Is graphic design a good career choice in 2025
If you are interested or curious about improving your graphic design skills, or taking graphic design courses online, a good place to start is to know a bit more about the industry.
Graphic design is everywhere. Every image, button or visual advert on the web or printed media has gone under the scrutiny of a graphic designer. They use a variety of tools and software to create compelling and attractive visual
representations of a product, message, brand or artwork. Graphic designers are often referred to as graphic artists or communication designers, where they use graphics and the structure of websites and printed pages to express ideas. To create aesthetic or decorative effects, they often employ a range of design components whilst using both text and imagery to convey their message.
The style, font, size, colour, and line length of headlines, headers, text, and images are also chosen by them. Whether it’s for a brand, product or a campaign, graphic designers choose how pictures and text will appear in print or on the web, as well as how much space each will take up. When it comes to incorporating text into layouts, graphic designers interact with authors, who pick the words and determine whether they will be placed in paragraphs, lists, or tables.
1. Top graphic design careers
With the advent of the internet, computers, mobile phones, tablets and the use of digital media skyrocketing, there are a multitude of graphic design roles that need to be filled in both the private and public sectors. Whether it’s for creating brand awareness, a poster on a street lamp or a new product launch, the use of good design can make all the difference between the success or failure of an ad campaign. Obtaining a graphic design certificate, or doing a graphic design course will give you the fundamentals you need to get going on a strong, fruitful and exciting career.
Graphic design goes much further than just merely creating imagery. It also speaks about how users engage with online media and how they access certain information. There exists a multitude of roles within the graphic design industry and many career opportunities arise from this. Below are the top graphic design careers:
- Graphic design
- Creative director
- User experience (UX) design
- User interface (UI) design
- Production artist
- Product developer
- Art director
- Marketing specialist
- Multimedia artist or animator
- Freelancer
2. Is graphic design a good career choice for salary?
If you’re considering working or studying toward a qualification in graphic design, be aware that if you’re not creative, good with concepting visual art, or struggle coming up with new ideas for advertising, marketing or branding campaigns, you’ll likely find graphic design quite challenging. On the other hand, if you consider yourself creative with problem solving skills, a good eye for detail and a willingness to learn, you’re already on the right track!
Fortunately, at Upskillist you can hone in on your skills, develop your knowledge and expertise on the subject and take your designs to the next level.
There are a lot of designers, applications, and software that have taken up the roles of graphic designers and nowadays one person can easily do the work that three or four designers had to do 15 years ago.
Gaining experience in a highly competitive industry can be a challenge, and those designers who make a living from their design work, have to stay up to date with the latest design trends and advertising to ensure compelling and up to date designs.
In the US the average salary for graphic designers is estimated at a median salary of $ 55 000 per year. Of course, if you start your own design agency or have a strong base of connections you are in a very credible position to increase your annual earnings well above this 55 k threshold.
In the US, the median salary for 2020 was $ 53 380 per year. The top 25% earners received a median salary of $ 71 310, and the lowest 25% $ 40 160 per year. This is an indication that although the market for graphic designers is very competitive, the median salary earned is still something many people would consider pursuing.
