Graphic Designer working on iPad

Graphic Designer

These designers create solve problems with visual concepts, either with computer software or by hand. They communicate ideas that inspire and inform their audience.


What they love about their jobs

Creative professionals talk about their favorite parts of their day.

Gina McKinna
“I love making my clients' visions come to life.”
Gina McKinna
Graphic Designer at Self Employed
Derek Desormeaux
“I get to work with a lot of different people to overcome these obstacles. I love how my job is a part of a bigger system to move the company ahead.”
Derek Desormeaux
Graphic Designer at StockX
Katie Gribben
“I love the freedom to be creative, no day is the same.”
Katie Gribben
Graphic Designer at Deloitte
Sarah Louise Kinsella
“I love being able to solve clients’ problems with their current brand identity.”
Sarah Louise Kinsella
Brand Designer at Louise Agency
Zach Deocadiz-Smith
“I love that I get to tackle problems that no one has tackled before - I get to experiment every day and hopefully see what I do change the future.”
Zach Deocadiz-Smith
Product Designer at WaveXR

Where this is needed

🎬
Film
Credits roll for ten minutes because it takes thousands of creative people to make the movies and shows you love, from concepting to the storytelling and actual production, every creative job you can imagine exists in this industry.
🎵
Music
It’s more than music that keeps creative minds busy in the always-evolving music industry. Album art, videos, graphic design, photoshoots, digital experiences, the list goes on for creative output that supports all genres.
🎮
Gaming
A massively growing industry that needs creatives of all kinds not only to build games, but to plan the characters, create the campaigns, and envision what’s next.
💬
Social Media
The big social media companies employ thousands of creatives to build better experiences for users, strategize how to evolve their platforms, program better tools, and much more.
🍴
Food & Beverage
It’s more than making things taste good; there’s brand-building, packaging design and advertising of all kinds in this massive global industry.
🩺
Healthcare
Healthcare and health insurance brands offer a complex service which means creative leadership is required to differentiate and clarify a complicated and often stressful experience for the consumer.

Skills to thrive in this field

💬
Communication
Listen to your teammates and to the clients you work with
🧠
Ideation
Come up with ideas for a variety of clients and problems
🏆
Craft
Polish and finesse typography, compositions, and creative assets
🤝
Collaboration
Work closely with other designers and other disciplines

Commonly used tools

Figma
Figma
A cloud-based collaborative design platform
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator
Vector graphics design software
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
For editing photos and creating design layouts
Sketch
Sketch
Graphic design tool to help create vector graphics
Notion
Notion
Notion is a productivity and organization tool
Slack
Slack
A communication platform for teams that enables real-time messaging, file sharing, and collaboration
Asana
Asana
Work management tool for teams to plan, organize and manage their work
Sign up to learn more with Creative Ladder

Sign up to learn more with Creative Ladder

Join The Creative Ladder community for access to more learning and career resources! It's free and packed with some of the top leaders in today's creative industries.