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What Careers are in Graphic Design?

graphic design careers

Creative people should do work that stimulates their imaginations and keeps them interested in their jobs, and careers in graphic design offer the creative outlet that many designers are looking for. From traditional graphic art to modern UX design, artistic individuals have many options to choose from when it comes to finding a creative profession. It’s not always necessary to have a college degree before pursuing a career, but the knowledge and training obtained from a university education can be valuable.

Graphic Artist

Graphic artists perform the traditional role of creating art for corporate, government and nonprofit clients. Their jobs can be highly creative or fairly routine, depending on the clients’ tastes and the contracts they request. Some of the most famous artworks of the last 50 years have been created by graphic artists, including the Air Jordan logo, the Pixies album covers and the Hope poster image of Barack Obama. A few of the job duties of a graphic artist are illustration, typesetting, poster design and book cover design. Graphic artists create brochures, advertisements, business cards, restaurant menus and many other items that require visual design.

Web Designer

Web design is one of the fastest-growing careers in the economy, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web designers are responsible for creating the art and graphics that decorate websites, including business logos, whiteboard animations, videos, corporate art and website themes. The job description of a Web designer is quite flexible, and some employers expect their designers to handle PHP, Python, Ruby, JavaScript and Java programming as well as HTML5 media and other coding duties. Other employers simply hire Web designers to handle artistic tasks, such as editing photos or creating Web graphics in Adobe Illustrator. Web designers should be proficient in several leading software applications, such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver or Cinema 4D.

User Experience Designer

User experience design, also called UX design, is a relatively new type of job for graphic designers with expertise in many areas of design. A UX designer thinks about the overall experience that a user will have with a smartphone app, Web application or desktop program. Creating an enjoyable experience for the user is one of the most important tasks for a software manufacturer to perform. UX designers need to have excellent taste in many areas of visual and conceptual design. They work with software developers, writers, artists and animators to ensure that every aspect of a project is interesting, engaging and impressive.

Game Designer

Game design is another career choice that has become much more relevant as technology has improved over the years. Artists are needed to create all of the visual features of a video game from the environment and characters to the layout and graphical elements. According to the BLS, game designers earn a median annual salary of around $70,530, with the top-earning 10 percent taking home around $123,060. As a game designer, you could be responsible for sculpting, modeling, skinning, texturing or animating characters. You may also be in charge of filling in the details of a game world that has been dreamt up by a team of developers and writers.

Job opportunities in creative professions are abundant for anyone who knows where to look and how to show off his or her talents. Careers in graphic design can be stimulating and highly rewarding for creative people.

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