"How Much Will I Make?"
Students ask me this a lot and they should.
For anyone looking to make a living in visual communications, there are plenty of sources on the internet which give clues to the future of the industry including earning potential. One the better ways to find current salary numbers is the AIGA|Aquent Survey of Design Salaries 2011. This survey draws from an extensive pool of designers and others allied with the profession nationwide, and includes responses from more than 7,000 design professionals.
Prepare yourself. You may not like what you see. Remember that, overall, design salaries have remained flat the last several years. The recession hit the industry hard. However, there is now optimism that the economy has bottomed out and the visual communications industry is beginning to see an upturn. It will likely take a significant amount of time for the industry to significantly absorb the 12,000 graduates entering the market each year but I've personally seen improvement the last two years.
Of those in the industry last year, here's a breakdown of their salaries:
Print Designer - $40,000 to $55,000 with $45,000 being average
A designer, primarily print is a designer for whom a majority of their work is with the print medium. They are responsible for creating and executing design concepts as well as maintaining visual appearance, usability and brand continuity. Areas of work may include: branding, graphics, communications, research/strategic, environmental design primarily for print media.
Junior Print Designer - $32,000 to $43,500 with $37,500 being average
A junior designer, primarily print is a designer for whom a majority of their work is with the print medium. They are a designer up to three years out of school who needs supervision in all aspects of design conception and implementation. Areas of work may include: branding, graphics, communications, research/strategic, environmental design primarily for print media.
Web Designer - $45,000 to $65,000 with $50,000 being average
A designer, primarily web/interactive is a designer for whom a majority of their work is with web/interactive mediums. They are responsible for creating and executing design concepts as well as maintaining visual appearance, usability and brand continuity. Areas of work include digital, interaction and motion design.
Junior Web Designer - $37,000 to $50,000 with $42,000 being average
A junior designer, primarily web/interactive is a designer for whom a majority of their work is with web/interactive mediums. They are a designer up to three years out of school who needs supervision in all aspects of design conception and implementation. Areas of work include digital, interaction and motion design.
Print/Web Designer - $40,000 to $55,000 with $45,000 being average
A designer, print and web/interactive is a designer whose work is about equally split between print and web/interactive mediums. They are responsible for creating and executing design concepts as well as maintaining visual appearance, usability and brand continuity. Areas of work may include: branding, graphics, communications, interaction, research/strategic, or environmental design for print media or digital delivery.
Junior Print/Web Designer - $32,000 to $45,000 with $38,000 being average
A junior designer, print and web/interactive is a designer whose work is about equally split between print and web/interactive mediums. They are a designer up to three years out of school who needs supervision in all aspects of design conception and implementation. Areas of work may include: branding, graphics, communications, interaction, research/strategic, or environmental design for print media or digital delivery.
A couple of things of interest is that interactive is in more demand so is paying more across the board. However, one would expect being able to do both print and web would mean a salary improvement over just print but this survey does not show this. Do note that there is a larger market now for designers with skills in both areas.
Another nice aspect of this survey is the Salary Calculator which gives more detailed information based on location, size of the employer and more. Nashville isn't listed as one of the locations so I plugged in the "East South Central" region.
To my chagrin, annual salaries decrease (in some cases significantly) across the board. Print Designers drop nearly $5,000 on average annually with Web Designers a staggering $14,000. And for Designers who do both print and web, $5000.
One gleam of hope is that this survey has a small amount of regional participants. I think it can give those investigating their earning potential some idea but should be kept in perspective with more research needed before negotiating salary with a potential employer.
To view the full survey, visit http://designsalaries.org/.