12 Career Paths for Graphic Designers
As a graphic designer, you will likely encounter most forms of design at some point. Packaging design, poster design, flyer design, logo design, social media design, etc. Think of Graphic Design as an umbrella term.
The upside to being a graphic designer is that many of the skills required to qualify for other creative positions have a much lower learning curve, barrier to entry, and fewer prerequisites. Making your switch an easy one.
If you are a graphic designer looking to pivot into something new, here are some career paths to transition into.
1. Merchandise Design
Merchandise designers often work in-house or freelance, collaborating with labels, artist reps, and manufacturers to produce and pitch merchandise designs. As a merchandise designer, you'll need insight into commonly used formats for merchandise, apparel, and accessories.
Here are some resources to find merchandise inspiration.
www.defunkd.com
2. Digital Design
Digital Designers are needed in most businesses. A digital designer is someone who specializes in creating designs for the web. This includes email blasts and website graphics, designs for socials, and digital ad campaigns.
3. Brand Design
A Brand Designer is a creative professional responsible for shaping and maintaining the visual identity and personality of a brand. They ensure that a brand's core values and message are accurately represented through logos, color palettes, layout, and typography. Brand designers are needed in many small and corporate businesses.
Here are some dope resources for brand designers.
brandingstyleguides.com
4. Art Director
The art director manages and leads the creative team providing guidance and direction on everything visual, ensuring that the final output meets all client's objectives and adheres to brand guidelines. They play a pivotal role in developing and creating concepts and research. Art directors often are problem-solving, planning, delegating, and mentoring.
5. Creative Director
Creative directors have a much broader scope of responsibilities than art directors. A creative director oversees the ideation and execution and is more about interpersonal skills and problem-solving than designing. They pitch and create new ideas, communicate with clients, and strategize while providing guidance and feedback to designers, copywriters, marketers, etc.
6. Web Design
Web designers are responsible for managing and maintaining existing websites, uploading daily web content, and developing new websites. They utilize basic knowledge of HTML and CSS skills along with graphic design, and typography, to create interactive elements for the web. Web designers frequently collaborate with developers to ensure designs function accurately and seamlessly across different devices and web browsers.
7. UX/UI Design
UX/UI designers are responsible for designing user-friendly interfaces. They prioritize user experience and user interface design by creating low-fidelity mockups and wireframes for various platforms, software, websites, and mobile applications. They utilize user research to create prototypes and graphic design skills to maintain design standards for consistent experiences across solutions.
8. Social Media Design
A Social Media Designer creates visual content for social media platforms. They design graphics, animations, and videos tailored to each platform. Social Media Designers also collaborate with marketing teams to develop social media strategies and campaigns that drive engagement and brand awareness.
9. 3D Design
3D Designers work within a 3-dimensional space, utilizing programs like Maya, Blender, and Cinema 4D to create animations and visuals for various projects and use cases, such as creating 3D renderings of various products or designs to be used within marketing collateral.
10. Motion Graphics Design
A Motion Graphics Designer specializes in creating animated graphics for various use cases such as advertisements, events, campaigns, presentations, etc. They use software tools like Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Procreate Dreams to name a few.
11. Illustrator
An Illustrator specializes in creating hand-drawn or digital illustrations for various use cases such as editorial, advertising, books, and branding. They use their artistic abilities to visually communicate client ideas, narratives, and concepts.
12. Packaging Design
A Packaging Designer is responsible for designing the packaging and labeling of products to attract consumers and enhance brand recognition. When designing packaging, they often consider things like product visibility, shelf appeal, form, and functional requirements to create designs that align with the brand's identity and push marketing objectives.
