According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in their Occupational Outlook Handbook, the job outlook for graphic designers in 2018-2028 is 3%, that is below average for other jobs which mean there is quite a bit of competition. The number of jobs in 2018 for graphic designers are only 290,100 and is expected to grow by 8,800 by 2028, that doesn’t include all graphic design either, most of the available jobs involving designing is with media or public relation’s services which not all graphic designers specialize in those areas.
Consequently, the area which most graphic designers work in is freelance/self-employment, 22% of people work in that area and the next is at 10% with people working in specialized design service companies.
For a job that is tremendously useful and helpful, the job spots are extremely limited, several have gone to college and majored in graphic design and earned their bachelor’s yet have no choice but to drop the part of them hoping to work with graphic design as a result of heavy competition. In order to be a successful graphic designer, you’ll learn the competitive industry and how to promote yourself, it is necessary to learn how to use the required software, where to find work, and what is the labor coming out of being a graphic designer.
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As more and more students start moving their career into graphic design, the competition is getting worse and specific graphic designers aren’t in high demand anymore. Due to this heavy competition, people with lots of work experience or an education in graphic design where they can work with animation and computer software are at an advantage in the industry.
While the industry is expected to grow only by 3% in the next ten years, it will specifically hit certain graphic designers the worst and then boost others. According to CollegeGrad, “For example, employment of graphic designers in newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers is projected to decline 22% over the next ten years. However, employment of graphic designers in
computer systems design and related services is projected to grow 20% over the same period.” What that shows are that in ten years from 2016, when these figures were taken, the employment rate for people who specialize in newspaper, magazines, book covers, and directory publishers will have a big decline of 22% percent meanwhile graphic designers who specialize in animation and know the modern technology and software will experience a 20% growth in employment.
This is positive for modern age now because many are majoring in graphic design with computer software, which means more job opportunities for those people. With this information, if someone is looking into graphic design as work, they will be able to know exactly where the best area to specialize is in and the percentile for job opportunities soon.
The software that many use to design all ranges, some are easier for others and others are meant more for basics rather than full graphic designing. Software like Adobe Indesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator are well known in the graphic design community ad many colleges teach students how to use them. Other software like Procreate, Canva and Dreamweaver are better for creating a basic start design and then moving that design into the Adobe programs listed above.
Microsoft Office programs and Video/Animation tools are used commonly as well, many businesses recruiting others for designing of an animation or video to promote their company or a brand. Knowing these software beforehand will boost the likely hood of getting hired.
If someone is interested in graphic design and has certain characteristics like analytical skills, artistic ability, communication skills, computer skills, along with others, those are typically characteristics that people look for when hiring someone for a graphic design position, someone that has a passion and knowledge in that arena rather then someone without the qualities for that positions.
Not only do those qualities matter but the designers’ style and expertise also matter, many specialize in typography which is helpful for creating logos or anything promotional for a brand, desktop advertising, web design, product packaging, book design, and print/web production.
