What is a Graphic Design Specialist?

Graphics design specialists are innovative visual communicators. They organize pictures, text, colors, forms, and space to attract interest and communicate messages. They lend their skills to various marketing sources, including advertisements, advertisements, commercials, blogs, mobile phone apps, and movies.

Graphic design specialists could refer to anyone who works on a particular facet of graphic design, such as book and album covers, packaging design, or website design. Alternatively, they may be graphic designers with high-level and wide-ranging expertise and years of experience. Graphic designers specialists can work with design companies, but many are self-employed and have to juggle assignments for multiple clients that can be hectic and overwhelming.

Although an associate degree and advanced training in graphic design software may often be appropriate for technical positions, a bachelor's degree in graphic design or a similar discipline is the standard prerequisite for joining this career field. Through these workshops, students master conventional art styles and graphic design technologies. Courses can include design philosophy, studio art, color theory, photography, and web design.

What Does a Graphic Design Specialist Do

There are certain skills that many graphic design specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, artistic ability and communication skills.

Learn more about what a Graphic Design Specialist does

How To Become a Graphic Design Specialist

If you're interested in becoming a graphic design specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 68.0% of graphic design specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.7% of graphic design specialists have master's degrees. Even though most graphic design specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Graphic Design Specialist
Top Graphic Design Specialist Jobs Near You

Graphic Design Specialist Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a graphic design specialist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as senior graphic designer, progress to a title such as creative director and then eventually end up with the title director of communications and marketing.

Graphic Design Specialist

Average Salary for a Graphic Design Specialist

Graphic Design Specialists in America make an average salary of $55,925 per year or $27 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $80,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $38,000 per year.
Average Graphic Design Specialist Salary
$55,925 Yearly
$26.89 hourly
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Roles and Types of Graphic Design Specialist

The role of a graphic design specialist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general graphic design specialist responsibilities:

  • Provide design and expertise in support of creating
  • Work with marketing directors and marketing associates to meet design project needs brief on marketing projects
  • Facilitate the design “brief” process to record requirements

There are several types of graphic design specialist, including:

Graphic Designer

Role:

Graphic Designers are responsible for creating visual concepts either through a computer software or by hand. The goal of becoming a graphic designer is to really engage consumers through inspiration. So being creative is kind of needed.

Typically Graphic Designers need a Bachelor's degree, but perhaps the most important thing you can bring to an interview is having a well-rounded portfolio.

  • Average Salary: $49,450
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Designer

Role:

A career as a designer can go so many different directions. From fashion designers to floral designers or even graphic designers or interior designers, as long as you have an eye for detail and a steady hand you could design whatever you wanted.

The education that is required to become a designer can vary depending on what type of designing you're going to be doing. For example, a floral designer only needs a high school diploma, but a graphic designer may need a Bachelor's degre. It really depends on what direction you want to take your career.

  • Average Salary: $66,347
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Graphic Artist

Role:

Also called Graphic Illustrators, a Graphic Artist has excellent artistic and computer skills. You will be creating artwork for different graphic projects, like posters, advertisements, and covers. You may also be tasked to use a specific art style even though you have your own. The important thing to do is be able to deliver the project or company's message through your artwork.

As a Graphic Artist, you need to have good analytical skills, great communication skills, and, of course, excellent artistic ability. You will need all these skills for you to perform well as a Graphic Artist.

You can earn an average salary of $47,306 per year as a Graphic Artist. With a 3% job growth rate, you can also explore other roles and further your career. You can be a Graphic Designer, a Designer, and a Design Manager. This is only one path; there are other possibilities when you start as a Graphic Artist today.

