Top 9 Types of Graphic Design For Digital Marketing

Types of graphic design shape how brands speak visually, from logos to motion graphics, as each serves a unique purpose. Understanding these types of graphic design helps businesses pick the right visual strategy, avoid wasted spend, and connect with customers more effectively. Whether you’re refreshing your brand identity or launching a digital campaign, knowing what’s available gives you confidence.

Why Should You Know About Types of Graphic Design?

Every business faces visual puzzles like unclear branding, sluggish packaging, or ads that don’t grab attention. That’s where knowing the types of graphic design helps solve real problems. For example, brand design makes a strong first impression, packaging design stands out on shelves, and motion graphics boost social engagement. By recognizing the right type for each scenario, you invest smarter, not harder.

Common business challenges

Feeling invisible in a crowded market? That’s a sign you might need brand or visual identity design to sharpen your image and build trust. Selling a physical product that blends in on store shelves? Packaging design can create clarity while balancing legal copy, hierarchy, and visual appeal without cluttering the space.

Seeing social or digital metrics slump? Motion graphics breathe life into static visuals, animating your message to spark engagement and support conversion. And if you are finding that users aren’t quite satisfied with your website, UI/UX design can help you rectify that problem.

Differentiating all the types of graphic design is essential

How knowing the types directs your design investments strategically

When you know the main types of graphic design, you can match each part of your marketing plan to the right creative solution. That means:

• Investing in brand design builds recognition and trust over time.
• Allocating budget to packaging design ensures shelf impact and compliance, optimizing shelf visibility and customer usability.
• Using motion graphics for digital ads or explainers makes your content pop, saving time and boosting viewer retention.

Top 9 Key Types of Graphic Design

Brand & Visual Identity Design

This type of graphic design is all about logos, color palettes, typography, and style guides. Visual identity builds trust like classic brands like Apple or Nike, whose look is instantly recognized and valued with only the most basic of items. For businesses, investing in brand and visual identity design communicates authority, differentiates from competitors, and supports consistent messaging across all touchpoints.

Marketing & Advertising Graphic Design

Here we’re talking about social ads, digital banners, flyers, and email graphics. These are created specifically to draw attention and generate action. Combined with marketing strategy, this type of graphic design drives leads by framing messages visually and emotionally. When done well, marketing graphics can make campaigns pop and convert browsers into buyers.

Learn all the types of graphic design you should use

Publication & Print Design

Brochures, magazines, reports and other printed assets belong here. Print collateral creates a tangible connection, something your audience can touch and keep, enhancing brand awareness through familiarity. High‑quality print design boosts credibility and positions your business as professional and reliable.

Digital Graphics Design

Visuals for ebooks, emails, and app interfaces count towards this. Digital design brings your brand to life online thanks to its clear layout, consistent visuals, and engaging elements across all fronts, making sure that no matter which platform your audience chooses, you can ensure that what they see will be uniformed throughout.. Since most business interactions happen on screens these days, this type of graphic design plays a critical role in user trust and experience into the near future.

Packaging Design

Packaging design covers product boxes, labels, mock‑ups, and wrapping, and is considered a part of POSM (point-of-sale materials). It often acts as a silent brand ambassador on retail shelves because it will help you stand where things matter most.

Effective packaging grabs attention, conveys product value, and drives purchase decisions right at retail stores, supermarkets, etc. Brands that nail packaging design often enjoy increased visibility and stronger recognition at the point of sale while also making an impression on consumers.

For example, Coca-Cola with their campaign surrounding cans with names on them. This has incentivized people to go out of their way to search for their own names as well as their loved ones to collect, which does wonders for revenue. On another hand, many brands have taken it upon themselves to support environmental causes with organic packaging, another good way to polish your brand identity and leave a good impression.

Environmental Graphic Design

This involves signage, murals, wayfinding, and branded spaces within offices, retail stores, or events. These designs blend architecture and graphics to guide, inform, or delight visitors. Done well, they transform a space into a walking brand experience for your audience the entire way, with functional and memorable items. Concerts and events are where you usually see these types of graphic design.

Motion Graphics & Animation

Animated ads, explainer videos, and kinetic typography are what represents motion graphics. They help break down complex ideas quickly, boost retention, and capture attention  so messages land with clarity and engagement. For digital campaigns, motion design delivers high ROI by increasing conversions and user interaction because it pops up, basically poking people on their shoulders and saying “hey, look at me!”

Illustration & Infographic Design

This type includes custom illustrations, data charts, maps, infographics, and narrative visuals. It works beautifully when you need to tell a story, explain concepts or make data less intimidating. Infographics increase engagement and comprehension, often making complex subjects feel simple and visually inviting. These items will usually pop up in market reports or overviews about an industry to make the sheer amount of data more digestible.

