What is a Motion Graphics Designer?

We have web designers, user interface designers, user experience designers, and then we have motion graphics designers. Motion graphics designers are comparatively new in the designing market. Similar to creative video producers and filmmakers, there are talented motion graphics designers who add a touch of creativity and fun to your apps, favorite movies, websites, and shows.

Professional motion graphics designers are into producing artworks for web, movies, and TV shows. They are responsible for attending creative meetings and submitting projects with the designated deadline. They also follow directives from clients, collaborate with fellow designers, make trail designs and edit them according to clients or senior designers' recommendations.

These savvy and innovative artists can make up to $28.39 per hour. Almost every designer has a bachelor's degree in graphics designing or animation working in the field. The profession is about combining technology and creativity, so learn how to do it perfectly before entering this field.

What Does a Motion Graphics Designer Do

There are certain skills that many motion graphics designers 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 artistic talent, computer skills and time-management skills.

Learn more about what a Motion Graphics Designer does

How To Become a Motion Graphics Designer

If you're interested in becoming a motion graphics designer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 74.3% of motion graphics designers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.4% of motion graphics designers have master's degrees. Even though most motion graphics designers 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 Motion Graphics Designer
Top Motion Graphics Designer Jobs Near You

Motion Graphics Designer 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 motion graphics designer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as video editor, progress to a title such as producer and then eventually end up with the title communications director.

Motion Graphics Designer

Average Salary for a Motion Graphics Designer

Motion Graphics Designers in America make an average salary of $62,558 per year or $30 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $87,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $44,000 per year.
Average Motion Graphics Designer Salary
$62,558 Yearly
$30.08 hourly
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Roles and Types of Motion Graphics Designer

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

  • Work with creative director, associate creative, producers
  • Collaborate with marketing, product and company leadership to create complex graphics, animation
  • Savannah river nuclear solutions, management & operations contractor for the u s. department of energy at the savannah river site, in aiken, sc has an opening for a full-time, in-house video editor/motion graphic artist subcontract position. The video editor/motion graphic artist primary job function is to support the corporate communications & media services department with post-production completion of videos in support of internal & external communications, social media,

There are several types of motion graphics designer, 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

Freelance Designer

Role:

Whether we are talking about industrial design or visual communication, a designer is a creative professional who comes up with ideas for objects, packaging, or layouts. Working as a freelance designer means you are not employed by one company but work on your own, for different clients, on a project basis.

There are many different aspects of design. You can be a graphic designer creating product illustrations or visuals for brand identities, a user experience designer making easy-to-navigate websites, software, or applications. You can design interior spaces, or special effects for the entertainment media, or clothes and accessories for the fashion industry.

Whatever the case, as a freelance designer, you are basically an entrepreneur and find your own clients, take care of accounts, and the promotion of your services for yourself and in exchange, you enjoy the freedom and flexibility of working on your own time and your own terms.

  • Average Salary: $57,260
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Motion Graphics Designer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active motion graphics designer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where motion graphics designers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Motion Graphics Designer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,093$75,260
2New York1,272$68,972
3Texas1,154$69,122
4Washington796$87,946
5Georgia753$48,974
6Florida727$51,985
7Illinois706$56,276
8Massachusetts686$64,969
9Virginia651$63,421
10Pennsylvania598$64,292
11North Carolina559$56,202
12Ohio486$54,071
13Michigan478$50,757
14Oregon430$74,895
15Minnesota401$53,190
16Maryland383$61,664
17Wisconsin367$57,846
18Colorado355$64,400
19New Jersey355$67,848
20Arizona287$60,320
21Indiana253$60,494
22Missouri247$52,372
23Utah230$55,710
24Tennessee225$54,880
25Connecticut189$62,879
26Alabama184$49,435
27South Carolina184$47,562
28Iowa161$50,697
29Kansas146$47,283
30Kentucky139$53,444
31Oklahoma125$50,364
32Louisiana117$51,694
33New Hampshire116$59,099
34Arkansas98$52,525
35Nebraska97$52,806
36New Mexico88$51,745
37Nevada85$51,763
38Rhode Island76$63,405
39Maine68$56,553
40Mississippi67$46,681
41Idaho64$47,483
42Delaware50$59,224
43West Virginia45$63,822
44Montana41$55,484
45South Dakota39$41,938
46North Dakota33$61,138
47Vermont32$56,334
48Hawaii27$57,608
49Alaska24$60,452
50Wyoming20$58,695

