If at any point today you’ve read a book, made an online purchase, put on a t-shirt, or watched a TV commercial, you’ve been exposed to the work of a graphic designer. As great American designer, Paul Rand, once said:
Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.
It’s true–graphic designers basically make the world beautiful, and the rest of us just get to live in it. Lots of companies and organizations are able to benefit from making things beautiful, which is why there are opportunities in the field across a wide variety of industries.
Photo Credit: Flickr user Gamma-Ray Productions
At the most simple level, a graphic designer is a professional who is responsible for presenting information in a way that is both accessible and memorable. This typically involves assembling images, typography, and/or motion graphics together to create a piece of design. Basically, graphic designers focus on solving visual communication problems within the context of a specific audience and media channel. As such, they have the opportunity to work within multiple industries, ranging from publishing to advertising to web development. While it may sound overwhelming, that’s actually a good thing because it means there are plenty of opportunities to put your craft to work!
On most days, a designer receives a brief (an explanation of what someone wants/what problem needs to be solved) from a client or boss. Then the designer brainstorms solutions to the brief, and works out some of their ideas with sketches or rough prototypes. After examining all potential angles, the designer creates the best idea. Executing the idea might entail anything from using computer programs, to photo shoots, to scouting out locations. If you’re a more visual learner, check out this entertaining infographic about a day in the life of a graphic designer.
Now that you’re aware of the ins-and-outs of the job, I know what you’re thinking… show me the money! Well, the salary of graphic artists and designers usually falls in the range of $23,000-$58,000. The entry level will probably be at the lower half of the range, and the upper half is usually for people with a few years of experience. As you gain experience, you may move into positions like Senior Graphic Designer ($34,000-$78,000), Art Director ($33,000-$86,000), and Web Graphic Designer ($25,000-$63,000).
Here are some of the best cities for jobs and internships in Graphic Design:
In order to play you’ve got to get schooled first! (Though there are some very successful self-taught graphic designers.) To be a graphic designer you’ll need a strong portfolio and/or a degree (AAS, BA, BFA) in art or graphic design. Current graphic designer jobs demand proficiency in a few graphic design software programs; the most common of which is Adobe Creative Suite including Photoshop (which helps you manipulate photos, typography and create images with a variety of effects), Illustrator (which helps you create logos and typography) and InDesign (which helps you create typography, and output print layouts). Also if you’re focused on becoming a web graphic designer you’ll need to understand how to work with HTML, CSS, and other web development languages live Javascript, jQuery, and PHP.
If graphic design still sounds like your cup of tea, here are a few things you should do to get started.
Top books for budding graphic designers.
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Director of Account Management / Professional Services | Irvine, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Senior Product Designer - Footwear | Irvine, CA |
| Senior Product Manager - Running Apparel | Canton, MA |
| Senior Product Manager - Outerwear Apparel | Canton, MA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Vice President of Mortgage Funding and Post Closing | San Diego, CA |
| Senior Processor/Corporate Trainer | Irvine, CA |
| Certified Veterinary Technician | Aurora, CO |
| Staff Accountant | Houston, TX |
| Audit Senior (Public) | Sacramento, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Digital Media Strategist | St. Louis, MO |
| Activation Specialist Intern | St. Louis, MO |
| Business Development Intern | St. Louis, MO |
| Community Manager Intern | St. Louis, MO |
| Product Manager | St. Louis, MO |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Pizza Hut Restaurant General Manager Job | Salida, CO |
| Pizza Hut Delivery Driver Job | Salida, CO |
| Jr. Assistant 597 | Houston, TX |
| Graphic Design Intern | Brooklyn, NY |
| Staff Intern | Brooklyn, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Diesel Technician/Mechanic II | Brooklyn Park, MN |
| Diesel Technician/Mechanic II Binghamton NY Area (Pipe) | Binghamton, NY |
| SEASONAL PARKS CARETAKER I - Range 6/ Local 71 | Anchorage, AK |
| Construction Superintendent | Redwood City, CA |
| Class A CDL Driver | Valley Park, MO |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Oracle Consultant | Denver, CO |
| Project Manager | Boston, MA |
| Counselor Addictions / Administrator (must be in recovery) | Panama City Beach, FL |
| Speech Therapist (Home Health) | Winter Haven, FL |
| Physical Therapist & Physical Therapy Assistant (PT & PTA Home Health) | Spring Hill, FL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Copywriter | Princeton, NJ |
| Senior Director, Research Finance and Shared Services | Duarte, CA |
| Swim Team Coach - PT - Berwyn | Berwyn, PA |
| Swim Team Coach - PT - Berwyn | Berwyn, PA |
| Outside Sales Representative | Minneapolis, MN |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Social Media Intern | New York, NY |
| Social Media/Marketing Associate | New York, NY |
| SEO Strategist | New York, NY |
| Business Development/Capital Advisor | New York, NY |
| Sales and Marketing Intern | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Tenured Faculty Position - Marketing | New York, NY |
| Media and Community Relations Assistant | Atlanta, GA |
| Communications Project Lead | Atlanta, GA |
| SQL DBA | Tampa, FL |
| Citrix Admin_SGA010 | White Plains, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Hand Therapy Occupational Therapist | Harbor City, CA |
| Home Health Occupational Therapist | Culver City, CA |
| Skilled Nursing Facility Physical Therapist | Los Angeles, CA |
| Inpatient Acute Care Physical Therapist | Lancaster, CA |
| Telemetry Registered Nurse | West Hills, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Environmental Manager | Grand Forks, ND |
| Disney Vacation Club Associate Sales Manager | Anaheim, CA |
| Fleet Bus\Diesel Mechanic | Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| COPYWRITER | Hillsborough, NC |
