Graphic Designer: Salary & Duties

Becoming a professional graphic designer requires an eye for color, an understanding of layouts, and a unique style that can easily adapt to and anticipate your client's and/or employer's needs. It's a demanding job, but with the raw talent and the right training, you can excel.

Portrait of a Graphic Designer
Graphic design careers focus on creating artwork and designs that appeal to their employers and target audience. They can work with a variety of tools -- from acrylic paints and crayons to photography and digital picture editing programs -- all in the pursuit of creating just the right image or layout for their project.

Because graphic design covers the creation of art as a communicative device, it is a vital profession within both media-related fields and consumer-driven industries as a means of communicating with the audience and/or grabbing their attention.

Graphic Design Gets Seen All Over
The work of graphic designers can be seen nearly anywhere. From the magazine you read this morning to the website you're reading now, to the box of cereal you had for breakfast and the billboard you saw on your way home, graphic design plays an important role in all areas of the economy.

As a result, graphic designers may seek jobs in fields like the magazine industry, advertising, film studios, and book publishers. In addition to their regular graphic design jobs, they may also work freelance for clients on the side. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), about a quarter of all graphic designers are self-employed.

From Raw Talent to Practiced Skill
The ability to pick up a pen and ink out a picture doesn't always guarantee you a job in graphic design. Many of today's companies require that an applicant be able to demonstrate their skills and knowledge with the proper degree.

While an associate degree may be sufficient for graphic design positions that focus on the technical, most employers are looking for aspiring graphic designers with Bachelor's degrees. Fortunately, many schools of higher education offer students the chance to study and attain a degree in either the fine arts or graphic design.

Graphic Design Inks Out a Deal
According to the BLS, employment for graphic designers is expected to grow by 10 percent between 2006 and 2016; however, because employers look for talent and style that appeals to them, competition for these open positions can be high. The BLS estimates that the middle 50 percent of graphic designers earned somewhere between $30,600 and $53,310 in 2006.

Sound Off! Post Your Comments