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Graphic Designer Job Description

Answers to the question What Is A Graphic Designer?, with data on salary, job duties, and credentials that should appear in your graphic design portfolio.

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Posted On FEB 03, 2022 

What is a Graphic Designer?


Graphic Designers work with other members of their marketing and creative departments to visually convey a particular message, idea or concept. They rely on their knowledge and proficiency with current graphic design programs to produce graphic art and visual materials for promotions, advertisements, websites, films, packaging and other mediums.


There are three types of Graphic Designers:


In-House Graphic Designer:

  • Working in a company’s marketing or creative department, they often serve as the only designers in the department

Agency Graphic Designer:

  • Part of an organization dedicated specifically to marketing and creative solutions

Freelance Graphic Designer:

  • You can be your own boss, set your own schedule and pursue your own projects. But it will be up to you to secure clients, funding and advertising, and you won’t be able to lean on your colleagues for inspiration, suggestions or support

Education Requirements

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design
  • OR A degree or certificate from an accredited college or university
  • Must stay abreast of the latest tools and software in order to produce the best work possible

Graphics Designer Essential Skills

  • Adobe InDesign
  • CorelDRAW
  • QuarkXPress
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Ability to work with programming scripts, including XML and HTML
  • Understanding of the printing process and specifications
  • Familiarity with production and rendering methods, including drawing, offset printing, photography, interactive media
  • Creative thinking skills

Graphics Designer Roles & Responsibilities

  • Create visual concepts to communicate information
  • Work with other creative team members to produce content
  • Create guidelines for how logos and other branding materials should be displayed and used
  • Help make design choices (e.g., fonts and colors) for all content the company uses

Day-to-Day Duties

  • Create aesthetically pleasing images that accompany written text
  • Create everything from posters and billboards to packaging, logos and marketing materials
  • Use elements such as shapes, colors, typography, images and more to convey ideas to an audience
  • Meet with clients to establish their needs
  • Use design software to complete projects
  • Revise projects based on client feedback

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