A graphic design major plays a key role in visual communication within our society. A graphic designer career is vital to business operations, particularly in marketing and advertising which utilize the posters, letters, magazine advertisements, wrappers, newspaper ads, and album covers created through graphic design. Visual artists can excel in graphic design, with the freedom to create their drawings and graphics either traditionally or through computer graphics software, such as Photoshop. An extension of graphic design is animation, and students can enroll in an animation course to enhance their education and incorporate the skills into their work.
Potential Jobs and Earnings for Those Who Learn Graphic Design
Those planning to embark on a graphic designer career can expect to find a vast and wide sweeping world of opportunities, with jobs and responsibilities not necessarily conducive to simply drawing. Graphic design careers can include; freelance designer, Web content editor, creative services executive director, senior visual designer, creative director, visual Web designer, interaction designer, graphic designer, production designer, book designer, communication designer, print art director, or chief marketing officer. A graphic design major can provide you with a wide variety of options, and a graphic designer career can be catered to suit your particular specialties and featured talents.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the outlook for a graphic designer career will have average demand in the foreseeable future, with competition for the prime jobs. Those with online animation degrees will possess an added edge due to the high demand for animators and Web designers. The median annual earnings of graphic designers as of May 2008 was more than $42,000. However, salary fluctuations can be dramatic in graphic design based upon talent specialization and working medium, with the lowest paying jobs earning approximately $26,000 annually, while the highest paying positions received $75,000 annually.
The Exciting World of Animation and Multimedia
Animation is an exciting subject for those who study at an online graphic design school not just because of the high demand for professionals, but also because the artists can enjoy their work. A graphic design major in animation allows you to get involved in the production of cartoons, graphics for video and computer games, movies, and other media that make use of moving imagery. In today’s world that means that there are increasingly more options due to our media becoming richer and more robust as technology continues to improve. Thus, a graphic designer career in animation is usually found in television and movie production jobs, with increasingly more work being done on the Internet daily. On the other hand, artists may choose to work more exclusively with multimedia, and this involves work with video and music for Websites.