Digital Designer Job Description

Digital Design professionals use digital tools to generate visual media of many kinds. Their diverse creations include visual effects, animations, graphics, and larger interfaces like websites and apps. While other designers might focus more intently on aesthetics, Digital Designers’ primary concern is how people interact with designs. In this overview, you’ll learn more about what Digital Designers do, what they typically earn, and how to learn the skills required to land a job. 

What is a Digital Designer?

The simplest way to describe a Digital Designer is as a visual media creator who emphasizes interactivity. These designers are distinguished from other classes of designers by their focus on how people experience their designs. Rather than focusing solely on what their designs communicate visually, Digital Designers spend considerable time perfecting components like information architecture and accessibility. To improve user-friendliness even more, digital design projects often include prototyping and preparatory phases that include demographic research. 

Digital Designers are best known for their digitally generated graphics, animations, and visual effects, but many Digital Designers also create full-scale websites and apps. If one type of project piques their interest more than others, a Digital Designer can specialize in a unique aspect of digital design. Some Digital Designers choose to highlight primarily digital projects, while others work exclusively on preparing interactive print designs for marketing. 

Because digital design is an umbrella term that includes many different design niches, most digital design professionals collaborate with a team. Their team may include fellow Designers, Project Managers, Product Designers, and IT professionals. 

Job Requirements

To land a job in digital design, you’ll need to meet industry standards in several areas. 

Experience and Skills

The majority of digital design jobs require several years of experience. Vocational training programs such as bootcamps, certificate courses, and design degrees usually include opportunities to gain experience during your training. You’ll also need to show hiring managers that you know what you’re doing. You can demonstrate your existing repertoire by submitting examples of your work as part of your professional design portfolio. Keep reading to discover what skills you’ll need as a Digital Designer. 

Education

If you’re learning digital design for personal fulfillment only, you may be able to get away with learning via free online resources and short classes. However, if you want to become a successful design professional, undertaking more comprehensive training is a necessity. Digital design jobs typically require a Bachelor of Art (B.A.) degree that emphasizes a design topic such as UX/UI design, graphic design, or web design. However, you can gain access to many entry-level positions by participating in a design bootcamp or certificate-granting course. 

Certification and Licensing

A certificate-granting course can provide you with training and experience, but a certification offers employers proof of your skill level. While you can demonstrate your skills in a portfolio, this official verification lends additional credibility to your name that can make it easier to get jobs and qualify you for higher pay. Such a qualification can only be gained by passing an exam proctored by an industry-respected organization like Adobe, Human Factors International, or The Nielsen Norman Group. 

Job Responsibilities

Because Digital Designers can work in many different industries and specialize in unique areas of design, the tasks they complete on a day-to-day basis vary from one person to the next. The resulting pool of projects is incredibly diverse, with examples including:

• Advertisements that are interactive and accessible.
• Official email designs for business communications.
• Digital user interfaces such as websites and apps.
• Interactive icons and buttons for apps and other digital platforms.
• Infographics that are easy to read and understand.
• Interactive ebooks.
• Templates that users can apply in PowerPoint and other apps.
• Motion graphics and special effects that can be applied to websites and video content.
• Three-dimensional models for use in video games, construction planning, and product design.

Many digital designers also create custom social media pages (and content) with attention to elements like accessibility, credibility, and aesthetics. 

Skills

Like other schools of design, digital design is built on classic design principles that Digital Designers need to know how to implement. Among the many design theory concepts that Digital Designers rely on are composition, color, and typography. While it’s possible to create a digital design without knowledge of applied design theory, utilizing design principles effectively enables professional Digital Designers to create designs that are both interactive and user-friendly. 

To live up to the “digital” half of their name, Digital Designers need to know how to use a variety of technological tools. In addition to popular graphic design tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, they may also deploy video production software such as After Effects. Moreover, Digital Designers use specialized software like Sketch and Figma to create and test prototypes.

Other technical skills commonly used in digital design include: 

• Graphic design
• Web design
• UX/UI design
• Coding
• Project management
• Digital marketing
• Motion graphics design
• Product design

Communication is among the most vital skills a Digital Designer can develop, but this doesn’t just mean conveying ideas clearly and respectfully when working with clients and team members. For a Digital Designer, effective communication skills are also about being able to anticipate how people will respond to design features with relative accuracy. To create more user-friendly designs, Digital Designers must become adept at accepting and implementing feedback with humility. 

Additional soft skills needed for effective digital design include:

• Applied design theory
• Time management
• Problem-solving
• Creativity

Why Do Businesses Need Digital Designers?

Great digital design can do a lot for a business, from increasing sales to helping build a trusted brand. When it comes to making sales, great first impressions have a big impact. A visually stunning design can help create a positive impression, but it’ll all go to waste if interactive features don’t function properly. Have you ever tried to buy something from an online business only to be met with a check-out page that doesn’t work or a search feature that turns up the wrong items? Because Digital Designers specialize in creating interactive media that’s both pretty and functional, they can offer businesses better results than a Graphic Designer or Web Designer alone. 

