What’s It Like Out There?
What is it like in the real world for a graphic designer? In this article we’ll touch upon what you need to qualify for a graphic design job, what the work environment is like and what graphic designers make annually.

Education Really Does Count
If you are attending graphic design school for your degree, you’ve taken the first step in obtaining the necessary education to qualify for positions in graphic design.

If you are not enrolled in graphic design school, you may want to seriously consider this option for your career training.

Most employers require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree for entry level and advanced graphic design jobs. In other cases, employers will accept an associate’s degree or certificate of completion for positions in assisting graphic designers or work that is geared towards technical duties.

There are many online degree programs, community colleges, and graphic design schools that offer programs towards graphic design degrees.

What the Job Demands
As a graphic designer you will need to understand and use the latest graphic design software suites, applications, and utilities.

You should be computer literate and comfortable with the use of PCs and Macs. Hardware such as graphic tablets, the use of scanners and storage devices should also be in your repertory of skills.

Graphic designers create graphic solutions for use in print, film, video, and electronic media to clearly communicate ideas and messages. They use many different means to do this by utilizing colors, illustrations, photography, type, design layouts, animation, and other graphic tools.

Graphic designers need good communication and problem solving skills to meet the challenges of interpreting a client’s wishes correctly, finding solutions to make a design successful and being able to switch project objectives at a moment’s notice.

The Workplace
Generally speaking, if you can land a graphic design job at one of the larger design, advertising, or publishing companies, you’ll most likely be working in comfortable office settings with a standard 40-hour workweek. Occasional overtime is required during “crunch time.”

If you are thinking about a career as a freelance graphic designer, you can expect to schedule your workweek according to your client’s wishes and timetable. This may mean longer work hours, night work, and weekend work.

How Much Does a Graphic Designer Make?
As far as available positions, it is expected that openings in graphic design will grow about 7% to 13% from now until the year 2016. Competition for these jobs will be very high. The range for annual wages for graphic design positions is from $26,110 to $74,660.

Next Time…
We’ll look at the position of an illustrator and what the job encompasses and what you need to do to prepare for a career in this field. See you then!