Who Hires Graphic Designers?

It used to be, once upon a time, that the job opportunities for graphic designers were limited, and it was considered a highly specialized niche career. There were advertising agencies and newspapers, and that was pretty much it. Today, there are many avenues to focus upon, or several, as the products are usually of the same ilk.

Even in this day of hyper speed progression in technology and vehicles in which to impart information, advertising agencies are still relevant places in which to seek employment. They have not gone the way of the dinosaur; rather, they have adapted to the market and updated their tools and means of delivering their campaigns.

What is different about today's job market is that there are a number of places that hire in-house graphic designers, where at one time they would have used an ad agency. Retail stores and corporations have found it cost effective and end-result effective to keep graphic designers on the payroll, where their only responsibility is to focus on that store or corporation. Having the designer concentrate only their brand promotes more succinct, pinpointed, "get the culture" ads, promotional materials, press releases, and any other type of information to get their message out. It minimizes any generalities or unintended summaries that a graphic designer might produce if they were not immersed in the business.

Public relations firms are also hotbeds of employment for graphic designers. Similar to ad agencies, the product they promote is usually people instead of an object or service. Celebrities and events are two of the main types of clients that public relations firms cater to. Both these types of clients require promotional material of all mediums in order for the proper execution of the promotion. A good graphic designer will be able to produce print, Web presentations with Flash, video clips for the Internet and TV, CD covers, book covers, banners, logos, trademarks - anything promotional that propels their client into the limelight.

Publications like newspapers and magazines hire graphic designers to make sure the layouts, ads, text, fonts, and other specs are created and made ready for publishing. Similar yet slightly different are print shops and clip art services - they're always in need of graphic designers. The primary focus of print shops is layout and typography, whereas clip art concentrates on small pictures, images, and drawings of every single thing imaginable - these are used in document production and website building.

Even though people aren't too fond of junk mail, it does serve a purpose and is highly effective. Graphic designers are crucial to the business success of direct mail advertisers. They are often stand alone businesses, and not a branch or department of advertising agencies.

Colleges, museums, art galleries, dance companies, and theaters will also hire graphic designers, more than likely on a freelance basis, as opposed to permanent full time positions. These institutions all hold events that need promoting, or need brochures for prospective clients, and year-end presentations for board members or fellows and donors.