Hi there!
I’m Ava and I currently am finishing up my cert 4 in Visual Arts. I’m 18 and currently trying to figure out if this is the right career path for me! I am thinking about going to Uni or possibly TAFE for Graphic design but I’m a beginner and haven’t really figured out how to use adobe, I have kind of only have used procreate. I really enjoy drawing, sketching and printmaking. I also really like collaborating with people to create drawings based off their ideas, which is why people have recommended studying graphic design. I was wondering if anyone could share what their career looks like in graphic design?
Thankyou!!
My number one tip for someone considering a career in graphic design would be to find another career. Seriously. I would not try to talk any of my own kids into the field. AI, crowdsourcing/contest sites, template sites, software subscriptions, stock sites, tools allowing would be clients to take a DIY approach … these have all undercut the value and decreased the demand for professional, qualified designers. On top of that, there is an absolute flood of folks whose sole training comes from watching YouTube videos that — if they can find paying clients — work for pennies on the dollar. I think there will always be a place for talented designers, but you have to do work that puts you at the top of your class in order to really succeed. And then, your days are numbered due to ageism in the field, so you need to have a viable career path forward.
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To an extent I agree with Steve_O, although, I am slightly less pessimistic in the longer term, Pendulums have a habit of swinging back again. I think the lower end of the market is absolutely annihilated by have-ago-hero’s and templates. This is only going to be exacerbated by AI. However, I think at the higher end of the market, there will always be a demand for clever, creative ideas.
Good design has always needed good clients. I think you have to aim high and gravitate towards good studios in big cities, once you have a good bricks-and-mortar university degree. Of course, this means you have to be good enough to climb this high. However, the university entrance process will help with vetting anyway.
I am lucky to have had a great career so far and been fortunate enough to work with some amazing people on great projects. That is not intended to sound quite as self-satisfied as it probably does, but more to show that it is possible, albeit, given that I think I cut my teeth in the industry in its golden years, when design in London was an incredibly cool profession to be in. I think those days are gone, but because of this there were a lot of designers and it was pretty competitive. There weren’t the bedroom heroes there are now, because you had to be qualified to even get your foot in the door.
However, I think the same applies today, in that the masses of YouTube-educated, self-titled designers won’t even get to press their noses to the window.
I am at the opposite end of my career to you, in that, although still a decade or so off retirement age, I am slowly winding down. I no longer live in London and haven’t for a couple of decades now, but I still work with some London clients. These I will continue to work for, because they value what I do and know that, in turn, it brings value to them. This is what I meant about good design needing good clients.
However, at the end of 2024, I decided, I was dropping corporate and smaller clients, specifically smaller branding projects. This is for two reasons. Partly I want to pursue more self-initiated work (type and lettering design) and partly because expectation from small and medium-sized business owners is at the lowest level I have ever seen.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was a branding project I have recently parted ways with. It was potentially a really nice one; repositioning a hotel to become the flagship for a small chain.I got to a point where I knew the business and its marketplace inside out had built a brand identity to reflect this and talk to its current and aspirant market in the right tone of voice. The board loved it. We got to the point where we’d started implementation, when the CEO announces, ‘Thanks for all your hard work, but the hotel staff and my social media ‘expert’ (for expert, read Canva templates) will take over from here. Despite comprehensive brand guidelines, needless to say within a fortnight, it had fallen to bits, with mixed messages all over the place and ugly templates and cheap phone photography the order of the day. Depressing, but this is the way things seem to be now.
Will it swing back? I think so, when people realise it does actual harm to their business. Will AI fill the gap? No one knows, but that AI will still need creative guidance.
So, in short, if you are aiming low and want to do local work in provincial marketplaces for small businesses, I’m completely with Steve_O. Run the other way and very fast. If, though, you want to aim high and work with the best of the best, it will be tough (it always was), but I think there will always be a place for this and I still think there are great careers to be had.
Just don’t quote me!
That said, I don’t think there are any careers that are not going to be impacted by AI in some way or other.
Follow what drives you. Ultimately it is only this that will give you the impetus to get through the tough times – and there will be some, whichever path you follow. You have to be able to wake up and love what you do every day.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
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There’s no sugarcoating it, graphic design is more competitive than ever. But don’t let that discourage you. Just be realistic about what you’re getting into.
Avoid low-tier work. If you’re going into graphic design, don’t just settle for “making things look nice.” Aim for high-level, conceptual, and strategic roles where you’re solving real problems, not just pushing pixels.
Develop your skills. A formal education will help set you apart and give you a solid foundation. Sure, you can learn a lot online, but structured learning will push you further.
If you’re serious about this field, get familiar with Adobe software. Procreate is great, but Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop are still the industry standard. The sooner you get comfortable with them, the better.
Don’t box yourself into a niche too early. Diversify your skills, motion graphics, UI/UX design, branding, and marketing strategy will make you stand out in a sea of template-based designers. The more you can do, the more valuable you become. (nd this can be a trap too as some companies advertise that they want a Graphic Designer expert for print, web design, video editing, photographer - basically a jack-of-all-trades and master of none - don’t fall for these roles, they undervalue you and underpay, and overwork you).
Find good clients. A lot of designers burn out because they end up working for people who don’t value what they do. Skip the bottom-of-the-barrel freelance sites and start networking, attend business events, join local groups, and connect with people who actually understand the importance of good design.
And there’s no avoiding this: AI is going to impact the industry. But for now, it still needs human creativity and strategy to be truly effective.
If you’re serious about making it in graphic design, you need to aim high. Anything less, and you’ll be stuck in a saturated and undervalued market where it’s tough to stand out.
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