Is Graphic Design A Good Career?

You may have heard conflicting information about if graphic design is still a good career choice or not. And I did a video earlier that went into the overall statistics which shows it is actually growing overall as an industry. I’ve had several people asking me to provide more insight and information with regards to Graphic Design today and how this industry will be affected by the current and future economy. And while I don’t have a magic ball to see the future, it is very clear that no matter what happens, as long as there are businesses out there, graphic design will always be needed. 

Some people have also asked me about the details of the job. Is it fun? Is it grueling?, can you still make a full living off of it?

I have had the opportunity to work for 6 years in-house at a publishing house and then over 4 years with my own design company. So I have insight into both.

Design is more than illustration and art

First off, if you love to draw, do art and do illustration, you need to know that graphic design involves much more than just illustrations, which is just a fraction of the skills. Some designers don’t even use illustration, though it is really helpful for logos if you do have a familiarity with drawing. All I wanted to do at first was to be an illustrator and I kind of fell into having to learn graphic design as my job required it. I will be honest, I at first really disliked it and rejected the idea of being a designer, but once I understood that EVERYTHING in this world is essentially designed, from books to websites and YouTube thumbnails and social media posts and flyers and business cards, and on and on and on… and that knowing this skill opens up unlimited capabilities, I embraced and fell deeply in love with it. But graphic design is not just about making something look pretty. It’s about solving problems in a visual way. It is understanding typography, layout, spacing, colors and how to attract people to read whatever you are designing.

You can't be sensitive about criticism

Secondly, I will just say this at the start, one of the requirements of a designer is to have thick skin when clients or co-workers provide criticism to you about how they do or don’t like your designs. You can’t take it personally, but need to be willing to accept that people will want to make changes to your designs and learn from them. Why did something not work and how can you apply it to your designs next time to avoid making that same mistake or getting that same reject.

I have a video that goes over a 7 step process about what you need to know to become a graphic designer without going to school. Yes, it does take a lot of hard work, practice and dedication, but if you have a love and an eye for making things look good, you can get there.

Working in a company

When you’re working in a company you have very specific projects that are all for that one brand. You will have all sorts of requests on a daily basis for small design projects and have to stay focused as well on long-term projects such as building a new website or ads, posters, flyers, postcards, etc. for launching a new marketing campaign. There is a limit to the level of innovation you can provide as it usually has to go through many levels of approval, but you can still add your own creativity and should do so to elevate and grow the company. It is nice to have a dependable salary, but you may get burnt out doing a lot of routine designs and not getting to explode your potential.

Benefits of starting your own freelance design business

In your own business you not only have to have the skill of graphic design but you have to do all the other things that keep a business going. This includes finding clients, sending invoices, having your business registered with the government and growing your business. There’s no limit to how much you can expand except on what effort you are willing to put into it. You can choose your own schedule, choose the type of projects you want to work on and not have any boss hanging over your head. Instead of dealing with the employees within the company, you have to work with clients who can range from amazing to horrific.

The best clients will give you a great understanding of the project, excellent feedback to work with on any corrections, pay on time and work with you to complete projects in a few days or weeks. The horrific clients are on the opposite end providing way too much detailed direction where you mine as well give them the design tools so they can do it themselves. Or providing no direction and then just saying they don’t like something with no explanation, they would drag out projects for months and not be willing to pay. It is inevitable you will get both sides of the coin, but it is usually only 20% that are a little difficult and only 2% that are truly unbearable.

There are simple ways to remove these type of clients from your business or even prevent working with them before getting started. And I will be making videos on HOW TO AVOID PROBLEMATIC CLIENTS in the near future.   

Income potential

In terms of paying, it is all up to the type of clients and the way you position yourself. If you want to be competing with designers who are offering their services for free or $5, then you are not going to get very far and will be miserable. If you have practiced your butt off and know your craft, then there is no reason that you will not make a good amount of money. I have another video which I highly recommend you check out that lays out how to not struggle as a freelance graphic designer and how to actually stand out in the crowd. If you really want to make this into a strong business, you absolutely can. It’s all about positioning.

I hope that helped to give you an overview of graphic design as a career and please let me know any other subjects you would like to hear about.