What is the average graphic design salary by state? According the department of labour and statistics in the USA, the average salary earned by graphic designers is listed below:
Rank | State | 2018 Average Annual Wage |
33 | Alabama | $46,960 |
7 | Alaska | $59,640 |
15 | Arizona | $54,030 |
45 | Arkansas | $42,250 |
3 | California | $61,100 |
13 | Colorado | $56,670 |
4 | Connecticut | $60,700 |
20 | Delaware | $50,920 |
District of Columbia | $71,180 | |
27 | Florida | $48,780 |
14 | Georgia | $54,260 |
19 | Hawaii | $51,690 |
38 | Idaho | $45,620 |
11 | Illinois | $56,890 |
40 | Indiana | $45,030 |
43 | Iowa | $43,920 |
34 | Kansas | $46,270 |
41 | Kentucky | $44,550 |
37 | Louisiana | $45,660 |
35 | Maine | $45,800 |
10 | Maryland | $58,610 |
2 | Massachusetts | $64,010 |
32 | Michigan | $47,700 |
16 | Minnesota | $53,500 |
44 | Mississippi | $42,640 |
22 | Missouri | $50,350 |
46 | Montana | $42,220 |
30 | Nebraska | $47,980 |
26 | Nevada | $49,330 |
18 | New Hampshire | $51,710 |
8 | New Jersey | $59,140 |
42 | New Mexico | $44,040 |
1 | New York | $64,840 |
25 | North Carolina | $49,700 |
47 | North Dakota | $41,800 |
23 | Ohio | $50,130 |
48 | Oklahoma | $40,710 |
12 | Oregon | $56,690 |
17 | Pennsylvania | $53,050 |
9 | Rhode Island | $58,720 |
36 | South Carolina | $45,790 |
50 | South Dakota | $36,300 |
28 | Tennessee | $48,760 |
21 | Texas | $50,700 |
29 | Utah | $48,130 |
24 | Vermont | $50,000 |
5 | Virginia | $60,540 |
6 | Washington | $60,530 |
39 | West Virginia | $45,360 |
31 | Wisconsin | $47,980 |
49 | Wyoming | $38,490 |
The 10 highest earning states are:
Rank | State | 2018 Average Annual Wage |
1 | New York | $64,840 |
2 | Massachusetts | $64,010 |
3 | California | $61,100 |
4 | Connecticut | $60,700 |
5 | Virginia | $60,540 |
6 | Washington | $60,530 |
7 | Alaska | $59,640 |
8 | New Jersey | $59,140 |
9 | Rhode Island | $58,720 |
10 | Maryland | $58,610 |
And the 10 lowest earning graphic design salaries are:
Rank | State | 2018 Average Annual Wage |
50 | South Dakota | $36,300 |
49 | Wyoming | $38,490 |
48 | Oklahoma | $40,710 |
47 | North Dakota | $41,800 |
46 | Montana | $42,220 |
45 | Arkansas | $42,250 |
44 | Mississippi | $42,640 |
43 | Iowa | $43,920 |
42 | New Mexico | $44,040 |
41 | Kentucky | $44,550 |
3. The future of graphic design:
The reality is that the graphic design industry has changed dramatically, and many people are attempting to stay up to date with the most recent graphic design trends. When you consider the future of graphic design, what comes to mind? Let’s have a look.
When it comes to the future of graphic design, everyone thinks of virtual reality and augmented reality. As digital media has taken over the graphic design sector, many firms are moving away from print media. As a result, technological advancements will propel the future of graphic design to new heights.
Virtual and augmented reality
For different applications, augmented reality allows individuals to have a real-life experience with images. People will be able to join virtual worlds created by graphic designers. Designers will be able to get away from their computers and create graphics in real time using augmented reality.
Design of materials
Material design is a Google-created design language. It provides on-screen touch interactions by mimicking real-world things with natural movements and cue-rich features. Through 3D effects, motion features, and lighting elements in an immersive graphic user interface, graphic designers may enhance the consumers’ experience.
The end of paper
Graphic design will become more immersive in around 10 years as paper becomes phased out. To put it another way, all of the designs will be digital and have a website to host them. It’s worth noting that the designs will require layers in order for consumers to be able to go further into the designs, allowing individuals to sell things without having to pitch them.
4. Graphic design types
From print and online design to animation and motion graphics, graphic design encompasses a wide range of disciplines and specialities. Graphic design provides chances and alternatives for those with a wide range of interests.
If you asked someone 30 years ago to explain graphic design, they’d probably point to print-related examples like magazines, movie posters, and commercials. Now that we live in the digital age, various new styles of graphic design have emerged.
Advancements in technology have resulted in some of the most noteworthy instances of modern-day graphic design. For users, website design entails generating entertaining and intuitive online sites. The general layout, colour style, and navigation are all part of this.
The goal of user experience (UX) design is to make a website or application as simple and enjoyable to use as possible. Value, usefulness, adaptability, and attractiveness are all important to these designers.
Through special effects, TV programs, video games, and movies, motion graphics design—or animation—brings visual components to life. Creating entertaining and intuitive web pages is part of website design.
In conclusion
Although the graphic design industry is relatively saturated, there is a huge potential for designers who are willing to invest in learning and development in order to expand their skill set and focus on future technological trends for graphic design.
Now that you know how graphic design will evolve in the future, it’s critical to include current trends into your designs. In future professional graphic designers will need to understand aspects such as responsive design, logo design, and motion graphics that will improve the user’s experience.
