r/graphic_design: rules, audience and how brands can post there

Members

2,941,127

Self-promotion

Free resources only. No services or hiring

Created

2008

Checked

November 13, 2026

What r/graphic_design is

A collaborative learning community for graphic designers at any stage, focused on education, mentorship, and mutual support.

Design tool makers with a resource or plugin that's free with no catch, and practitioners who answer questions. Agencies and paid tools are a poor fit.

Can a brand post in r/graphic_design?

The rules, summarised

1. 1. No job posts or self-promotion.

   Do NOT hire designers or promote your services here. Requests for unpaid work → instant ban. For jobs/recruitment, check the pinned job board or try r/designjobs, r/forhire, or r/jobs. No surveys, polls, or social media accounts. If you're sharing your own app, platform, resources, or plugins, they must be free, high-quality and relevant to design.

2. 2. Graphic design only.

   This community is ONLY for graphic design. This means no photography or illustration/art that don't include some design elements. Graphic design is the process of visual communication and problem-solving, and any content without a defined objective, message to communicate, or problem to solve will be removed.

3. 3. Work must be posted with the green "Sharing Work" flair and include relevant context..

   Any work shared to the sub must be accompanied with relevant context, the work's objective/purpose, audience, your design decisions, etc. Posts with the incorrect flair and work shared without context will be removed.

4. 4. No AI or low effort/low quality posts

   Low-effort/low-quality posts that add nothing to the sub will be removed. Design-related memes and shitposts are only allowed on Fridays. AI-generated content or design that heavily relies on AI imagery is not allowed. (This applies to GPT-generated descriptions of your work.) Prompt-farming requests asking "what style is this" will get removed.

5. 5. No basic/repeated questions, doom-posting, or font identification requests.

   Before posting, please do a basic Google search for your question or check the wiki. Then do a subreddit search for your question, it's probably been asked before. This includes repetitive doom-posting, "Is AI going to destroy graphic design?", "Is the industry dying?", "Is a degree still worth it?", "Should I leave the field?", and general state-of-the-job-market venting.

6. 6. This is not a “homework” forum.

   This is a great space for getting feedback on your work, but this is not a place to pick the brains of other designers to do your job *for* you. You can ask specific strategic questions, or ask for inspiration if you're stuck, but please don’t cross the line to getting other users to do your work for you. Absolutely no surveys/polls allowed, ever.

7. 7. No off-topic/non-civil discussion.

   Be civil with each other, especially when giving and receiving critical feedback. Keep it professional and constructive. Antagonistic, aggressive feedback, personal attacks, and heated off-topic comments will get removed and may result in a ban. When discussing design with political/controversial themes, please stay focused on the design. Off-topic arguments about politics may lead to a ban.

8. 8. Credit others appropriately.

   If posting someone else's work, use the Inspiration flair and credit the artist/designer. When posting your own work that's been heavily inspired by, or has drawn on, elements of another person's design, you must credit them. Claiming someone else's work as your own will result in removal. Repeated violations will get you banned.

9. 9. No illegal activity or piracy

   We understand that design software can be prohibitively expensive and difficult to access, however, we do not allow discussion of illegal activity in this sub as it can put the entire sub at risk of being removed by Reddit. This includes discussing piracy of paid software/resources, offering to share subscriptions, and any illegal requests (e.g. questions about forging documents, etc).

10. 10. All posts must be flaired.

    Anything you post must be tagged with the correct flair. "Sharing work" is for sharing YOUR own work, whether you're sharing it as a resource, to get feedback, or as inspiration. "Inspiration" is for sharing others' work. "Discussion" is for...discussion/general design discourse.

11. 11. Include your basic information when asking for hardware advice

    When asking for advice or suggestions for hardware such as tablets and laptops, please give basic information such as location, budget, and how you ideally plan to use the hardware. This information allows users to give you accurate and more helpful suggestions. We can't help you if we don't know your budget or what you need the hardware for.

12. 12. No non-consenting, overly explicit, or sensitive content.

    This is a public forum, please use your best judgement. We allow NSFW designs within reason. But posting non-consenting, overly explicit/sensitive content will result in an immediate ban without recourse and may lead to legal action (in which case the mods will fully cooperate with authorities).

13. 13. Contact and engage mods appropriately

    We are always open to feedback and discussion about the sub's rules and content. If you want something changed or have a suggestion for improving the sub, we're all ears! That said, the only appropriate way to raise your concerns is to contact us via modmail, NOT by messaging a mod’s personal account, especially if you're upset about a modding decision or removal.

Source: the community's own rules page, read on November 13, 2026. Rules change, so check the page before you post. See also the 9:1 rule.

Frequently asked questions