Graphic design is used whenever visual intricacy and creativity are applied to the presentation of text and imagery.Contemporary design practice has been extended to the modern computer.

Anywhere there is a need to communicate visually, there is potential enhancement of communications through graphic design.

From road signs to technical schematics, from interoffice memos to reference manuals, graphic design enhances transfer of knowledge. Readability is enhanced by improving the visual presentation of text. Intricate and clever pictures are used when words cannot suffice.

Graphic designs have a unique ability to persuade and sell a product with the help of adequate communications and aesthetic. It is applied to product as well as elements of company identity like logos, colors and text, together defined as branding. See advertizing. Branding has increasingly become important in the range of services offered by many graphic designers, alongside corporate identity and the terms are often used interchangeably.

Graphic designers have long been involved in web design. Combining visual communication skills with the interactive communication skills of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with web developers to create both the look and feel of a web site and enhance the online experience of web site visitors.