Graphic Artists and Marketing Careers Guide

Graphics design and marketing go hand in hand in the era of the internet. It was always important to have the right look to attract customers, but now with the sheer amount of competing ads and the nature of the Internet have vastly amplified this need. Being good is no longer good enough to get through to costumers. That is why there is such an increasing demand for good graphic design and marketing in many areas from creating party invitations to organizing the layout of a magazine. There are lots of companies out there looking to fill the need and always on the lookout for new employees.

Typical Companies Hiring Graphic Artists:

Archway Marketing Services
Human Resources Staffing Specialist
Archway Marketing Services
7525 Cogswell Road
Romulus, MI 48174 

Phone Number: (866) 779-9855

This marketing company helps client’s put together the best marketing for their products and services. Naturally a marketing or advertising company will need the skills of a good graphic artist or designer.

Scribble Creative Group
15 Constitution Dr. Suite 102
Bedford, NH 03110
Phone Number: (603) 623-3933

It’s another marketing company that also offers website design and logo creation services, both of which can make use of the graphic artist’s skill. You may want to consider learning a little website design to supplement your graphic design degree.

Hallmark Greeting Cards
Hallmark Customer Service
P.O. Box 419034
Mail Drop 216
Kansas City, Missouri 64141 

Phone Number: 1-(800)-HALLMARK

It’s hard not to be familiar with this greeting card company that needs plenty of artists, graphic artists and designers to keep churning out cards and invitations for their customers. 

Of course there are many other companies that hire graphic artists and even lots of graphic design companies that bring in new employees from time to time. As of 2006 there were about 261,000 jobs for graphic artist, and about 25% were estimated to be freelance. This is growing at an estimated growth rating of 10% each year. The average salary you could expect is in the $30,000 - $50,000 range.

As for education first and foremost they are interested in your abilities, but even then they'll still want a degree, usually a bachelor’s degree. Usually you'll find a graphic design course listed at most colleges and universities, so that shouldn't be too difficult. Here are just a few of the schools that offer degrees in graphic design:

College Degree Programs:

Occupational Associate of Applied Science Degree in Graphic Design (Jackson)

Antonelli College - Jackson

The Associate from Antonelli prepares students for a career in advertising, marketing, promotion or printing. Students learn fundamental design theory and practice their talents through real-world design exercises and projects

Bachelor’s of Art in Graphic Design

Avila University - Kansas City, MO

Those interested in a longer term degree can get the Bachelor’s from Avila University. Students here spend four years learning everything from fine arts to typography to computer software for their degree. In addition, they spend some time working freelance for on campus and local clients to develop their portfolios and gain on the job experience.

Graphic Design Job Titles

After getting a degree there are many different job titles you could end up with in graphic design. The basic three jobs are junior, middleweight, and senior designers.

Junior designers are usually hired out of college and get the grunt work like page layouts and simple drawing. Middleweight designers are expected to be able to do design work and the like, but are still reporting to a hire up. While senior designers do design work and occasionally even come up with the design briefs with the clients directly.

There are also Art directors as another final step as an alternate to senior designer. They have wildly different job descriptions, but mainly they are in charge of the style of artwork at a company. They will be in charge of things like branding, and usually have final say in any design work.

You’ll also encounter other similar job titles like; advertising designer, animator, computer graphics specialist, conceptual artist, digital imaging and media, layout artist, package designer, production artist and web designer.

Finally there is the straight marketing side of things, in the case you can't or don't want to go as a graphic artist in the marketing field. This will of course involve some knowledge of graphic design, but your main involvement would be choosing which designs work best. In addition you'd need to look into how to use the designs, what type of marketing to focus on, and by what method. There are a tremendous number of potential paths here and only a fool dares tread them all. This is an entirely different field that only has one small overlap, but if you've already got some experience then it may be a good alternative. Most people that look at graphic artist careers enjoy drawing, creating and designing various items. For this reason, knowing what is expected of a graphic artist and the education that will be needed for this field is very important. Like most professions a BA degree in graphic design is most often the least of the requirements for this field of study.