Graphic Designer Requirements

Becoming a Graphic Designer requires applicants to demonstrate their skills and training to prospective employers. While the requirements for each job will vary from position to position, there are a few consistent requirements that applicants must meet to remain competitive on the job market. Regardless of what fields of graphic design you hope to find employment in, you’ll need to demonstrate to your employer that you have significant experience working with graphic design programs and that you can produce the kind of work they want for their projects.

While Graphic Designer skills and tools will vary between jobs, this will cover hard requirements across industries.

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. 

Education

Whether Graphic Designers need a degree is a surprisingly divisive topic amongst professionals; some will say that a degree isn’t nearly as valuable as a portfolio, while others point out that self-teaching requires a great deal of time and discipline. There are plenty of Graphic Designers who hold a bachelor’s degree in art, design, or a related field. Some companies require a degree, but it’s becoming increasingly common for creative professionals to gain experience through freelancing and completing personal passion projects. 

The short (and overly simplified) answer is: A degree is not a requirement, but it helps. If you’d like to pursue a degree to help you stand out in a competitive market, you might consider minoring in public relations, marketing, or advertising. Since Graphic Designers are commonly employed to help sell a good or service, knowing some marketing principles could help you understand the ins and outs of a solid campaign. These added skills will make you more marketable and help you land a lucrative career outside of graphic design if you need more time to build your portfolio.

Read more about if you need a degree to become a Graphic Designer.

Experience

Most Graphic Designer positions don’t have a strict work-related experience requirement. Instead, they tend to require that prospective candidates have significant practical experience working on graphic design projects. While you can achieve this through on-the-job training, it is far more likely that you will get this experience through either a degree program or a specialized training program.

While most students will receive this training through a four-year degree program, an alternative route to gain this experience is an accelerated skills program, such as a certificate-granting training program or a bootcamp. These courses will teach students how to use the essential tools associated with their jobs much faster and with an eye for career development. The drawback is that since these courses are accelerated, students won’t have as much time to experiment with their designs and develop a personal style. Students will likely need to find other methods of building practical experience and developing their techniques and styles. Some jobs will likely require less experience, so these are good options to explore.

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.

Portfolio

Almost all Graphic Design jobs will require prospective employees to provide hiring committees with sample portfolios demonstrating the kinds of projects that a candidate has worked on. Usually, this is the most critical part of the hiring process. A good portfolio will be the difference between being considered for the job and having your application quickly rejected.

Students working in traditional mediums may want to make a physical portfolio that they can distribute and share with their potential employers or they can build a web portfolio that will make sharing this content easier. Building an online portfolio is a good way to demonstrate your proficiency with digital publishing and distribution, though it may require more work from the prospective designer. One of the advantages of a physical portfolio is that you can customize it for the job you are applying for. An online graphic design studio will want different skills than a fashion design magazine, so students will have an opportunity to tailor their portfolio to the job description,

Students should build a portfolio that demonstrates their versatility for employers. Designers don’t want to look as if they can only do one kind of work, or they will only be competitive for a narrow collection of jobs. Designers also don’t want to produce an overly extensive portfolio that includes mediocre, unfinished, or non-demonstrative designs. Students constructing portfolios should be judicious in what they plan to include.

Resume & LinkedIn Profile

Another important element of preparing your job materials is the process of compiling a resume. Next to the design portfolio, the resume is the most crucial element of your materials, since it is one of the things employers use to quickly judge the quality of an applicant. You’ll want to ensure that your resume is no longer than two pages long and doesn’t feel padded out to appear heftier than it actually is. Most hiring managers and committees know what a resume should look like and can spot a candidate who is trying to look impressive with an overly long resume. You should include important information like your prior work experience, your education, and the kinds of graphic design tools and techniques you have experience using. You should use this space to establish your experience and specific work-related skills. Let the portfolio demonstrate your proficiency in the creative aspects of the process.

Students interested in building a resume should consider exploring Noble’s Graphic Designer resume guide. Here, you’ll learn more about how to tailor your resume to the field of graphic design. Students having to cut down on their credentials to fit the two-page soft limit may want to consider using LinkedIn or another online CV system. This allows them to expand their resume, providing prospective employers with a formal two-page resume and a link to a larger collection of work experience. Users interested in learning more about this process may wish to consult Noble’s LinkedIn Guide for Graphic Designers.

References

The final and likely least consequential element of building an application is finding professional references that can vouch for your work skills and work ethic. These should be strictly professional relationships, and they should bias toward colleagues who have supervised or overseen your work. You can include colleagues or coworkers who worked on projects with you, but employers might make a note if you have too many of these included. You can also include instructors and teachers, assuming they can speak to your specific graphic design skills (it is likely that a history professor you worked with in your undergraduate training will be of little use). You should never include family members or friends as your references.

It is as essential to include good references who are willing to vouch for your abilities and dedication as it is to demonstrate to employers that you can find qualified individuals to give you references. In many cases, glowing references from someone far outside the field of graphic design won’t be as helpful as a less laudatory reference from a manager who oversaw graphic design projects on which you worked. It is as vital to demonstrate to employers that you can find valuable references, so anyone interested in working in the field should consider building networking relationships early on.

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.

Key Takeaways

• Graphic Designers aiming to work in the field professionally have a few requirements they need to establish as they enter the job market.
• Graphic designers must be very comfortable with the major graphic design tools they intend to work with professionally. While a four-year college degree isn’t a strict requirement, some professional training is likely necessary.
• Designers will need to demonstrate that they have experience working with design tools, but they are likely to be able to demonstrate this through their education and hands-on experience in training programs.
• A strong portfolio of sample designs is the most important element of a job application for a Graphic Designer. They should also have a strong resume and a set of compelling references.
• Students who want to build the hands-on experience and portfolios they will need for a career in Graphic Design may wish to enroll in a comprehensive graphic design course through Noble Desktop. These classes are available both in-person and in live online classrooms.