Graphic Designers
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.
- Median pay
- $62,960
- Doing it now
- 253,100
- By 2035
- Down 1.7%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
a year
across the country
16,000 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.
- Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
- Use computer software to generate new images.
- Mark up, paste, and assemble final layouts to prepare layouts for printer.
- Draw and print charts, graphs, illustrations, and other artwork, using computer.
- Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
- Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Design and Applied ArtsSee 679 colleges that teach it
- Visual and Performing Arts, GeneralSee 317 colleges that teach it
- Computer Software and Media ApplicationsSee 202 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Creative and expressive
Organised and precise
Leading and persuading
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $62,960 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.