What You Need to Know to Be a Graphic Designer in Raleigh, North Carolina

The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, with more than 400,000 local residents and about 60,000 local businesses, is home to no less than than 200 professional graphic designers.  Companies of every kind, everywhere in Raleigh call on local graphic artists for visual solutions to a variety of communication issues.

Raleigh Schools and Training Programs for Graphic Design

A fair number of colleges and Universities in North Carolina offer degree programs in graphic design, with no less than a dozen located in Raleigh.  Popular Raleigh design schools include Meredith College, North Carolina State University and School of Communication Arts.  Alternately, some aspiring artists in Raleigh, North Carolina earn their degrees online.  Among the best known schools offering online degree programs in graphic design are The Art Institutes, ITT Tech, University of Phoenix and DeVry.

Graphic artists at Raleigh design schools can often be expected to major in visual communications.  A typical course curriculum might include online marketing, social networking and psychology, as well as visual arts like drawing, digital graphics, animation, typography, printmaking and other related topics.

Working as a Graphic Designer in Raleigh, North Carolina

Many graphic designers residing in Raleigh, North Carolina are employed by leading local advertising agencies like BTB-Marketing-Communications, Howard-Merrell and North Carolina Press Service.  Some local artists design film credits, visual displays and promo art for top-rated Raleigh motion picture producers like American Audio-Video, ASAP-Audio and U.S. Animation Sales.  Raleigh, North Carolina artists also work for retailers, manufacturers, art galleries, news syndicates and software developers, among many others.  Local job opportunities are abundant, creating an ongoing demand for communications designers.  Local graphic design jobs may include company logos, clinical charts, instruction manuals, book covers, web pages, product packaging and a great many more. 

Well over 280,000 professional graphic designers occupy positions at U.S. companies.  Starting incomes vary with factors like educational level, related work experience, portfolio quality and geographic location.  Based on information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average yearly income for North Carolina graphic designers was $43,550 in 2010.  North Carolina graphic designers earn, on average, about $21.00 an hour.  As many as fifty percent of graphic designers employed in the United States earn between $30,000 and $60,000 a year.  North Carolina ranks an unimpressive 21st among states in terms of average income for graphic designers.  On the other hand, North Carolina has been recently voted among the “best states for business” by CEO Magazine and Forbes. 

Skills of a Graphic Designer

Preferred personal attributes of professional graphic designers include excellent communication skills, extreme patience, high performance under pressure and tight attention to detail.  Communications design experts tend to be perfectionists by nature. 

Graphic design work also requires much professional training, which is why many employers require at least an Associates Degree in the field.  Essential mechanical skills for professional graphic design work are drawing, computer graphics, photography and typography.  For those seeking a competitive edge in the employment market, graphic designers with web design ability are especially encouraged to apply.