Info on Working as an Illustrator in Grand Rapids, Michigan

The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan offers quite a few commercial opportunities for resident visual artists seeking employment in the field of graphic arts, especially artists with superb illustration technique.  Illustrators create cover art, posters, promotional ads, brand identities and other projects for most of the city's corporations and private businesses.

Grand Rapids Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators

Grand Rapids offers access to several colleges and many independent fine arts studios that offer technical training and degree programs for aspiring commercial illustrators.  Grand Rapids artists attending local colleges primarily focus on in mass media, visual arts, digital design and other relevant topics.  Grand Rapids colleges featuring graphic arts departments include Grand Rapids Medical Education College, Everest Institute, Calvin College and Davenport University.

In recent times, more and more Grand Rapids graphic artists acquire skills and earn degrees online.  Successful accredited internet colleges of fine arts include National University, Post University, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, University of Phoenix, The Art Institutes, DeVry and ITT Tech.  Many online schools also provide local campuses and testing facilities.  ITT Tech has locations in Grand Rapids and Wyoming.
 
Working as an Illustrator in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Thriving commercial businesses in Grand Rapids, Michigan hiring professional illustration artists include record companies, video game designers, software developers, photo labs and animation producers.  Many local illustrators create commercial artwork for local graphic design firms like Graphic-Iggy, Joyce-Mast-Graphic-Design, Infor-Global-Solutions, Verdant-Graphics and Workman-Graphic-Design, for example. 

Other Grand Rapids artists draw intricate technical designs for leading local engineering firms like Earth-Tech, Fishbeck-Thompson-Carr-Huber, Fleis-Vandenbrink, Moore-Bruggink and Prein-Newhof, among others.  Some illustrators work for local medical illustration services such as Michigan-Medical, Signature-Medical or Tim-Foley-Illustration.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that professional illustration artists employed full time in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan report an average annual earning of about $47,300 per year, with a reported mean hourly rate of approximately $22.75.  Grand Rapids businesses employ about 700 full time graphic designers (includes illustrators and other commercial artists), not counting freelance professionals.
 
Skills of a Professional Illustrator

Professional illustration artists are masters of drawing and coloring technique, consistently creating original, detailed designs on command.  Their other skills include (among other things) animation, character development, story boarding, page layout and photography.  Most illustration professionals are fully proficient with one or more digital illustration design programs.  Popular versions include Silhouette, Autodesk-Sketchbook, 3D-Studio-Max, Adobe-Illustrator and Compact-Draw.