Graphic Designer

What it officially is

Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.

O*NET, US Department of Labor · classified as “Graphic Designers”

What the work involves

  • Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Prepare digital files for printing. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Research the target audience of projects. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Draw and print charts, graphs, illustrations, and other artwork, using computer. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Mark up, paste, and assemble final layouts to prepare layouts for printer. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Study illustrations and photographs to plan presentation of materials, products, or services. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Maintain archive of images, photos, or previous work products. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Prepare notes and instructions for workers who assemble and prepare final layouts for printing. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Prepare illustrations or rough sketches of material, discussing them with clients or supervisors and making necessary changes. 20% of people in this occupation report doing this

What employers actually ask for

Counted from listings on this board. Each line shows how many of that tier's listings for this role carried it — the denominator is the point.

Large employers

  • working with individual designers to support their professional growth 1 of 3
  • contributing hands-on design work when capacity or complexity requires it 1 of 3
  • coordinating with the rest of design leadership to mature our collective practice 1 of 3
  • bringing your team and others together to share their work and strengthen culture 1 of 3
  • evolving design systems and guidelines to drive consistent quality and improve efficiency 1 of 3
  • helping make the value of design legible across the organisation and open source community 1 of 3
  • continuously overseeing and improving operational workflows, including production processes 1 of 3
  • reviewing work critically and constructively, striving for excellence and consistency through direct feedback 1 of 3

Only one tier has enough listings for this role to count from. A share measured over fewer than three listings is not a measurement, so it is not shown.

What they call it

Large employers

  • Sr. Designer Adobe
  • Design Manager (Visual) Canonical
  • Production Designer (Contract) Mozilla

Startups

  • Graphic Designer GoSats
  • Visual Designer GoSats

Tools the occupation uses

Computer aided design CAD software Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Computer aided design and drafting CADD software, Autodesk AutoCAD, Bentley MicroStation, Autodesk Revit, Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
Desktop publishing software Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Distiller, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign
Development environment software Adobe ActionScript
Document management software Adobe Acrobat
Graphics or photo imaging software Adobe Photoshop, Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe FreeHand MX
Music or sound editing software Avid Pro Tools

How well this role is advertised

94listings reviewed
60/100median HR-standards score
75/100median title accuracy

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Official definitions and responsibilities come from public occupational records — O*NET (US Department of Labor) and ESCO (European Commission). The employer half is counted from listings on this board and shown with its denominator. Nothing on this page is written by a language model: the measured half is arithmetic over real postings, and the official half is quoted.