How To Become A Graphics Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a graphics manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Yash Egami

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a graphics manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.31 an hour? That's $69,292 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 6,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a graphics manager?

Yash Egami

VP, The One Club

A recent Forrester report says that the ad industry will lose 50,000 jobs through 2021, with 35,000 of them already lost since the pandemic. The traditional ad agency model was already in trouble, with many brands hiring away talent and creating their own in-house agencies. Add to that the recent reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we're seeing is an industry that is being forced to go through monumental change in order to survive.

While traditional roles like art director or copywriter are on the decline, the good news is that, in an effort to reinvent themselves, agencies are seeking creatives with digital skills like UX design and programming. The rise of in-house creative departments has also meant more opportunities for job seekers within brands rather than agencies. And because of the demand for more diversity from clients and those within advertising, recruiters are making more of an effort to hire multicultural talent.

At The One Club for Creativity, we've been at the forefront of change in the industry through our diversity and inclusion, professional development and gender equality programs. We recently hosted our annual multicultural career fair, "Where Are All the Black People?" that brought together thousands of diverse talent with 40 agencies and companies looking to hire. We launched One School, a free online program for Black creatives who want to get into the industry but don't have a portfolio or the economic means to afford to go to ad school. And we're working on upskilling courses for professionals who want to reinvent themselves or keep up with the changing demands of our industry.

So if you're a recent graduate who specializes in art direction, our advice would be to keep an open mind about what kind of company you want to work for and think about expanding your skillset to include digital skills so that you can future-proof your career. Where you are isn't as important because, since the pandemic, agencies have become more comfortable with working remotely and they are more open to having a workforce not centered on the traditional agency hubs, like New York or Los Angeles.

ScoreGraphics ManagerUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $69,292

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.2

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 10.42%

Black or African American 3.42%

Hispanic or Latino 10.63%

Unknown 4.99%

White 70.17%

Gender

female 38.99%

male 61.01%

Age - 37

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 - 37

Stress level

4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a graphics manager

Explore graphics manager education requirements

Most common graphics manager degrees

Bachelor's

69.7 %

Associate

19.3 %

Master's

5.7 %

Start to develop specific graphics manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Photography	9.10%
Adobe Photoshop	8.80%
Adobe Illustrator	8.73%
Graphic Design	8.00%
Adobe Creative Suite	6.69%

Complete relevant graphics manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New graphics managers 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 graphics manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real graphics manager resumes.

Research graphics manager duties and responsibilities

Lead the development and execution of several overhead presentations, advertising design, brochure marketing, and desktop publishing initiatives.
Ensure quality control process with text, typesetting, art creation, strip ups and graphics.
Create presentation templates using Microsoft PowerPoint.
Design, produce and cleaned-up PowerPoint shows/presentations.

Prepare your graphics manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your graphics manager 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 graphics manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable graphics manager resume templates

Build a professional graphics manager 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 graphics manager resume.