Graphic Designer Job Titles

Since graphic design is such a wide-ranging career field, it is vital to consider the different job titles and responsibilities of different professionals. These different job titles will inform prospective employees of the responsibilities, requirements, and specializations involved in that job. For example, Graphic Designers may find work as Illustrators, which indicates that they are specialists who use vector graphics programs like Adobe Illustrator a great deal in their day-to-day work. Graphic Designers may also find employment as Creative Directors or Senior Graphic Designers, both of which indicate that the job requirements will require designers to oversee teams and direct the workflow that goes into larger projects.

While there is a great deal of overlap between these titles and their responsibilities, prospective designers will want to consider the bonuses and responsibilities implied by specific job titles.

What is a Graphic Designer?

A Graphic Designer is a creative professional who combines text and visually appealing imagery to share a message with an audience. This could be through advertising, social media, or product packaging, to name a few. They are well-versed in design principles like color and typography and are committed to staying up-to-date on the latest trends. Whether they work for an agency or freelancer, they collaborate with clients and other team members to create high-quality designs that appeal to new and existing customers. 

In addition to proficiency in professional design programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, a successful Graphic Designer must also work well with others. Graphic Designers rarely work alone, and since their job is to create a product that matches a client's vision, they must be willing to accept feedback and suggestions from others. Time management skills are also crucial for a Graphic Designer; since most of them work freelance, they often work on multiple projects for many clients simultaneously. 

Read more about what a Graphic Designer does. 

Graphic Designer Skills

To succeed as a Graphic Designer, you’ll need to start with a solid background in design principles, like typography, composition, and textures. Knowing how these factors work together will help you design images that appeal to the widest audience possible. Graphic Designers should also be familiar with various software programs, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Most available positions require experience with at least one of these programs; many require all three.

Since it’s becoming more common for designers to create images for the web, learning some basic coding skills in HTML and CSS can also be beneficial. Other required skills will depend on the specific designs you create in your role. For example, designers who want to focus on improving the user experience of a product will need to be proficient in using programs like Adobe XD or Figma. 

Outside of the technical demands of a career in graphic design, an ideal candidate will also possess several soft skills. Creativity likely goes without saying, but creativity is about more than enjoying and creating art in all its forms; it’s also a skill that needs to be honed. Many creative professionals will complete brief, daily exercises to ensure they’re practicing creative strategies and keeping their skills up-to-date. Graphic Designers should also have excellent communication skills; not only is their work designed to communicate with an audience, but they also frequently work in large teams and need to balance multiple stakeholders' requests as they fine-tune their designs. 

Read more about what skills you need to become a Graphic Designer.

Graphic Designer Career Path

There’s no one path that all Graphic Designers take to start their careers, but the basic steps outlined below provide a basic example of how to go from beginner to professional:

• Before embarking on any formal training, you may want to explore the basics of graphic design, so you’re more informed about what this career path entails. You can do this by reading books about basic design principles, watching free tutorials, and chatting with like-minded creatives on social media platforms like Facebook and Reddit.
• While not explicitly required, an education of some sort is highly beneficial. Many Graphic Designers have a college degree, while others take courses through alternative educational entities, like the graphic design courses at Noble Desktop.
• The next step after your education is to find entry-level work through freelancing or at a specific agency. Many of these jobs will have something like “Entry Level” or “Junior” in the job title, and most will still require some experience working with standard design tools.
• Once you have some experience, you can look into more senior graphic design positions. These will often have words like “Senior, “Director,” or “Manager” in the job title. Most positions like this will require anywhere from three to ten years of experience. Some may demand additional skills, like coding with HTML and CSS or knowledge of social media marketing.

It’s also quite common for Graphic Designers to freelance for their entire careers. This path looks understandably different, but you’ll still be able to charge more money for your work as you gain experience. 

Read more about the typical Graphic Designer career path. 

Graphic Designer

Graphic Designer is a generic job title held by a wide variety of non-specialist designers who work in a wide range of mediums and on several different types of projects. These are the rank-and-file designers who are employed by larger firms to work on assignments that range greatly in terms of content and complexity. They will be expected to be able to work with a multitude of different design programs and often work in teams with other designers to build aspects of a larger design project. This is also an ideal entry-level position for designers because it offers a great opportunity for building on-the-job experience in a large swath of design programs. 

Graphic Designers are likely to work at design firms and studios rather than working in-house for specialized companies. This means that a Graphic Designer may be working on a new brand logo one week and may be working on a web design layout project the next. In the US, Graphic Designers earn an average salary of about $54,000 a year, and the requisite experience for each job opening will vary.

Freelance Graphic Designer

Freelance Graphic Designers, as the name implies, perform the same basic tasks as a Graphic Design, but do so without being part of a large firm or corporate team. Freelance Graphic Designers are self-employed designers who serve as their own managers and take on the contracts they decide are worth their time and energy. They are responsible for completing design contracts and all the work that goes into locating and managing freelance contract work. Sometimes this will involve going to major contract posting sites and platforms to seek out design work. Other times, it will involve building relationships with potential clients who will then contract them out as designers.

Freelance Graphic Designers will have much greater control over their work, giving them more freedom to work in a niche specialty rather than taking on a huge range of graphic design projects. The drawback is that they will have to manage their project acquisition, and they will have to spend more time ensuring that they have the amount of freelance work during a week that they need to keep up with their expenses. Freelance workers can expect to make around twenty dollars an hour, sometimes more, on their design work. 

