Graphic design is specifically described as "the practice and art of designing and presenting experiences and ideas with textual and visual information," according to the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).
In other words, graphic design is the visual illustration of specific concepts or messages. These images might be as straightforward as a poster or complicated as a company website's design.
What Is The Career Outlook For Graphic Designers?
A graphic designer's career prospects are vast today. No wonder so many people are seriously thinking, "Is graphic design a good career?"
What Does The Future Hold For Graphic Designers?
Graphic design is an important marketing tool. Therefore, designers are needed at a range of companies. Nevertheless, different industries expect different things from their respective graphic artists.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, graphic designing positions in the publishing industry are going downhill.
But that doesn't mean the profession is on a downhill. Instead, it's more indicative of the publishing industry's inability to adapt to our rapidly digitizing world.
In contrast, as more businesses improve their digital presence, interest for graphic designers in associated computer systems and services is expected to rise.
Besides, there are countless other opportunities for you to consider as a graphic artist outside of publishing.
Indeed, graphic designers today often have a diverse set of skills that helps them transition between different industries.
What Does A Graphic Designer Earn On Average?
Graphic designer salaries are generally between $55,000 to $83,250 per annum.
The typical income for people just starting their careers in the art and design industry is between $40,000 and $49,000 per year, which is relatively high.
Moreover, this grows from $51,000 to $71,000 per year after approximately five years of experience. In fact, art directors make an average of $76,600 per year, whereas creative directors make roughly $110,000.
Fact is, specialization has a massive impact on the average income. For example, web designers make an estimated $62,000 per year, whereas UI experts earn up to $81,000 per year.
So, if you want to train for a career that is guaranteed to pay huge dividends, then is it for you!
How Do You Transition From Graphic Design to UX and UI Design?
To make the shift from graphic design to UI and UX design, you must augment your design abilities with UI and UX-oriented skills.
Then, utilizing that technical knowledge, you have to create a portfolio and begin networking.
Graphic design expertise, such as critical thinking, attention to detail, and problem-solving, are all helpful in UI and UX design.
Nevertheless, graphic designers should adopt certain measures to successfully switch to UX and UI design.
Learn the Necessary Skills and Tools
Whereas graphic designers are usually well versed in design language, UX and UI responsibilities necessitate additional abilities, like responsive design, interaction design, and wireframing.
You'll also want to learn how to use important programs like InVision and Sketch.
Fortunately, you aren't alone in this endeavor. There are numerous online opportunities for learning UX and UI that you can join.
Practice Employing Your New Talents
Begin communicating on UX and UI projects once you've mastered the foundations. Reinvent current apps and websites, consider how you may improve them, and create a prototype.
Try volunteering for projects that will provide you with exciting networking and experience opportunities.
Therefore, start participating in the UX and UI design process, learning from your coworkers where possible.
Expand Your Portfolio
When seeking UX and UI positions, you have to prepare the right portfolio, just like when applying for graphics designing jobs. Recruiters prefer to see proof of a candidate's abilities.
To expand your profile, work on voluntary and personal projects. You might also wish to submit some prototype designs to demonstrate your versatility.
Connect And Network
Foster as many industry contacts as quickly as possible. These connections could invite potential UI and UX opportunities for you to take advantage of.
You can go about this in several ways. For example, engage in hackathons to improve your abilities, collaborating with other developers and designers in your UI and UX local community.
Popular Graphic Design Career Opportunities
Here is a comprehensive list of career opportunities you can opt for with a graphic design degree, including UX and UI.
User Experience (UX) Designer
UX designers aim to enhance users' experiences via goods, services, and processes while keeping things as frictionless, pleasurable, and straightforward as possible.
They ascertain how the product will feel and how users will interact with it.
Furthermore, UX designers ensure the project moves smoothly from one stage to the next, ironing out any kinks throughout the process after conducting user tests.
Due to these requirements, this profession necessitates a great deal of artistic intuition and an instinctive eye for beautiful design.
As a result, this design field is frequently seen in website design, as companies emphasize the importance of having visually attractive and practical website designs.
