What You Need to Know to Be an Illustrator in Toledo, Ohio

The city of Toledo, Ohio supports a city-limits population of more than half a million residents, as well as a strong community of talented visual artists.  Toledo's many commercial businesses maintain a continuous economic demand for local graphic arts professionals, especially illustrators.

Toledo Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators

Toledo, Ohio features enough Universities, colleges and private fine arts studios to suit the educational needs of any aspiring commercial illustrator.  Local schools offer a vast selection of workshops and degree programs in graphic arts.  Toledo colleges with visual arts programs include Ivy Bridge College, Davis College, Herzing University, Stautzenberger College and University of Toledo. 

Meanwhile, many Toledo artists acquire graphic design and illustration skills by way of virtual study programs.  Successful accredited online schools of fine arts include the Academy of Art University, Post University, National University, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, University of Phoenix, The Art Institutes, DeVry and ITT Tech.  Conveniently, many online schools bolster their reps by providing supplemental physical resource facilities.  ITT Tech has a campus in Maumee, a city not far from Toledo.
 
Working as an Illustrator in Toledo, Ohio

Toledo illustrators are often found working for local graphic design firms like Remer-Graphic-Design, Henderson-Graphics, Griffin-Graphics, Wiley-Graphics and Shannon-Graphics, to name just a few.  Local illustrators of a darker aesthetic might work for top Toledo tattoo rooms like Juki's Tattoo, Revelation Tattoos, Toledo Tattoo or Needle Masters. 

Precise illustrators often do technical drawings for Toledo engineering firms like Epicenter Development Group, Toltest Incorporated, Proudfoot Associates, Finkbeiner-Pettis-Strout and Packaging Engineering, among others.  Some technically inclined visual artists create realistic anatomical images for Toledo-based medical illustration firms like Reed Illustrations, Wil-Clay-Illustrator or Star Medical. 

Professional illustrators who work full time at corporations in the city of Toledo, Ohio report an average annual salary of about $40,370, with a reported mean hourly rate of around $19.40.  These figures do not reflect the unreported incomes of local part timers or freelance professionals.  

Skills of a Professional Illustrator

Commercial illustration can be described as a combination of visual arts, high technology and mass communications.  Illustrators are superbly talented visual artists with oodles of natural talent and an impeccable eye for detail.  Their many skills include animation, story boarding, photography, lighting and 3D-modeling.  Illustrators are also typically proficient with related digital design software packages like Adobe Flash, Adobe Dreamweaver, Inkscape, Vector Eye and Draw-It, among scores of others.