Creative Director

Creative Directors are Graphic Designers who are in charge of leading large projects and design tasks. Sometimes, this means they are responsible for everything from brainstorming ideas to giving an okay on the final project before it is sent off. Other times, they will be tasked with simply organizing and leading the creative direction of a multiple-step development project or product launch. In either case, Creative Directors will need to have the soft skills required to oversee the human element of a design project, and they will need to have the technical skills necessary to participate in multiple steps of the design process.

Creative Designers will be paid significantly more than Graphic Designers. Still, it is assumed that they will have significantly more experience and a background in project management or other human resources work. This means that these jobs aren’t readily available for novice graphic designers, but are the kind of job you can begin laying the groundwork for applying to later in your career. Rather than mastering additional creative tools and software skills, you’ll want to build interpersonal skills and the soft skills required to run teams of individuals. Creative Designers and other equivalent management positions can expect to earn a median salary of about $94,000 a year. 

Senior Graphic Designer

Senior Graphic Designers are experienced designers who are invaluable to a firm’s design projects and help shape its unique style and identity. These are the premiere designers who work on vital aspects of major projects and tend to leave their mark on the work more than the Graphic Designers with whom they work. These designers will have a greater hand in the early stages of the development of projects and will play a larger role in the day-to-day decision-making processes that inform a given project. In addition, they may be expected to do some partial oversight work when teams of developers are involved. This is not an entry-level position, and only designers with a long track record and a deep portfolio and work history will be competitive for jobs with this title.

Senior Graphic Designers are often part of in-house design teams for companies that hire their own designers rather than contracting work out to firms. Designers who work in these firms will have a much larger role in determining the direction of a brand or subsidiaries design projects and may even be responsible for acting as the final authority on a given project. For instance, a game development company may hire a few Senior Graphic Designers who are placed in charge of the graphic design aspects of an individual project. By contrast, a publishing house may hire a Senior Graphic Designer to work on the logos and branding work that is part of their work. Senior Graphic Designers have a fairly varied starting salary, since it mostly depends on the company hiring you to work as a Senior Graphic Designer. According to Indeed, the medium annual wage for a Senior Graphic Designer is $65,000, but positions offering salaries of up to $110,000 a year are regularly posted.

Brand Identity Designer

Brand Identity Designers are specialist designers who work closely with companies to help them design the materials and paraphernalia that will be associated with their brand identity. Start-up businesses, well-established companies, and nonprofit organizations all have investments in ensuring that they are communicating a single, coherent brand identity through the materials that they produce and release to the public. Brand Identity Designers will help them with this process by providing assistance and input on the kinds of designs, such as product packaging, logos, letterhead, content brochures, and merchandise that contributes to the public’s perception of those brands. These are specialized designers, meaning that while they won’t require any specific experience, prospective Brand Identity Designers will want to ensure that their portfolio quickly demonstrates to hiring managers that they know how to work with branded material in particular.

Brand Identity Designers are likely to work more closely with clients than most graphic design positions. Companies and organizations are obviously interested in ensuring that their brand identity projects are running smoothly and delivering results, so they are more likely to have a hands-on approach to working with Brand Identity Designers even if they are hiring an outside firm. Brand Identity Designers may be tasked with doing organizational work, but not nearly as much as a Creative Director or a Senior Graphic Designer may be asked to handle. In the US, the median salary for a Brand Identity Designer is around $75,000 a year. 

Why Become a Graphic Designer?

As the old saying goes, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” For artistic professionals, earning money while being creative is reason enough to pursue a career as a Graphic Designer. However, this profession offers a host of other perks. To start, Graphic Designers work across nearly every industry, so there’s always something new to learn and new people to interact with. For instance, a professional designer might start their career working for a marketing agency before pivoting to healthcare, film, or education. 

Design is also a highly collaborative and rewarding field. You’ll work on designs with input from other professionals, and at the end of that process, you’ll have a concrete product to show off. Finally, Graphic Designers can choose to be self-employed and work remotely for added flexibility. Freelancing may not be for everyone, but knowing the option is there is certainly a bonus, especially in an age where a positive work/life balance is highly sought-after. 

Read more about whether a Graphic Designer is a good career.

Learn the Skills to Become a Graphic Designer at Noble Desktop

If you want to start a career in graphic design, the graphic design classes offered by Noble Desktop are an excellent place to start. Students can take all their classes remotely or in-person at their Manhattan campus. For students who want to start slow by just learning one popular design program, Noble offers an Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp, an Adobe InDesign Bootcamp, and an Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp. These beginner-friendly courses take just a few days to complete and will provide students with foundational design skills.

For those who feel ready to dive into a more comprehensive program, Noble Desktop’s Graphic Design Certificate might be a better fit. Students will complete hands-on assignments using popular design programs, including Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. This program is ideal for those hoping to start a career as a Graphic Designer. Certificate students at Noble Desktop receive individual career mentorship, where experts in the design industry help craft resumes and portfolios and provide helpful tips for finding lucrative employment. 

If a class isn’t feasible for your current schedule, Noble Desktop has a host of resources on its website to help start your graphic design career. You can browse their collection of articles about Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign if you’re curious about how each program works. You can also review information about other design tools to see if another field might interest you more.