How To Become A Design Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a design specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Abby Guido,

Morten Bustrup

A design specialist helps clients communicate an appealing image through digital, electronic, and print media. They design logos, brochures, signs, movie credits, and website graphics. Design specialists often work for advertising, marketing, and media management firms. They assess client problems and design graphic solutions to aid product branding and sales. They must be culturally sensitive in order to create images that are favorably received by consumers.

As a design specialist, your duties may vary according to your specialization. Design specialists work with computers and may also draw sketches. They choose artwork, colors, and type size to produce an effective visual image. Expertise in software graphics is required so you can design layouts and create animations effects are desirable.

Educational requirements include a bachelor's degree in graphic design. However, associate's degree and/or certificates from professional design schools may lead to entry-level jobs as well. For career advancement, the employer may require a bachelor's degree along with three or more years of work experience.

The average hourly salary for working in this capacity is $33.26, although you may be required to work flexibly, depending on the workload. The average annual salary amounts to $69,187. The career is projected to grow 4% and produce various opportunities across the United States.

What general advice would you give to a design specialist?

Abby Guido

Assistant Professor, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University

We've all heard the buzz about networking, and there is so much buzz because it works. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is both up to date and active. Connect with all of your past professors, classmates, and anyone and everyone you meet in a professional setting. I often tell students to get into the habit of searching for any classroom guests, or guest lecturers, to connect, thank them for their time, and build their network. Share content. Write articles, or reshare those you find interesting.

Every job I have ever received in my career has been through someone else I know. I share this with students to help them see the value in relationships. I always remember the students that took the time to write a handwritten thank-you note. And I think of them when I get an email asking if I know any students are looking for work.

ScoreDesign SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,917

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.14%

Asian 4.57%

Black or African American 1.48%

Hispanic or Latino 7.59%

Unknown 4.08%

White 82.14%

Gender

female 44.91%

male 55.09%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a design specialist

Explore design specialist education requirements

Most common design specialist degrees

Bachelor's

62.1 %

Associate

22.4 %

Master's

6.6 %

Start to develop specific design specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	12.82%
Sketch	6.63%
CAD	5.63%
Product Knowledge	5.51%
Adobe Creative Suite	5.42%

Complete relevant design specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New design specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a design specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real design specialist resumes.

Research design specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage a program of training for designers without cad to get this training.
Develop construction drawings using AutoCAD; coordinate bid process and vendor selection; and manage construction process through final punch list.
Provide HTML support to the marketing department.
Update and maintain corporate website with Dreamweaver.

Prepare your design specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your design specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a design specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable design specialist resume templates

Build a professional design specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your design specialist resume.