Title: Graphic Designer Careers | The Princeton Review
Headings: Graphic Designer
Graphic Designer
A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer
Paying Your Dues
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Present and Future
Quality of Life
PRESENT AND FUTURE
FIVE YEARS OUT
TEN YEARS OUT

Content: Individuals who are insecure about their skills or their ideas have a hard time accepting the amount of risk and rejection this career entails. A successful graphic designer has an enviable life, choosing clients and earning significant amounts of money. However, be warned: An artist’s style may be very hot one season and turn into a parody the next. People who are unwilling or unable to change could find promising careers declining. Of the nearly 25,000 people who try to enter the field of graphic design each year, only about 60 percent last the first two years, and about 30 percent remain in the field at five years. Paying Your Dues
The majority of graphic designers have a four-year degree, usually in product design, art, or art history. Graphic designers must have talent and an understanding of the business world, including issues of finance and production, and should be familiar with computer software such as InDesign, Quark XPress, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and other painting and graphic design tools. Graphic designers must be able to work in a variety of media and meet deadlines, sizing limits, and financial restrictions, especially those designers who wish to work as freelance graphic designers rather than in-house salaried designers. Basic pre-professional coursework should include design, drawing, computer artwork, and specific knowledge  (for example, anatomy for medical graphics designers) relating to any area of specialization.