Motion Graphics Designer Education

Motion Graphics Designer Majors

Graphic Design
27.6 %
Photography
13.9 %
Animation
12.7 %

Motion Graphics Designer Degrees

Bachelors

74.3 %

Associate

12.2 %

Masters

9.4 %

Top Colleges for Motion Graphics Designers

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. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

6. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

9. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

Top Skills For a Motion Graphics Designer

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, 23.3% of motion graphics designers listed animation on their resume, but soft skills such as artistic talent and computer skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Motion Graphics Designer Resume templates

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

Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
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Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
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Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume
Motion Graphics Designer Resume

Motion Graphics Designer diversity

Motion Graphics Designer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
78%
Female
Female
22%

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

  • Among motion graphics designers, 21.6% of them are women, while 78.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among motion graphics designers is White, which makes up 70.2% of all motion graphics designers.

  • The most common foreign language among motion graphics designers is Spanish at 44.9%.

Online Courses For Motion Graphics Designer That You May Like

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1. User Experience Design Immersive (Full-time)

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Launch a future-proof career designing digital experiences that power revenue, user loyalty, and product success. Distinguish yourself as a designer by compiling a portfolio to showcase solo, group, and client projects to employers based on UI design and Agile methodologies...

2. User Experience Design (Part Time)

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Translate user wants and needs into intuitive digital experiences that power revenue, loyalty, and product success. Build confidence and credibility to tackle complex design problems on the job. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...

3. Design of Everyday Things

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This course provides a summary of key concepts from the first two chapters of The Design of Everyday Things (Revised and Expanded Edition, November 2013) by Don Norman. It's intended to be enjoyable and informative for anyone curious about design: everyday people, technical people, designers, and non-designers alike...

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Best States For a Motion Graphics Designer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a motion graphics designer. The best states for people in this position are Washington, California, Oregon, and Texas. Motion graphics designers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $87,946. Whereas in California and Oregon, they would average $75,260 and $74,895, respectively. While motion graphics designers would only make an average of $69,122 in Texas, 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 Motion Graphics Designer Jobs: 796
Highest 10% Earn:
$125,000
Location Quotient:
1.73

$87,946

Avg. Salary

View 796 Motion Graphics Designer Jobs In WA

2. Oregon

Total Motion Graphics Designer Jobs: 430
Highest 10% Earn:
$107,000
Location Quotient:
1.65

$74,895

Avg. Salary

View 430 Motion Graphics Designer Jobs In OR

3. California

Total Motion Graphics Designer Jobs: 3,093
Highest 10% Earn:
$110,000
Location Quotient:
1.68

$75,260

Avg. Salary

View 3,093 Motion Graphics Designer Jobs In CA
Full List Of Best States For Motion Graphics Designers

How Do Motion Graphics Designers Rate Their Jobs?

5/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Motion Graphics Designer Reviews

5.0
Jun 2019
Pros

However for today's living we need food so, as that motion graphics is a great way in which people regularly needs graphics for each and every purpose.

Cons

Technical Issues

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Career Growth
Work/Life balance
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Top Motion Graphics Designer Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ motion graphics designers and discovered their number of motion graphics designer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Robert Half was the best, especially with an average salary of $61,415. AKQA follows up with an average salary of $67,524, and then comes GuideSpark with an average of $63,559. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a motion graphics designer. The employers include Fox News, NBCUniversal, and DocuSign

Most Common Employers For Motion Graphics Designer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Apple$112,284$53.984
2Google$105,795$50.8610
3Microsoft$104,179$50.097
4LinkedIn$80,537$38.724
5Ringling College of Art and Design$72,331$34.778
6Boston Consulting Group$71,585$34.425
7CBS Sports Network$71,471$34.364
8Entravision Communications$68,898$33.128
9AKQA$67,524$32.4614
10NBCUniversal$64,546$31.0311
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Updated April 6, 2023