All illustrations in your digital marketing plan matter

UI/UX Design

While UX covers functionality, the graphic design side focuses on aesthetic consistency in user interfaces like buttons, icons, layout styling, and visual feedback. These design choices make apps and websites feel polished and trustworthy while also embracing the branding of the business.

Good UI design ensures users intuitively understand where to click, what to read, and feel aligned to your brand’s look and feel.

Upcoming Trends & Considerations About Types of Graphic Design

AI in graphic design workflows

AI is transforming how businesses tap into the types of graphic design by accelerating idea generation and visual consistency. AI can be used to help generate concepts quickly, iterate across styles, and scale assets for campaigns, often saving clients over 60% in time and cost. Designers now pair AI tools with human creativity, using machines for drafts and humans for refinement, making your visual output both fast and unique.

Mobile and social-first visuals

Since most of your audience is scrolling on mobile, visual content needs to have optimized loading times. Short animations, vertical layouts, and bold typography help brands pop in feeds and stories. Motion graphic design plays an important role here, with bite‑sized animations created specifically for social platforms that grab attention and drive clicks without feeling forced.

What to note when doing graphic design in the near future

Cross-channel consistency

With content spread across touchpoints—website, social, packaging, signage—your brand needs a unified look. Consistent use of logos, colors, fonts, and layout rules strengthens recognition and trust, while reducing visual chaos and misalignment. Whether you’re using print brochures or animated ads, maintaining visual cohesion across the types of graphic design you use builds credibility and makes your brand feel polished and professional.

FAQs About Types of Graphic Design

What are the main types of graphic design, and how are they different?

The main types include brand & visual identity, marketing & advertising, publication & print, digital & web, packaging, environmental, motion graphics, illustration & infographics, and UI/UX (graphic-focused). Each serves different needs, branding builds recognition, packaging grabs shelf impact, motion connects in feeds, etc., and choosing depends on what business outcome you’re aiming for.

How do I know which type I need for my business?

Start by clarifying your top goal, which can either be launch, campaign, product release, experience, or all of those, and match it to the design type that best supports that objective. Use identity for branding, motion or marketing for campaign boosting, packaging for product display, and digital design for web/app presence.

Can one designer cover multiple types?

Yes, many designers offer multiple skills. A branding expert might also do motion or digital graphics—but experience matters. Especially for animation or packaging, look for prior portfolio examples in that specific type to ensure quality and consistency.

How long does each type typically take—from brief to final files?

A visual identity package (logo + guide) can take 2–4 weeks. Motion graphics may take 2–3 weeks depending on length and revisions. Packaging and UI/UX often require more planning and iteration, so expect 3–6 weeks for full delivery, including proofs, mock‑ups, and handoffs.

Generally, you can discuss with many service providers and freelancers to find the ones best fit your schedule.

What file formats will I receive for each design type?

Deliverables depend on use case:

• Brand identity: SVG, EPS, PNG, PDF; style guide in PDF or link.
• Marketing / motion: JPEG, PNG, MP4 or GIF; design source files (AI, PSD).
• Packaging / print: High-res PDF or AI in CMYK; dielines and editable files.
• Digital & web: JPG, PNG, SVG for visuals; possibly layered PSD or Figma files.

Do I need print versions and digital versions of the same collateral?

Yes, because print and digital require different specs. For example, PDFs in CMYK at 300 dpi for print versus RGB JPEG, PNG, or SVG in 72–150 dpi for web. Ensuring both ensures quality and consistency across platforms, and you will need to present yourself to audiences on all fronts, so don’t leave anything on the table.

Why work with a professional designer rather than a template tool?

Templates and AI tools can be quick but they lack strategy, originality, and customization. A professional designer builds visuals that align with your brand story, audience, and long-term goals.

Things to you need to know the types of graphic design

On Digitals Can Be Your Partner in Graphic Designing

Types of graphic design matter because they turn your business goals into visual outcomes that actually work from building trust with brand identity to boosting engagement through marketing, motion, or packaging design. With these different types of graphic design, you can align your investments with strategy, maintain consistency across channels, and choose the right creative tools for each project.

On Digitals is a Vietnam‑based digital marketing agency that goes beyond campaigns, we bring brands to life. If you’re wondering how to translate your design strategy into visuals that impress, our creative design services include branding, eye-catching digital graphics, and performance‑driven visuals aligned with marketing goals. Every design integrates seamlessly with broader digital marketing, whether it’s social media, email campaigns, or ads.

>>> Read more: Offshore brochure design services in Vietnam