You and many others have been in a position where you are still figuring yourself out. You want to be a graphic designer, and you may want to go back to school for it or work freelance. Searching through school majors, you notice the liberal arts section where it says ‘graphic design’ and you wonder whether this is a valid category and whether it should even be considered as such.

Yes, graphic design is considered a liberal art. Under the liberal arts category, one of the subcategories is creative arts, where graphic design falls. However, people often wonder if someone interested in graphic design even needs a degree to have a successful career.

Throughout this article, we will learn about if graphic design is considered a liberal art, whether you need a degree to become a graphic designer, the various benefits, and how to become a successful graphic designer.

Is Graphic Design Considered Liberal Arts?

Yes, graphic design is considered liberal arts.

Within the liberal arts degree, various categories range from literature to creative arts, which is where graphic design is categorized under. As long as the degree you want to obtain is artistic, yes, it is considered liberal arts.

If you do ample or small amounts of research online, you will notice that there are also graphic designers who work freelance. If you want to become a graphic designer and work freelance, when first working towards this career, you may wonder whether you’ll need a degree in graphic design or if you can learn and develop the skills of your own accord.

Through the continuation of this article, you will quickly learn whether you need a degree to be a graphic designer.

Do You Need a Degree to be a Graphic Designer?

No, you do not need a degree to become a freelance graphic designer.

However, you will need a degree if you want a stable income and a 9-5 job in graphic design. For a degree at the primary level, you will need an associate degree. Still, to ensure more opportunities in finding a job, you will need a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

Whether you obtain a degree or work freelance, there are significant benefits to being a graphic designer. Let’s continue reading to learn about graphic designers’ benefits.

What Are the Benefits of Being a Graphic Designer?

The responsibility of becoming a graphic designer is heavy, but there are many benefits to having a career in one. Let’s continue to read further to learn more about the five benefits of being a graphic designer.

Choice of a 9-5 Or Freelancing

You have the choice to become a freelance graphic designer or work a 9-5 job. You can choose whether or not you want to build up your clientele, showcasing your talents personally. A benefit to either route is that you can network, build relationships with others, and build your portfolio. Either way, the goal is to work towards having a stable income.

The Ability to Become Creative Every Day

You can become creative every day. Every day you will have a clientele load, whether freelance or working with a team, the artistic expression is exhibited. The job of a graphic designer is to transform a client’s ideas or dreams into reality. Because of this, the job of a graphic designer never gets boring.

You Are Helping Others Develop Their Careers

You are helping others develop their careers or brands further. An essential aspect of having a successful career and brand is the ability to market themselves, making them stand out from their competition. Creating websites and gaining a following on social media is what a graphic designer is supposed to help the business owner with.

You Can Work With Others

Working with others will help you get your creative juices flowing by bouncing ideas off each other. If you are working with a team, it will differentiate every time. You can range from working with a smaller group of graphic designers to working with a large group. This is beneficial in preventing you from becoming a one-dimensional graphic designer.

Becoming More Social

You will become more social if you work with a group of graphic designers. Becoming a graphic designer is a job that requires socializing with teammates and clients. Over time, socializing with others will prevent you from having a difficult time speaking with others.

To reap the benefits of becoming a graphic designer, you will need to learn how to become a successful graphic designer. Naturally, success is a subjective term defined differently by everyone, but overall becoming established is helpful in learning. As we continue to read this article, we will learn about various tips for becoming a successful graphic designer.

How to Become a Successful Graphic Designer?

For many working towards becoming successful graphic designers, it can be overwhelmingly intimidating and challenging, so helpful tips are great when given. However, the work towards becoming one is gratifying.

To become a successful graphic designer, you would need to follow various tips that include:

1. Continue furthering your education.
2. Network in-person and on social media.
3. Build up your portfolio.
4. Decide whether you want to have a specific niche or experiment with everything.
5. Determine and experiment with various graphic design software to determine your best fit.
6. Market your graphic design business.

Let’s continue reading to learn more about six graphic designer career tips for you to become more successful.

6 Graphic Designer Career Tips 

To have a successful career, you need to have what you define as “success.” Becoming a successful graphic designer is challenging, and it is helpful to some to go by various tips to help them in their career. Let’s continue to read further about six graphic designer career tips.

Active Learning

Active learning and furthering your education are essential within any niche you want to accomplish. Continue to further your education in graphic design. Things are progressing further, so there is plenty to learn and keep up to date with. You can continue to actively learn by taking online courses, watching videos surrounding graphic design, or furthering your education at university.

Network with Others

Network with others. Develop relationships with other mind-like, well-known graphic designers in-person at events and through social media. Social media makes it simpler to connect with others and develop relationships with them. Showcase your talents on social media, and make sure you link your website or any other place to showcase your graphic design portfolio.

Build Up Your Portfolio

Build up your portfolio. To become a successful graphic designer, you need to have some graphic designs under your belt for others, i.e., potential clients, to see. To appropriately build up your portfolio, start early. You can have a digital portfolio and a physical one, or one or the other. But, overall, have it ready for potential clients to see. 

Have a Specific Niche Or Experiment with Everything

There are different types of graphic design. Find a niche you are willing to become an expert on or experiment with everything and become an expert on more than one niche. Having a specific niche gives you the chance to excel, but experimenting with every type of graphic design gives you leverage to increase your likelihood of increasing your clientele.

Experiment and Determine Your Preferred Software

Experiment with the various software for your graphic design and determine your preferred software. After you’ve used websites, such as placeit.net, to design your graphic design, research the various photoshop software and compare and contrast what works and doesn’t work for you. This will help you narrow down your go-to software for your client’s orders.

Market Your Business

Market your graphic design business if you plan to work as a freelancer. Create a website, create ads, and increase your social media presence to gain traction for yourself and your business. Make sure that if you develop these various ads and websites, they stand out from the competition but still hold to who you are and your brand.

Closing

Now that you know graphic design is a liberal art, you will have the tools to determine whether you want to pursue an educational career to obtain your graphic design degree. You’ve also learned about the various benefits of being a graphic designer and how to become a successful graphic designer.