In addition to ensuring people’s first experience with business is positive, great digital design can generate long-term customer loyalty. Designs that offer aesthetic functionality at a high level are often seen as more professional and therefore more trustworthy. Moreover, people are impressed when a business demonstrates consistent consideration for their feelings and experiences. By ensuring that products, online platforms, and advertising are always user-friendly, a business can convey care for customers wordlessly. 

Digital design can also be used to build an emotional attachment between customers and brands or products. Long before the Internet and social media made online interactivity mainstream, businesses understood that more interaction meant more sales. Analytics show that just holding a product increases your likelihood of purchasing it, which is why cosmetics stores make every effort to get you to try their make-up products and perfumes in-store. Similarly, home-goods stores like Ikea may display products in user-friendly “rooms” that allow shoppers to interact with and envision products in their homes.

Where Do Digital Designers Usually Work?

Businesses across a wide variety of industries rely on Digital Designers to create user-centered designs that can increase their profits and customer loyalty. As a result, Digital Designers have a lot of flexibility when it comes to where they work. For instance, they can choose to be self-employed freelancers (independent contractors) or work for a company. Many designers also work for design studios and marketing agencies. 

Digital Designers can highlight additional interests through the industry they choose to work in. For example, Digital Designers who enjoy storytelling commonly enjoy working in industries like publishing or game design. In contrast, those who like to add analytical tasks to their creative work life may prefer working in industries like computer systems design or software development. 

Among the most common industries for Digital Designers to work in are:

• Advertising
• Computer systems design
• Entertainment media
• Game design
• Management consulting
• Publishing
• Social Media
• Software development
• Web Design

Digital Designer Salary and Job Outlook

If you become a Digital Designer, your salary may vary depending on where you live. According to statistics from Indeed.com, Digital Designers working in the United States usually earn between $75,000 and $154,000 per year. Additional factors that may impact your salary include your level of experience and qualifications. 

Because businesses value the impact of digital design, demand for these services is increasing by the year. In fact, digital design’s growth rate has long since outpaced numerous other design fields, including graphic design. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that digital design job openings will increase by 16% from 2022 to 2032. Contrast this to the three percent (and falling) growth rate projected for the graphic design industry, and it’s easy to see which path offers better job security. As a result of this imbalance, many Graphic Designers are learning digital design in an effort to compete.

How Long Does it Take to Become a Digital Designer?

Becoming a Digital Designer looks a bit different for everyone, and that’s a good thing. Thanks to a variety of training modalities, you can customize your training schedule to fit your needs and goals. If you want to start your career quickly and are willing to explore additional training as needed, certificate-granting design bootcamps will likely fit you best. These programs can be completed in just a few months and provide all the necessary skills and experience to start an entry-level design job. 

If your goal is to obtain the most comprehensive education possible in one program, you may be better suited to a design degree. In general, undergraduate B.A. degrees take roughly four years, and Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degrees add two to three more years. 

Digital Designer vs. Graphic Designer

Graphic design and digital design have several overlaps that can make them challenging for newcomers to distinguish. For instance, Digital Designers often utilize skills from graphic design in their work, and both fields treat applied design theory as sacred. No matter how much these sister disciplines have in common, they each have distinguishing characteristics that set them apart. 

The biggest difference between the two is their focus. By and large, Graphic Designers are concerned with creating static images that communicate complex concepts and emotions. Meanwhile, Digital Designers are preoccupied with creating dynamic designs that people can interact with. While Graphic Designers work predominantly with static visual graphics, Digital Designers may create both static and animated graphics. 

Learn the Skills to Become a Digital Designer at Noble Desktop

Want to learn design in a supportive environment? Noble Desktop offers highly-rated design classes covering a range of digital design topics for students at all levels. In addition to shorter classes, you’ll find a variety of career certificates that provide comprehensive training, complete with one-on-one mentorship and professional experience opportunities. Start your journey now by signing up for training live online or participating in face-to-face classes at the school’s NYC campus. 

With the hands-on training you’ll get in the Digital Design Certificate, preparing for a digital design career isn’t hard. Even if you start with no experience, you can learn the UI design and graphic design skills you need to launch your career in a matter of weeks. Instead of sitting through dull lectures, this program will teach you practical skills through activities and projects. In addition to mastering tools like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Figma, you’ll gain the expertise necessary to apply design principles for truly stunning results. 

Learn the skills to make websites and apps that are truly user-friendly in UX & UI Design Certificate. Working with a team, you’ll create your own interactive digital interfaces from start to finish, resulting in work you can proudly display in your portfolio. Rather than focusing only on aesthetics, you’ll learn how to research your target users and prototype to improve accessibility. This course also includes a job preparation segment designed to help you workshop your resume and create the perfect portfolio website. 

If websites are your jam, you can make it into a career by joining Noble Desktop’s Web Design Certificate program. Work toward an impressive portfolio with hands-on assignments that will help you learn a combination of design, coding, and software skills. Quicker than you know, you’ll acquire a versatile skill set that includes UI design theory, Figma, WordPress, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Before you’re through, you’ll also have the chance to build a high-quality portfolio website with help from your expert mentor.