What does a graphic designer/production do?
A Graphics Designer in production is the person in charge of designing and interpreting ideas pointed out by the client or the company. The graphics designer must use market standard applications and techniques to produce attention-grabbing designs intended to market a product, service, or company. Graphic designers are an integral part of a company's digital marketing, especially over the internet. The graphic designer must have a good eye for style, typesetting, and the use of colors.
Graphic designer/production responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real graphic designer/production resumes:
- Manage production of products; custom banners, t-shirts, satin flags, from concept to final product.
- Manage various publications including catalogs, catalog inserts, brochures, mailers and advertising material.
- Develop and update conference materials, including PowerPoint presentations, posters, handouts, badges, table tents, and folders.
- Produce corporate identity systems and collateral print materials, print advertising, product/capabilities brochures, direct mail and newsletters.
- Produce daily, weekly and monthly newsletters in both print and HTML.
- Create cleaner HTML email templates and help others within the group improve their HTML skills.
- Create and design email templates using Dreamweaver, and hand coding for email marketing campaigns, and FTP of template.
- Develop various magazine ads, direct mailers, posters, newsletters, and website maintenance for clients both locally and nationally.
- Design and edit PowerPoint presentations.
- Scan and color-correct photography and produce editorial pages.
- Develop PowerPoint presentations for a variety of business organization in the London market.
- Coordinate catalog traffic activities; maintain an extensive photography library; proofing and quality control; create artwork for reproduction on garments
- Design logos, packaging and POS displays for main clients including Unilever and Playtex.
- Utilize and implement white hat SEO techniques.
- Design and develop a multitude of POS advertisements for events and venues, ensuring art meets regulatory and corporate guidelines.
Graphic designer/production skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Graphic Designer/Productions are proficient in Graphic Design, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Artistic ability, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Graphic Designer/Productions that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Graphic Design, 14%
Demonstrated history of successful graphic design solutions and production execution while providing high-quality client services with excellent attention to detail.
- Adobe Photoshop, 9%
Designed and developed all graphics and interactive content utilizing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
- Adobe Illustrator, 8%
Designed graphical images/logo using Adobe Illustrator for imprinting on toothbrushes.
- Art Direction, 6%
Performed the project from concepts and layouts through finished art, computer production, illustration and art direction.
- Adobe Indesign, 5%
Experience in Adobe InDesign as well as standard office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Signage, 5%
Translated customer needs into well-designed and finished signage and printed products.
"graphic design," "adobe photoshop," and "adobe illustrator" are among the most common skills that graphic designer/productions use at work. You can find even more graphic designer/production responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a graphic designer/production to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "graphic designers must be able to perceive their work from their consumers’ point of view to ensure that the designs convey the client’s message." Graphic designer/productions often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "established website design, macintosh system management, color scanning and data retrieval and archiving. "
Artistic ability. Another essential skill to perform graphic designer/production duties is artistic ability. Graphic designer/productions responsibilities require that "graphic designers must be able to create designs that are artistically interesting and appealing to clients and consumers." Graphic designer/productions also use artistic ability in their role according to a real resume snippet: "designed artistic signage for special corporate events. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of graphic designer/productions is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday graphic designer/production duties, as "graphic designers must communicate with clients, customers, and other designers to ensure that their designs accurately and effectively convey information." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "supervised production process, including customer and vendor communications and file preparation using various design software. "
Computer skills. graphic designer/production responsibilities often require "computer skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "most graphic designers use specialized graphic design software to prepare their designs." This resume example shows what graphic designer/productions do with computer skills on a typical day: "used computer software to draft designs for the embroidery process. "
Creativity. A commonly-found skill in graphic designer/production job descriptions, "creativity" is essential to what graphic designer/productions do. Graphic designer/production responsibilities rely on this skill because "graphic designers must be able to think of new approaches to communicating ideas to consumers." You can also see how graphic designer/production duties rely on creativity in this resume example: "worked with creative team to streamline production processes and asset management. "
Time-management skills. Lastly, "time-management skills" is an important element of what a graphic designer/production does. Graphic designer/production responsibilities require this skill because "graphic designers often work simultaneously on multiple projects, each with a different deadline." This resume example highlights how graphic designer/production duties rely on this skill: "oversee production of silk screen and embroidery projects on strict deadlines. "
The three companies that hire the most graphic designer/productions are:
- SS&C Technologies12 graphic designer/productions jobs
- Fastsigns International6 graphic designer/productions jobs
- ESPN2 graphic designer/productions jobs
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Compare different graphic designer/productions
Graphic designer/production vs. Production designer
A production designer is responsible for monitoring the visual presentation of a media or theatre production, ensuring the set's adherence to the theme, and presenting visual elements according to the production requirements. Production designers research the current industry trends for creative ideas that would attract the audience, creating outstanding visual pictures throughout the production. In most cases, production designers also operate software systems and tools to suggest graphic effects and support the artistic team for deliverables. A production designer develops all visual plans within the budget goals and discusses adjustments to the production management team as needed.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between graphic designer/productions and production designer. For instance, graphic designer/production responsibilities require skills such as "signage," "brochures," "product photography," and "posters." Whereas a production designer is skilled in "digital marketing," "project management," "production design," and "animation." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Production designers earn the highest salaries when working in the internet industry, with an average yearly salary of $91,521. On the other hand, graphic designer/productions are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $59,531.On average, production designers reach similar levels of education than graphic designer/productions. Production designers are 2.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Graphic designer/production vs. Associate designer
An Associate Designer helps in developing sketches on paper and in graphic design software. They usually are supervised by the junior staff and interns.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, graphic designer/production responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "art direction," "adobe indesign," "signage," and "adobe creative suite." Meanwhile, an associate designer has duties that require skills in areas such as "cad," "customer service," "human centered design," and "space planning." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Associate designers may earn a higher salary than graphic designer/productions, but associate designers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $61,366. On the other hand, graphic designer/productions receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $59,531.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Associate designers tend to reach similar levels of education than graphic designer/productions. In fact, they're 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for graphic designer/productions in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Sarah Satterfield Ph.D.
Department Chair Visual and Performing Arts, Professor of Music and Humanities, College of Central Florida
Graphic designer/production vs. Assistant designer
Assistant designers act as administrative support to senior designers in creating innovative designs by negotiating with the vendors about the prices of decoration materials. They are keen and up-to-date to the latest fashion and trends by conducting surveys and research. They are exceptionally creative and innovative and have excellent IT skills as they use illustration, typography, and photography layouts in the design process. However, being an assistant designer, career development relies on his/her /her specialism, reputation, and experience depending on how its opportunities are influenced by the company he/she works for.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, graphic designer/productions are more likely to have skills like "graphic design," "art direction," "adobe indesign," and "signage." But a assistant designer is more likely to have skills like "tech packs," "line sheets," "trend research," and "garment construction."
Assistant designers earn the highest salary when working in the construction industry, where they receive an average salary of $57,526. Comparatively, graphic designer/productions have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $59,531.assistant designers typically earn similar educational levels compared to graphic designer/productions. Specifically, they're 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Graphic designer/production vs. Production artist
A production artist is responsible for managing digital content, meeting clients' standard specifications and requests for successful project completion. Production artists must have computer proficiency, especially on utilizing various software tools and applications to create illustrations and layouts. They also work closely with the creative team, cooperating in brainstorming sessions to ensure the consistency for each assigned task. A production artist should be keen on details, adjusting outputs as needed to maintain the highest quality for the actual presentation.
Types of graphic designer/production
Updated January 8, 2025
