Careers > Graphic Designers

Graphic Designers

$57.99K Median Salary 23.9K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 2.9% Job Growth

Find Colleges for this Career Find Certificates for this Career

About This Career

Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.

Reported Job Titles

Artist, Brand Designer, Designer, Graphic Artist, Graphic Design Coordinator, Graphic Designer, Online Producer, Production Artist, Publications Designer, Technical Illustrator

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Originality

Fluency of Ideas

Near Vision

Written Comprehension

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Written Expression

Deductive Reasoning

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Visual Color Discrimination

Inductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Problem Sensitivity

Visualization

Category Flexibility

Selective Attention

Knowledge

Design

Computers and Electronics

Fine Arts

Communications and Media

English Language

Sales and Marketing

Customer and Personal Service

Production and Processing

Administration and Management

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Active Learning

Critical Thinking

Writing

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Judgment and Decision Making

Reading Comprehension

Social Perceptiveness

Time Management

Monitoring

Negotiation

Persuasion

Service Orientation

Technology Skills

Web platform development software

Video creation and editing software

Computer aided design CAD software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Desktop publishing software

Web page creation and editing software

Presentation software

Data base user interface and query software

Electronic mail software

Development environment software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Spreadsheet software

Optical character reader OCR or scanning software

Document management software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Enterprise application integration software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Operating system software

Graphical user interface development software

Sales and marketing software

Music or sound editing software

Object or component oriented development software

Internet browser software

Project management software

Process mapping and design software

Tools

Laser printers

Photocopiers

Still cameras

Scanners

Notebook computers

Digital cameras

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Tablet computers

Abilities

Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Knowledge

Design: Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Fine Arts: Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.

Technology Skills

Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Optical character reader OCR or scanning software: Text scanning software
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Enterprise application integration software: Electronic Data Interchange EDI systems
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Graphical user interface development software: Adobe Systems Adobe RoboHelp
Sales and marketing software: Google Ads; HubSpot software; Marketo Marketing Automation
Music or sound editing software: Music software
Object or component oriented development software: Oracle Java
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Process mapping and design software: Microsoft Visio

Tools

Laser printers: Computer laser printers
Photocopiers: Photocopying equipment
Still cameras: 35 millimeter cameras
Scanners: Data input scanners
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Digital cameras:
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:
Tablet computers:

Related Careers

Desktop Publishers

$47.91K Salary -12.2% Job Growth

Set and Exhibit Designers

$59.99K Salary 9.1% Job Growth

Interior Designers

$61.59K Salary -0.1% Job Growth

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

$57.56K Salary 17.4% Job Growth

View All