visual designer Career Path | See the Career Paths People Really Take

designer

graphic designer

senior product designer

art director

senior visual designer

visual designer

design intern

The Art Director creates the visual aspects of a specific campaign and oversees a staff to produce the related designs.  Their role is to provides work direction to a team, assign schedules, coach employees, and meet art department work standards by following production, productivity, quality and customer assistance regulations.  Their responsibilities are to resolve operational queries, identify work process changes, meet art department cost measures by monitoring expenses and implementing cost-saving actions, formulate art concepts, select and secure illustrative stock by forming basic layout design concepts and conducting research, produce layouts for printing by marking-up, pasting-up, and finishing layouts, obtain client approval by offering final layouts, storyboards and models, and improve the results by studying, evaluating and re-designing processes.

Audrey shares her career journey as a successful associate creative director. She shares how to get into a design field and tips for advancing your creative career while staying inspired and fulfilled.

<h2>My Career Path to Associate Creative Director</h2><p>I started out working on a magazine as an intern, and I learned a lot on the job as we do. And then from there, I became a graphic designer. And from there, I became a junior art director. And from there, I became an art director, a senior art director, and now I'm an ACD—associate creative director. So maybe next, I'll be a creative director. But that's kind of like the path.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Pros and Cons of a Creative Leader</h2><p>I think some of the pros are being able to work professionally as an artist. That's a huge pro. And some cons are, you know, you have to be willing and able to understand that you're doing this for a client. So it's not going to always be the work you think it should be.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Creative Environment</h2><p>Creative direction is a job that can often be done totally remote, and that can be a pro and a con. I think going into an office is great because, as an artist, I really need to collaborate. I really need people to balance things off of, and I just need to not be in the same place every day.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Salary</h2><p>I feel really privileged to have a full-time career as a designer. I think salary depends on where you work, every job, not only where you work regionally, but the company you work at. Because, for example, a lot of tech jobs have bigger budgets, smaller companies have smaller budgets. So I think it's good to consider where you want to work, if you want to work at a really big company, if you want to work at a really small company, and then how much is it important to you to make a lot of money? Is it important to you to live in a place where cost of living is low and make enough money? I would look online to really check out—there's a salary guide done every year by maybe the AIGA, and so every year I think it's good to check on that and see where salary guidelines have upped or improved.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Power of Exposure</h2><p>I think that as an artist, as a creative, getting exposure to different work processes, tools, creative directors, different clients, different types of creative you're working on, different asks is super crucial. If the opportunity comes up to move around, move around often, not only for the creative opportunity but also because they say that the best way to get a raise is to get a new job.</p><p><br></p>

A Design Intern assists graphic designers with the design of promotional web graphics, surveys, flyers, banners, posters, invitations, and other advertising and marketing materials. Their role is to utilyze graphic design software to work with a variety of media.  Their responsibilities are to update websites with film and event text, images, press releases, sponsor logos, and video, complete projects before imposed deadlines, maintain brand guidelines, and collaboarte on design concepts with managers and directors.

A Designer creates visual trends through media like typography, illustration, photography and layouts.  Their role is producing excellent visual work, generating a host of ideas, selecting the best ones, and selling them to other members of the team and to clients.  Their responsibilities are staying up to date with industry trends, encouraging others to share their ideas, communicating productively with management and clients to keep them up-to-date with project milestones, creating a direction for projects, and guiding team members.

The Graphic Designer uses hand tools or computer softwares to create posters, websites, logos, pamphlets, magazines and other materials to communicate opinions and information.  Their role is planning concepts by studying relevant information and materials, demonstrating concepts, and preparing finished art by operating necessary equipment and software.  Their responsibilities are coordinating with outside agencies, art services, web designers, marketing, printers and co-workers as needed, contributing to team efforts by performing tasks, communicating with clients about layout and design criteria, creating a wide range of graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos and websites, and reviewing final layouts and advising on changes.

Audrey shares her career journey as a successful graphic designer. She shares the importance of a strong portfolio, how to showcase your skills with performance metrics, and tips for advancing your creative career while staying inspired and fulfilled. 

<h2>Graphic Design Necessary Skills</h2><p>Color theory, drawing, and a sense of composition. I think a college or a vocational program just gives you the opportunities and the teachers to help you learn how to do that and to have the opportunity to practice it.</p><p><br></p><h2>How to Start in This Role</h2><p><br></p><p>To get into this role, I would say have a strong portfolio. Whether the portfolio is actual client work or work that you've created on your own, like case studies or made-up brands, having design examples is key. It’s important for whoever's looking at your book—whatever prospective employer that might be—to see your design sense, your skill level, and what you excel at.</p><p><br></p><h2>Portfolio Tio</h2><p>One thing I wish I’d done more in my own portfolio is include numbers. For example, showing how an ad got a certain number of views or how a social post received a particular amount of interaction. Those numbers really tell the story people want to see. It’s not just about making great visuals but demonstrating performance.</p><p><br></p><h2>Pros and Cons</h2><p>Working professionally as an artist is a huge benefit. Some cons, however, include understanding that the work is for a client, which means it won’t always be what you personally envision. I feel privileged to have a full-time career as a designer. Salary varies based on location and the company. Tech companies, for example, often have bigger budgets compared to smaller ones.</p><p><br></p><h2>Graphic Designer Salary</h2><p>As a graphic designer, you can expect a wide range of salaries—anywhere from $50K to $70K, depending on the market. I started as an intern at a magazine, learned on the job, and then became a graphic designer. From there, I moved up to junior art director, art director, senior art director, and now associate creative director. Perhaps a creative director role is next.</p><p><br></p><h2>Career Advice</h2><p>The biggest piece of advice: don’t stay in one job too long. When opportunities arise, move around for both creative and financial growth. They say the best way to get a raise is to get a new job.</p><p><br></p><p>For inspiration, I need to get out and see things. It’s essential to put myself in a place to be inspired so I can do my best creative work. It’s easy to check the box and fulfill the job, but true creatives want to feel creatively fulfilled. You don’t want to end up unsatisfied with the work you’re doing.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

The Senior Product Designer works directly with an industrial team, and can design specialist products like medical and electronic equipment.  Their role is to examine markets, design new products, improve existing ones or manufacture products at lower costs.  Their responsibilities are conducting market research to determine gaps in the market, outlining specifications for the design team and stakeholders, collaborating with the design team, providing helpful feedback, engaging audiences using sketches, blueprints and prototypes to gather feedback, producing prototypes and models to test functionality, and researching tools, materials and relevant design techniques.

The Senior Visual Designer helps businesses with visually appealing graphic designs for their websites.  Their role is brainstorming creative thoughts with project teams, developing visual concepts for approval, and collaborating with IT developers to successfully integrate their graphic designs.  Their responsibilities are designing original graphics with unique colors, shapes and typography fonts, refining the output of paint and hand drawn applications by using visual design software, enhancing digital images, submitting visual design concepts for brainstorming and approval, meeting with the project team for feedback and editing designs, and collaborating with IT developers in aligning visual designs with website functionalities.

A Visual Designer helps businesses with visually appealing graphic designs for their websites.  Their role is brainstorming creative thoughts with project teams, developing visual concepts for approval, and collaborating with IT developers to successfully integrate their graphic designs.  Their responsibilities are designing original graphics with unique colors, shapes and typography fonts, refining the output of paint and hand drawn applications by using visual design software, enhancing digital images, submitting visual design concepts for brainstorming and approval, meeting with the project team for feedback and editing designs, and collaborating with IT developers in aligning visual designs with website functionalities.

Visual Designer Career Path