What can I do with a degree in Graphic Design?

The occupations listed below are a selection of those which may interest Graphic Design students and graduates. 

Graphic Designer, Freelance and/or Employed 

Graphic designers may work freelance and/or employed in dealing with a wide range of projects that include website design, advertising and posters, the designing of books and magazine covers, computer games, exhibition displays, the packaging for products, as well as branding for corporations, organisations, institutions and businesses.

Prospects Job Profile: Graphic Designer
Target Jobs Job Website Job Profile: Graphic Designer
All About Careers Job Profile: Graphic Designer
Total Jobs Website Job Profile: Graphic Designer

Advertising Art Director

Advertising art directors generate ideas and strategies for advertising campaigns which are delivered through various media outlets.  

Prospects Job Profile: Advertising Art Director
National Careers Service Job Profile: Advertising Art Director
Creative Blog Website: How to be an Art Director

Animator 

Animators create films, television programmes, advertisements and online videos through sequences of multiple images/frames that are drawn digitally or by hand, or alternatively with clay, plasticine and/or wooden models and puppets.

Prospects Job Profile: Animator
Creative Skillset Job Profile: Animator (2D Computer Animation)
Creative Skillset Job Profile: Animator (2D Drawn Animation) 
Creative Skillset Job Profile: Animator (3D Computer Animation)
Creative Skillset Job Profile: Animator (Stop Motion Animation)

Illustrator

Illustrators create images through drawing, photography or digital illustration for a range of different platforms, from story books to advertisements. 

Prospects Job Profile: Illustrator
Creative & Cultural Skills Website Job Profile: Illustrator

Printmaker

Printmakers design images and transpose them onto different surfaces including paper, glass and plastic.    

Prospects Job Profile: Printmaker

Design and Marketing Manager

Design and marketing managers are in charge of marketing activities and strategies for promoting products, services and/or ideas. 

Prospects Job Profile: Design and Marketing Manager
Total Jobs Website Job Profile: Design and Marketing Manager

Web Designer 

Web designers create, improve and sometimes maintain web pages for clients. 

Prospects Job Profile: Web Designer
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Web Designer
Target Jobs Website Job Profile: Web Designer

UI/UX Designer 

UI/UX designers are involved in designing websites, applications and software that can be easily used by people from non-technical backgrounds.
Prospects Job Profile: UX Designer

Digital and Advertising Copywriter 

Digital and advertising copywriters plan and write content for advertising campaigns. 

Prospects Job Profile: Advertising Copywriter
Prospects Job Profile: Digital Copywriter

Art and Photo Editor 

Art and photo editors select, purchase, prepare and alter stock photos (or take photographs themselves) to improve the look of magazines and/or other publications.

National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Art Editor

Digital Marketing Officer 

Digital marketing officers are responsible for marketing campaigns, being in charge of the content for websites, apps, social media, email and e-newsletters to promote brands, products and services.

Please note that some of these careers may require further study.
For further information on these careers, see also:

• Information on types of jobs from Prospects
• Information on career sectors from TARGETjobs

Many people in graphic design roles are self-employed. 

Thank you to Prospects for the content on these pages.

A graphic design degree may be useful in the following career areas:

Events Coordinator/Manager

Events coordinators organise all the aspects of a client’s brief for an event, including timetabling, venues, suppliers, staff, catering, travel, budget, marketing, guest speakers and security.

Prospects Job Profile: Events Coordinator
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Events Manager

Exhibition Designer

Exhibition designers work on the creative side of exhibitions including museum exhibitions, trade shows and conferences.

Prospects Job Profile: Exhibition Designer
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Exhibition Designer

Fine Artist 

Fine artists generate and develop original works of art by sketching, collaging, painting and making models, sculptures, installations, moving images or perhaps performances by working in a studio to cater to a brief and/or commission set in place by a client.

Prospects Job Profile: Fine Artist
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Fine Artist

Further Education Lecturer 

Further education lecturers mainly teach subjects at sixth form and adult education colleges, as well as in charities or work-based learning environments, and also at young offender institutions, or in certain cases may teach university students. 