User Interface (UI) Designer
UI design is best understood as a subcategory of UX design with similar overarching objectives.
Its designers focus on the item's layout, creating a screen and page, assuring that the graphical layout complements the broader route, a UX designer maps.
Every display or webpage a user encounters is designed by UI designers, who ensure that the UI graphically expresses the route a UX designer maps.
For example, they might select where content should belong on an analytics dashboard with utility in mind. They also pay attention to stylistic harmony and consistency in the finished result.
Graphic Designer
Graphic designers create images and designs for various purposes, including company logos, websites, and product illustrations. Therefore, this versatile job description can describe extensive responsibilities in virtually all sectors.
Product Developer
Product developers conceptualize, organize, and oversee the development of innovations in companies' Research and Development departments.
Although their job description expects them to be adaptable, typical responsibilities involve conducting market research, developing graphics, showing the concept to stakeholders or employers, and participating in the development phase.
Art Director
Art directors work in publication, product packaging, newspapers, and film and television projects. They are tasked with the creative content and visual style, developing the design concept and layout.
To this end, they have to oversee the development of each contributing item by different artists so that it all comes together.
Moreover, they collaborate with their clients and employers to create an aesthetically-appealing design that satisfies everyone and stays within budget.
Marketing Specialist
Marketing professionals gather and analyze data on potential customers, launch advertising campaigns, assess the efficacy of marketing efforts, and develop advertising campaigns to promote their company's offerings.
Multimedia Artist Or Animator
Animators and multimedia artists use special modeling applications to create intricate motion images.
They consider narrative, visual impact, platforms, budget, and development to generate satisfactory material. Animation is an excellent tool to develop interest and awareness about a particular brand.
Hence, several organizations that wish to expand their online visual footprint have hired graphic designers with motion graphics and animation expertise.
Salaries And Industry Standards
Estimating a graphic designer's wage isn't a precise science. Pay scales are carefully controlled in many public sector occupations, like teaching and the military.
Hence, you can be sure of what you'll get for a specific position in those cases.
On the other hand, the market totally determines a graphic design salary.
So naturally, rates will fluctuate depending on the industry's status, existing graphic designing talent demand, and the number of people penetrating the job market.
With the increasing digitization of our culture and society, every firm realizes that it must be a design-led organization to thrive.
Consequently, although the quantity of graphic designers is growing, it is nowhere near apace with demand.
Salaries for graphic designers appear relatively stable throughout the board, with earnings anticipated to remain high as more organizations compete for the top graphic designers.
The starting income for newcomers is competitive with those in other fields: Payscale estimates that the average entry-level graphic design salary in New York City is US$44,742.
Therefore, a graphic design career, including your very first job, pays well enough for you to live comfortably.
And there's a universe of opportunities out there, with appropriate increases in compensation as you move up to a senior post.
How Experience Impacts Graphic Designer Salaries
Comparing your graphic design compensation to that of other positions offered is the most practical approach to ensure what you're getting disbursed is in sync with your experience level.
Indeed, one of the most critical aspects of determining an employee's pay scale is their amount of experience.
A junior designer will have the least time working in the industry and qualifications.
In fact, this is a position typically occupied by fresh graduates. Consequently, their stipend reflects their status as a novice.
However, within two to six years, a junior graphic designer normally progresses to a 'graphic designer,' either within the existing firm or in a new one. A wage increase accompanies this promotion.
It's also worth noting that some of the brightest graduates from top graphic design schools go immediately into graphic designing jobs without climbing the corporate ladder.
The higher you climb the hierarchy, the greater competition you'll face. During such challenging circumstances, simply performing exceptional work isn't necessarily adequate.
You have to go the extra mile, and the most driven individuals always succeed in the end.
Get High-Paying Graphic Design Gigs!
Graphic designing can be quite a fulfilling career for creatives, as it is high-paying and allows people to see the impact of their work on people. Moreover, graphic designers have an effective way to channel their creativity.
If you want to learn graphic designing, consider enrolling in online graphic design classes with Superprof. Their tutors will help you develop your skills so you can stand apart from your competition.
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