Highest Paying Design Job Roles and Desired Skills

Join us to discover the highest-paying design roles and the skills that set you apart. Start your journey to creativity and high earnings in the design world.

Key Takeaways

• Overview of Top Design Roles with lucrative pay.
• An outline of the essential skills for high-earning designers.
• Navigate the design industry’s salary landscape.

What are the highest-paying design job roles and their desired skills?

Do you know what the highest-paying design job roles include? These include UX/UI Designer, Product Designer, and Creative Designer. All these roles demand a blend of creativity along with technical proficiency in design tools. With that, a deep understanding of user experience is required to secure top-tier salaries in the design industry.

General Desired Skills:

• Knowledge of different design software is required.
• Design principle knowledge is very important.
• You need to be creative.
• You must possess visual communication skills.
• Problem solving is also an important skill.
• Know-how of user experience design is a plus point.

Graphic Design Specialization

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Google UX Design Professional Certificate

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Best Paying Design Job Roles

Below are some of the best paying graphic design jobs and all the details you need to know about these jobs.

1. Product Designer

A product designer is known to be a person who oversees the entire design process of a specific product. With that, he also has to oversee the improvement of an existing product.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct research to find out market gaps.
• Define different product specifications.
• Create digital or print drawings.
• Collaborate with the design team and provide productive feedback on processes.
• A successful product designer must have an eye for color and shape.

Educational Requirements

• To be able to start a career in this field, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in a related field such as graphic design or any other relevant coursework would also do the work.

Desired Skills

• Visual Design
• User Research
• Critical Thinking
• Communication

Average Salary

• If you are working as a product designer in the US then you can expect to earn an average annual salary of $105,448.

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2. Graphic Designer

Graphic designer is an individual who works in the graphic design and art industry and has to assemble together a variety of images and typography in order to create a piece of design. He is a person who has to create the graphics either for published, printed, or electronic media.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan different ideas by analyzing relevant materials and information.
• Prepare finalized Art by utilizing necessary tools and software.
• Develop illustrations, logos, and other designs.
• Conceptualize visuals which are entirely based on the given requirements.
• Schedule projects and also define budget constraints.

Educational Requirements

• Starting a career in the field of graphic design demands a bachelor’s degree in either graphic design or fine arts.

Desired Skills

• Branding
• Creativity
• Interactive Media
• Presentation & Communication

Average Salary

• A graphic designer working in the US can make an average annual salary of $50,227.

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3. Art Director

Art director is an individual who works in different areas like theatre, marketing, advertising, film and television, video games, and many more. It is his job to supervise and unify the entire artistic production.

Key Responsibilities

• Hiring, Training, and Supervising design staff.
• Conduct research to better understand markets, brand objectives, and industry trends.
• Establish budgets and deliver finished campaign within those parameters.
• Finalize the overall style in which a message is to be conveyed to the audience visually.

Educational Requirements

• If you wish to become an art director then you need to earn a bachelor’s degree in art or design subject.

Desired Skills

• Creativity
• Graphic Design skills
• Project Management
• Proficiency with illustration tools

Average Salary

• The average annual salary of an art director working in the US is around $79,492.

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Adobe Flash/Animate

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4. Digital Designer

A digital designer is an individual who has to create solutions for different websites, email templates, product graphics, photography, and brand campaigns. He either works with a team or can also work as a freelancer and provide services to those in need.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, produce, and manage a variety of interactive online content.
• Manage content for informative eBooks.
• Prepare briefs for every project and present design ideas in front of the stakeholders.

Educational Requirements

• Digital designers need to earn a bachelor’s degree in digital design or web design and develop a good understanding of the key elements of this profession.

Desired Skills

• Problem-solving
• Passion for Effective Design
• Design Software Proficiency
• Layout & Navigation Principles

Average Salary

• Digital designers can make an average annual salary of $65,281.

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5. UX Designer

A UX designer has to create evidence-based and interaction designs between human users and products. They are the ones who have to design decisions that are not only driven by research but data analysis and tests results. Their main focus is to provide a satisfying experience for users.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee every aspect of product’s development including the design, usability, branding, marketing, and function as well.
• Identify new opportunities for a specific product or business.

Educational Requirements

• A UX designer needs at least a bachelor’s degree in a technology-related area dealing with websites and application programs that require usability testing.

Desired Skills

• UX Research
• Prototyping and Wireframing
• Usability Principles & Techniques
• Communication & Presentation Skills

Average Salary

• A UX designer can make an average salary of $105,122 per year.

Check out the Best UX Design Courses to learn new skills or advance your career in UX Design.

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6. UI Designer

A UI designer usually designs different screens that a user either moves through in an app, a video game, website, or a piece of software. UI designers have to create visual elements and interactive properties including images, menus, buttons, forms, and more.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze Training Needs
• Manage Learning Activities
• Contribute to strategic direction and development of the training.
• Make sure how a user is going to navigate from A to B through different visual touch points.
• Gather and evaluate a user’s requirement in collaboration with product manager.
• Illustrate different design ideas through storyboards, sitemaps, and process flows.

Educational Requirements

• To start a career in UI design, you don’t need a specific degree. Instead a background in design can help you get started in this field.

Desired Skills

• Technical Skills
• Problem-solving Skills
• Creativity & Design Skills
• Strong Communication Skills

Average Salary

• UI designers working in the US can make an average annual salary of $93,440.

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Source:

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