Prospects Job Profile: Further Education Lecturer
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Further Education Lecturer

Higher Education Lecturer 

Higher education lecturers primarily teach undergraduate and postgraduate university students that are aged at least 18-years old, but can also lecture in some specialist further education colleges. 

Prospects Job Profile: Higher Education Lecturer
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Higher Education Lecturer

Interior and Spatial Designer 

Interior and spatial designers are tasked with designing the structural alteration of interior spaces that involves sourcing the furniture, furnishings, fixtures, materials and costs and producing 'sample' boards to clients.

Prospects Job Profile: Interior and Spatial Designer
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Interior and Spatial Designer

Landscape Architect

Landscape architects are responsible for overseeing the planning, designing and managing of a variety of projects for open, natural and built environments and spaces. 

Prospects Job Profile: Landscape Architect
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Landscape Architect

Medical Illustrator 

Medical illustrators take and process photographs, films, graphic images and 3D imaging for professionals involved in patient care and education. 

Prospects Job Profile: Medical Illustrator

Photographer 

Photographers create visual images of people, places, products and events to meet a client’s brief.

Prospects Job Profile: Photographer
National Careers Service Website Job Profile: Photographer

Production Designers

Production designers create a style behind the visual elements of a film, television or theatre production, which includes the set, props, lighting, camerawork and costuming.

Prospects Job Profile: Production Designer

You may be interested in graduate roles outside of graphic design. There are many employers who are looking for graduates with good degrees but that don’t have a preference for the subject studied. To explore different career options see:

• Path to Employment
• I Want To Work In
• Information on types of jobs from Prospects
• Information on career sectors from TARGETjobs

As well as subject-specific knowledge and skills, a graduate in actuarial science will typically have gained:

• Problem solving skills where the individual will generate solutions in response to set briefs
• Team-working skills that allow the collaborative generation of ideas, proposals solutions and arguments
• Decision-making skills for thinking in a divergent and independent way when observing, investigating or visualising ideas towards a material outcome, as well as handling ambiguous or uncertain situations through anticipation and adaptation to change
• Organisational skills to monitor and achieve a balance between intention, process and outcome
• Commercial awareness skills that allow resourcefulness and entrepreneurial practice
• Creativity in imaginatively using materials, media technologies, methods and a variety of tools while observing good working practices
• Research skills that allow independence during study or goal setting, as well as dealing with workloads and deadlines
• Leadership skills in analysing information and experiences effectively, making independent judgements, as well as clearly articulating carefully-reasoned arguments through reflection, review and evaluation, and identifying personal strengths and needs
• Persuasion, influence and negotiating skills when effectively interacting and collaborating collectively with others, as well as visually or orally articulating and communicating ideas, information, writing or work to audiences from across a range of different situations
• Research and critical thinking skills when sourcing, navigating, selecting, retrieving, evaluating, manipulating and managing information
• IT skills when selecting and employing information technologies

This is not an exhaustive list of skills – you will develop many skills from your course, extra-curricular activities and work experience. 

The Careers and Employability Service provides information and advice on job searching to University of Kent students and recent graduates. This includes a vacancy database advertising a range of graduate jobs, sandwich placements and vacation work/internships. These websites may be useful in job searching and for providing further information on jobs and careers specifically related to Accounting and Finance.

Useful Websites

• D&AD
• Chartered Society of Designers
• International Society of Typographic Designers
• SMA Graphic Design Agency

Graphic Designer Job Searching Websites

• Campaign Jobs (Brand Republic Jobs)
• Creativepool
• Creative Review
• Design Jobs Board
• Design Week Jobs
• Indeed
• Jobsite
• Reed
• Total Jobs

More websites offering graduate jobs, internships and placement years

You may also find useful reviews and application/interview tips for specific organisations on the following websites:
Glassdoor
The Job Crowd

Over half of employed graphic design graduates in the UK work as graphic designers six months after graduation, with 64.5% in arts, design and media, 5.7% in marketing, PR and sales, with 83.6% in total being in employment, and 4.6% go onto further study (source). A Master’s degree can be an option to a build your portfolio and industry network by specialising in areas such as typography, illustration, multimedia, landscape architecture, interior design, computer packages or perhaps working with fine artists and filmmakers.