| Grassroots Marketing Associate | Hillsborough, NC |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| HVAC Technician/Engineer | New York, NY |
| Director of Catering | Philadelphia, PA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Email Marketing Analyst | Chicago, IL |
| SEO Director | Chicago, IL |
| Recruiter | Chicago, IL |
| Director/Sr. Manager of Business Development | Chicago, IL |
| Email Marketing Analyst (Sports Marketing/Sales) | Chicago, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Project Manager | Milwaukee, WI |
| Creative Writer / Media Planner (4131) | Rogers, MN |
| Assignment Specialist | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Director, Product Marketing | Palo Alto, CA |
| Business Intelligence Developer II | Irving, TX |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Digital Media Strategist | Blacksburg, VA |
| Sales Operations Manager (SaaS) | Los Angeles, CA |
| Salesforce/Systems Innovator | Sarasota, FL |
| Director, Relationship Marketing & CRM | Belmont, CA |
| Data Management and Marketing Automation/CRM Specialist | Ogden, UT |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Marketing Intern | San Francisco, CA |
| Executive Assistant | San Francisco, CA |
| VP of Marketing | San Francisco, CA |
| RTB Product Manger | San Francisco, CA |
| Online Marketing Associate | San Francisco, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Ecommerce Analyst | New York, NY |
| UX Intern | New York, NY |
| Sales & Account Management Intern | New York, NY |
| Sales & Account Management Intern | New York, NY |
| Buyer Relations Specialist | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Executive Assistant to the VP of Sales | Manhattan, KS |
| Merchandising Artist | Manhattan, KS |
| Designer, Women’s Golf Apparel | United States |
| Graphic Artist | Manhattan, KS |
| Vice President of Marketing | Manhattan, KS |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Multi-Media Marketing Specialist | Hartford, CT |
| Multi-Media Marketing Producer | Hartford, CT |
| General Manger for Interactive Benefits Counselor | Chicago, IL |
| Benefits Specialist | Chicago, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Marketing Associate | Austin, TX |
| Software Developer | Austin, TX |
| Senior Interactive Designer | Austin, TX |
| Director of Product Marketing | Austin, TX |
| Customer Love Team Representative | Austin, TX |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Account Executives | New York, NY |
| Ad Operations Manager | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Social Media Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Editorial Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Development Director | Emeryville, CA |
| Summer College Intern-Multimedia Design | Savannah, GA |
| Associate Art Director | Chicago, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Senior Software Engineer | Denver, CO |
| Design Verification (DV) Careers @ Qualcomm | San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
| Affiliate Marketing Manager | McLean, VA |
| AT&T Part Time Sales Support Representative - Austin, TX (Gateway) | Austin, TX |
| AT&T SALES SUPPORT REPRESENTATIVE - Topeka, KS | Topeka, KS |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Business Development Summer MBA Intern | New York, NY |
| Summer ff Fellows | San Francisco, CA |
| Editorial Intern | New York, NY |
| Direct Marketing & Business Development Intern | New York, NY |
| Reservations Assistant for HowAboutWe for Couples (Freelance) | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Independent Fashion Sales Merchandiser, Chloe + Isabel | United States |
| Director Human Resources | New York, NY |
| Web Designer / Senior Graphic Designer | New York, NY |
| Visual Designer | New York, NY |
| Vice President Sales | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| R&D | Paramount, CA |
| Shipping and Receiving Manager | Industry, CA |
| QA/QC Manager/Director | Paramount, CA |
| Web Developer | Paramount, CA |
| Diesel Mechanic | Nevada, TX |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Graphic Designer - Intern | Mountain View, CA |
| Account Manager | Mountain View, CA |
| Software Engineer - Front & Backend | Mountain View, CA |
| Software Engineer - iOS | Mountain View, CA |
| Software Engineer - Backend | Mountain View, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Editor | Columbia, MO |
| Community Outreach Specialist--Ft. Worth, TX | Dallas, TX |
| Community Outreach Specialist--Dallas, TX | Dallas, TX |
| Account Supervisor Public Affairs | Washington, DC |
| Production Coordinator | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Sales - Business Development Rep | Concord, CA |
| Studio Photographer | Wausau, WI |
| Early Childhood Clinical Supervisor | Berkeley, CA |
| Account Marketing Manager - Eastbay | Portland, OR |
| Project Manager | Camp Hill, PA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Hiring Mercedes Benz Service Technicians Mercedez Benz Gree | Houston, TX |
| Site Medical Director | Bowling Green, FL |
| Game Designer/Associate Game Designer | San Francisco, CA |
| Part-Time Library Assistant | Sioux City, IA |
| Head of Third Party Production, Yahoo! Studios | Santa Monica, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Production Intern | New York, NY |
| Intern | New York, NY |
| Communication Technician 2 | Wixom, MI |
| Interaction Designer | New York, NY |
| Lead Visual Designer | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Summer Intern | New York, NY |
| Editorial Assistant | New York, NY |
| Digital Rights Assistant | New York, NY |
| Production Editor | New York, NY |
| Senior Media Editor | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Video Production Associate | Boston, MA |
| Social Media Associate | Boston, MA |
| Social Media Strategist | Boston, MA |
| News and Content Writers - Boston | Boston, MA |
| Content Marketing Internship | Boston, MA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Sr Software Engineer/PHP Rockstar | San Diego, CA |
| Account Coordinator | United States |
| Software Engineer/PHP Rock Star | United States |
| System Administrator | United States |
| Systems Administrator | San Diego, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Game Designer | San Francisco, CA |
| Science Writer & Editor | San Francisco, CA |
| Copywriter (Product/Games) | San Francisco, CA |
| UX Designer | San Francisco, CA |
| Visual Designer - Marketing | San Francisco, CA |
Check out the latest job and internship postings in graphic design.
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