in print. They may ask which to use for a banner, a Facebook post or a business card.
• Resolution (PPI/DPI)Pixels per inch at the final size. Print needs about 300 ppi at the printed size; for screens, the size in pixels matters. Raising the ppi number in Photoshop does not add detail to a small photo.
• Vector vs rasterVector graphics are paths and scale without losing quality, so logos and icons are vector. Raster images are pixels, so photos are raster. Expect: “Why should a logo never be only a JPG?”
• Bleed, trim and safe areaBleed is the extra background beyond the cut line, often 3 mm, so no white edge shows after cutting. Trim is where the paper is cut. The safe area keeps text and logos a few millimetres inside the trim.
• File formats (AI, PDF, SVG, PNG, JPG)AI is the Illustrator source, PDF is the usual print file, SVG is vector for the web, PNG keeps a transparent background, JPG is for photos. They may ask what you send to a printer and what to a web developer.
• Typography and hierarchyUsing size, weight and spacing so people know what to read first: headline, then key details, then the rest. Usually two typefaces at most. Know leading (line spacing) and kerning (space between letters).
• Grids and alignmentA grid of columns and margins that every element lines up to, so a page looks ordered. Useful for flyers, reports and social templates. They may ask how you keep a 20-page report consistent.
• Colour and contrastA limited palette, enough contrast between text and background to read easily, and colour values written as HEX for screens and CMYK or Pantone for print. Know that colours carry meaning for local audiences too.
• Brand guidelinesThe rule book of a brand: logo versions, clear space around the logo, minimum size, colour values, typefaces and examples of right and wrong use. NGOs also follow donor visibility rules for logos.
• Logo versions and clear spaceA logo needs a full-colour, one-colour and white (reversed) version, often horizontal and stacked, plus an icon for small uses like a profile picture. Clear space is the empty area kept around it.
• Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, CanvaPhotoshop for photos and raster work, Illustrator for logos and vector, InDesign for multi-page documents like reports and brochures, Canva for fast social posts from templates. Say honestly which you use daily.
• Image and font licensingYou may only use photos, icons and fonts you have the right to use: your own, the client's, free-licence or paid stock. A picture from a Google search is not free to use. Panels may ask where your images came from.

Practical tasks you may get

1. 1A timed design brief, often 60 to 90 minutes on your own laptop: a poster for a health campaign, an event flyer or three social posts. Install your tools and fonts, practise once at home with a timer, read the brief twice, and deliver every size they asked for. A simple design finished on time beats a complex one that is not.
2. 2An adapt-and-resize task: take one design and make an A4 print version, a square social post and a vertical story. Know the common sizes before you go: A4 is 210 × 297 mm, a square post is 1080 × 1080 px, a story is 1080 × 1920 px.
3. 3A fix-this-file test: they give you a flyer with problems (RGB colours, a blurry logo, no bleed, text too close to the edge, a spelling mistake) and ask you to find and fix them. Keep a short print checklist in your head and go through it in order.
4. 4A take-home brief to finish in one or two days. Keep to the scope, name your files clearly and explain your choices in a few lines. A real test is small; if an “employer” asks for a full campaign or a finished logo for free, that is unpaid work, not a test.

Portfolio questions

• Show six to ten strong pieces, not everything: a mix of print, social media and at least one logo or brand project, each with the brief, your role and the result.
• Show the process for one project: sketches, rejected options and the final design. Panels trust a designer whose thinking they can see.
• Label self-initiated or class work as a concept, not as a client job. A photo of the real printed piece is stronger than a perfect mockup.
• Keep it as a PDF under about 10 MB saved offline, plus a Behance or Drive link, and check both open on a phone.

Mistakes to avoid

• Sending RGB, low-resolution or no-bleed files to print, then blaming the printer for the result.
• Using too many fonts and colours, and body text too small to read on a phone.
• Presenting Canva templates, Google images or pirated fonts as original work in the portfolio.
• Claiming Illustrator or InDesign skills after only following tutorials; panels often ask you to open the source file.
• Stretching, recolouring or “improving” a client's or donor's logo to fit your design.
• Defending your taste when the panel critiques your work, instead of linking back to the brief and audience.

Quick check

5 questions. Answer each one to see the explanation.