  • Average Salary: $54,900
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Graphic Design Specialist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active graphic design specialist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where graphic design specialists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Graphic Design Specialist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,290$67,451
2Texas2,677$55,432
3New York2,107$66,660
4Florida1,797$38,564
5Illinois1,300$51,666
6Massachusetts1,291$69,326
7Pennsylvania1,257$49,246
8Washington1,251$77,067
9North Carolina1,198$57,120
10Georgia1,177$45,118
11Ohio1,055$43,831
12Michigan1,042$48,013
13Oregon829$52,856
14Minnesota775$55,484
15Arizona758$54,504
16New Jersey747$65,902
17Maryland731$58,788
18Colorado678$58,379
19Missouri545$46,900
20Tennessee490$47,456
21Utah442$56,205
22Iowa437$47,022
23Alabama415$42,484
24Connecticut402$59,625
25South Carolina388$39,604
26Kansas319$42,485
27Kentucky298$46,662
28Oklahoma269$44,312
29Nebraska245$48,923
30New Hampshire231$56,119
31Arkansas231$45,981
32Nevada216$47,793
33Idaho179$45,716
34New Mexico168$45,562
35Delaware163$56,356
36Rhode Island161$60,048
37Maine145$53,737
38Mississippi140$40,359
39Montana128$55,818
40West Virginia117$57,065
41North Dakota109$60,968
42South Dakota109$40,309
43Hawaii91$54,349
44Vermont79$53,793
45Alaska77$63,184
46Wyoming65$55,507
47Wisconsin0$54,739
48Virginia0$56,219
49Indiana0$48,238
50Louisiana0$44,693

Graphic Design Specialist Education

Graphic Design Specialist Majors

Graphic Design
49.7 %
Fine Arts
7.9 %
Design And Visual Communication
6.5 %

Graphic Design Specialist Degrees

Bachelors

68.0 %

Associate

23.0 %

Masters

4.7 %

Top Colleges for Graphic Design Specialists

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

4. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

7. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

8. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

9. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,230

Enrollment

12,161

10. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

Top Skills For a Graphic Design Specialist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 18.7% of graphic design specialists listed graphic design on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and artistic ability are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Graphic Design Specialist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Graphic Design Specialist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Graphic Design Specialist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Graphic Design Specialist Resume
Graphic Design Specialist Resume
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Graphic Design Specialist Resume
Graphic Design Specialist Resume
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Graphic Design Specialist Resume

Graphic Design Specialist diversity

Graphic Design Specialist Gender Distribution

Female
Female
50%
Male
Male
50%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among graphic design specialists, 50.0% of them are women, while 50.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among graphic design specialists is White, which makes up 70.2% of all graphic design specialists.

  • The most common foreign language among graphic design specialists is Spanish at 66.0%.

Online Courses For Graphic Design Specialist That You May Like

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Best States For a Graphic Design Specialist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a graphic design specialist. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Massachusetts, California, and New York. Graphic design specialists make the most in Washington with an average salary of $77,067. Whereas in Massachusetts and California, they would average $69,326 and $67,451, respectively. While graphic design specialists would only make an average of $66,660 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Graphic Design Specialist Jobs: 1,251
Highest 10% Earn:
$104,000
Location Quotient:
1.49

$77,067

Avg. Salary

View 1,251 Graphic Design Specialist Jobs In WA

2. Massachusetts

Total Graphic Design Specialist Jobs: 1,291
Highest 10% Earn:
$96,000
Location Quotient:
1.22

$69,326

Avg. Salary

View 1,291 Graphic Design Specialist Jobs In MA

3. New York

Total Graphic Design Specialist Jobs: 2,107
Highest 10% Earn:
$94,000
Location Quotient:
1.43

$66,660

Avg. Salary

View 2,107 Graphic Design Specialist Jobs In NY
Full List Of Best States For Graphic Design Specialists

How Do Graphic Design Specialists Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Graphic Design Specialist Employers

Most Common Employers For Graphic Design Specialist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1IBM$80,635$38.774
2Lenovo$68,476$32.925
3Planned Parenthood$67,853$32.625
4Grace Church$65,923$31.694
5General Dynamics$65,669$31.574
6FedEx$65,652$31.567
7Arrow Electronics$64,810$31.1628
8Fastsigns International$64,009$30.778
9Prudential Financial$63,815$30.684
10UPS$63,541$30.5517
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Updated April 6, 2023