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How to hire a visual designer

Visual designer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring visual designers in the United States:

  • There are currently 10,404 visual designers in the US, as well as 46,815 job openings.
  • Visual designers are in the highest demand in New York, NY, with 44 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire a visual designer is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new visual designer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a visual designer, step by step

To hire a visual designer, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a visual designer:

Here's a step-by-step visual designer hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a visual designer job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new visual designer
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a visual designer do?

A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.

Learn more about the specifics of what a visual designer does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you start hiring a visual designer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    A visual designer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, visual designers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

    This list shows salaries for various types of visual designers.

    Type of Visual DesignerDescriptionHourly rate
    Visual DesignerGraphic designers create visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. They develop the overall layout and production design for various applications such as advertisements, brochures, magazines, and corporate reports.$24-68
    Graphic Designer, MarketingA graphic designer of marketing specializes in developing creative imagery as part of a company's marketing efforts. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with the marketing team to share insights and strategies, conceptualizing designs in adherence to objectives and deadlines, and preparing presentations... Show more$16-33
    Graphic Designer/ProductionA 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... Show more$16-32
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Sketch
    • Visual Design
    • Graphic Design
    • UI
    • User Experience
    • Visualization
    • Adobe Creative Suite
    • Html Css
    • Invision
    • Design Solutions
    • Style Guides
    • Prototyping
    • Photography
    • Interaction Design
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Design, project manage, and build retail stores from sketch to completion.
    • Manage website redesign including copywriting and updating all website content.
    • Produce and deliver HTML5, CSS3 and graphical items.
    • Design team brand and logo for organization.
    • Provide approved design in HTML5 to web developer for publishing.
    • Utilize expertise in Photoshop CS6, HTML5/CSS, Squarespace, and JavaScript.
    More visual designer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your visual designer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A visual designer can vary based on:

    • Location. For example, visual designers' average salary in south dakota is 57% less than in california.
    • Seniority. Entry-level visual designers 64% less than senior-level visual designers.
    • Certifications. A visual designer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
    • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a visual designer's salary.

    Average visual designer salary

    $86,495yearly

    $41.58 hourly rate

    Entry-level visual designer salary
    $51,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 19, 2025

    Average visual designer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$115,101$55
    2Massachusetts$93,519$45
    3Washington$92,029$44
    4District of Columbia$84,181$40
    5Rhode Island$82,414$40
    6Pennsylvania$81,828$39
    7Oregon$79,750$38
    8New York$79,513$38
    9Virginia$77,592$37
    10Colorado$72,028$35
    11Texas$71,951$35
    12Nevada$71,942$35
    13Florida$64,223$31
    14North Carolina$62,528$30
    15Illinois$61,998$30
    16Missouri$60,321$29
    17Alabama$59,356$29
    18Minnesota$58,452$28
    19Georgia$58,014$28
    20Michigan$57,276$28

    Average visual designer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1ByteDance$156,013$75.013
    2Flexport$148,818$71.55
    3Meta$146,927$70.64502
    4Roku$144,864$69.65
    5Apple$141,316$67.9450
    6Square$138,511$66.59
    7MGM SUPPLY CO$138,028$66.361
    8BrightEdge$137,871$66.28
    9HR Cloud$137,309$66.01
    10Squarespace$136,713$65.732
    11Google$136,301$65.53104
    12Grubhub$134,296$64.572
    13Microsoft$134,217$64.5355
    14AppDynamics$133,059$63.97
    15Okta$132,963$63.923
    16Atlassian$131,751$63.348
    17Magic Leap$130,244$62.62
    18Yext$128,147$61.61
    19Cohesity$127,645$61.37
    20NVIDIA$127,544$61.323
  4. Writing a visual designer job description

    A visual designer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a visual designer job description:

    Visual designer job description example

    Visual Designers are talented, driven people with a passion for making gorgeous, ground-breaking work.They're ready for hands-on projects at every stage of the lifecycle, from brainstorming creative concepts with the project team and developing original campaigns, to participating in client presentations and ensuring deadlines are met, all the way to launch. Elephant is a seriously collaborative work environment, so Visual Designers need to collaborate across disciplines on a daily basis, from copywriting to analytics to client services, all while maintaining high standards for original concepts and detailed execution. This is an opportunity to define and reinvent the digital space, and a passion for doing just that is critical.

    What we'd like to see:

    ● 3+ years of relevant work experience.

    ● You are a strong conceptual thinker. We want people who can start a project off from an incredibly strong position and come up with surprising, cool concepts to move forward with.

    ● You have a strong background of visual design experience, at least some in an agency environment. You should consider Photoshop and Illustrator to be something like family.

    ● You have strong teamwork skills-the ability to work with Art Directors and other Designers as well as the confidence and skill to communicate your ideas clearly.

    ● You are a visual storyteller, understanding how visual design decisions in cropping photography and associating an image to text will impact the intended audience.

    ● You have a solid understanding of designing intuitive site functionality, interaction, site architecture, user interfaces, and navigation. You know a product needs more than just a pretty face.

    ● Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in a related field


    Elephant is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We strongly support diversity in the workforce.

  5. Post your job

    There are various strategies that you can use to find the right visual designer for your business:

    • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your visual designer job on Zippia to find and attract quality visual designer candidates.
    • Use niche websites such as dribbble, authentic jobs, working not working, coroflot.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit visual designers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new visual designer

    Once you've found the visual designer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

    To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
    Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a visual designer?

Before you start to hire visual designers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire visual designers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

The median annual salary for visual designers is $86,495 in the US. However, the cost of visual designer hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring a visual designer for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $24 and $68 an hour.

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