13 thoughts on “How do you get a secure revenue from Graphic Design?”
As Tall Truck says, working on staff at an agency or in-house department at a big company is going to be the route with the most stability.
I do know freelancers with very stable incomes, generally they have 10+ years of agency experience and work with a select group of clients, usually booked several months in advance. It’s a good life if you can get it, but takes a lot of work to get to that point.
There are three basic types of position you can take in graphic design.
1) you can freelance, and/or start your own agency
2) you can get hired at an existing agency (aka agency position)
3) you can get hired as a designer for any other firm that needs a designer on staff (aka in-house position).
1 means you hunt your own income, and you can be stone cold broke or very wealthy depending on hard work and luck.
2 and 3 provide steady stable, but not always large, income. The bigger the firm you work for the more likely you are to get good wage and benefits and a clear career path progression.
In house and agency designers tend to progress to senior designers, then team leaders/art directors, then creative directors, with the income increasing each time. By the time you are a CD, triple figure income is common.
Which is good, because despite common perception, the bulk of the industry is full-time (agency/studio or in-house), not freelance.
The catch I suppose is that full-time generally requires more formal training/development (ie., education), and depending on the specific job can be a lot more difficult to land if underdeveloped.
Freelance has no barrier to entry, anyone can attempt it, but that’s often misinterpreted as being a backdoor/shortcut (it’s not). It’s a lot more work, a lot more difficult, relies on a lot of other skillsets (eg salesmanship), and you’ll be running your whole company (as in, working all roles). It is hugely beneficial to work full-time prior to going it as a freelancer (like Z8pG2yQkZbGMJ was saying).
As Tall Truck says, working on staff at an agency or in-house department at a big company is going to be the route with the most stability.
I do know freelancers with very stable incomes, generally they have 10+ years of agency experience and work with a select group of clients, usually booked several months in advance. It’s a good life if you can get it, but takes a lot of work to get to that point.
There are three basic types of position you can take in graphic design.
1) you can freelance, and/or start your own agency
2) you can get hired at an existing agency (aka agency position)
3) you can get hired as a designer for any other firm that needs a designer on staff (aka in-house position).
1 means you hunt your own income, and you can be stone cold broke or very wealthy depending on hard work and luck.
2 and 3 provide steady stable, but not always large, income. The bigger the firm you work for the more likely you are to get good wage and benefits and a clear career path progression.
In house and agency designers tend to progress to senior designers, then team leaders/art directors, then creative directors, with the income increasing each time. By the time you are a CD, triple figure income is common.
Get hired as a graphic designer at an established company or studio
As others have said, go full-time, not freelance.
Which is good, because despite common perception, the bulk of the industry is full-time (agency/studio or in-house), not freelance.
The catch I suppose is that full-time generally requires more formal training/development (ie., education), and depending on the specific job can be a lot more difficult to land if underdeveloped.
Freelance has no barrier to entry, anyone can attempt it, but that’s often misinterpreted as being a backdoor/shortcut (it’s not). It’s a lot more work, a lot more difficult, relies on a lot of other skillsets (eg salesmanship), and you’ll be running your whole company (as in, working all roles). It is hugely beneficial to work full-time prior to going it as a freelancer (like Z8pG2yQkZbGMJ was saying).
Get hired as an in-house designer.
Higher ed provides some opportunities. Or so I hear …
Get a job.
Don’t sleep on being a shit hot art worker and a good enough graphic designer.
Specialise in something, try to find the right clients and make yourself vital to them.
Well as many guys pointed. Find a job/part time job in agency as designer and when you feel that you can handle it on your own go freelance.
If you are a freelancer learn how to market, network and advertise yourself
I work at a sign shop. Pays me 10-6pm 5 days a week and I mainly do graphic design but also do vinyl signworks and large format printing.
Go the technology route and start doing UI design. 6 figure salary out the gate
You don’t. Unless you are from Bangladesh and want to live on few dollars per day.
Charge a lot