Graphic and Web Designer Responsibilities

With the advent of information technology and continuous invention of new technologies and processes each day, the world of graphic and web development is giving rise to diversifying creative options. In today's growing marketing and communication environment, the role of a graphic and web designer plays an important part in successfully communicating any idea or purpose through visual effect. Graphic and web designer responsibilities allow to create layout and design for websites, publications, media, company logos, and so on. They provide graphic and web design services to design a project according to individual client requirements.

A graphic and web designer has to play varied job responsibilities of diverse nature. Some of the job duties include meeting with clients to determine the needs and objectives of a project. A designer is expected to see the product from the customer's point of view and the client's requirement while designing the work of graphic or web development. This role definitely requires good amount of experience in the relevant field and an excellent understanding of designing to help in effective marketing and communication. A graphic and web designer may work for various industries like marketing, broadcasting, web designing, advertising, architecture, and interior designing amongst others. Business enterprises, government agencies and non-profit organizations also hire graphic and web designers to carry out such tasks.

If you are looking for a prospective career in this field, you may require special training and technical qualifications to be eligible for the role. To get a detailed analysis of the responsibilities and other requirements of a graphic and web designer, you may refer to the sections in the proceeding article below. Nevertheless, the requirements and details are given in a generalized manner and may vary according to the area of specialization.

Responsibilities of a Graphic and Web Designer

• Provide support to various design services
• Design and build websites from creation to its application stage followed by regular follow ups and maintenance
• Choose the right style, attractive graphics, images, and other visual elements to adept them according to the objectives of the project
• Design emails, marketing materials and campaigns
• Leverage creative and marketing knowledge to develop new creative, landing pages and campaigns for specific targets
• Meet the client to take project specifications, requirement or other work orders
• Coordinate with client at all stages from start till design application
• Analyze and plan the framework of design according to the laid out concept and established specifications
• Research and be updated with latest web technology designs and development trends
• Collaborate with other team members to deliver creative designs
• Oversee the website design and make necessary changes on need basis or on client's request
• Leverage best industry practices and methods to create the best designs

Skills Requirements

• Excellent creative and innovative skills
• Willingness to learn new technologies, standards and procedures
• Proven track record and ability to create layout and designs by using latest techniques
• Knowledge of interactive design including best practices in technology, site usability and user experience
• Strong project management and organizational skills
• Client interfacing ability with confidence
• Good knowledge of web, graphic and marketing trends
• Extremely convincing with good presentation skills
• Ability to define problems, collect data and draw out solutions
• Strong interpersonal skills and effective relation building capacity with the clients, partners and the internal team
• Excellent written, spoken and digital communication skills
• Must be independent, detail oriented and well organized
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines with efficiency

Educational Background

A graphic and web designer must have a Bachelor's degree in the respective branch of studies like arts, science, graphic design, etc. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 'graphic designers are typically required to hold a four-year bachelor's degree in graphic design or a related field'. However, some companies may hire them with two or more years of work experience as well. The main criteria for this job profile is an equivalent combination of education and experience. Graphic and web designers require a combination of most of the below mentioned technical qualifications like:

• Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• HTML
• CSS
• Javascript
• PHP
• Abode creative suite (photoshop, In design CS4, etc.)

Salary Details

The average salary of a graphic designer is $42,400 per year (as on June 2011). While in the current year (2012), this amount has risen to $60,000 per annum (as on July 2012). This very well explains the growth and requirement of such a post. However, it is to be remembered that salary may be high or low against the average salary as mentioned. A graphic and web designer's salary is highly dependent on the experience, educational plus technical qualification and skills of the candidate and an organization's type, size and location.

A graphic and web designer responsibilities may be of diverse nature, thereby making graphic designing an interesting and rewarding career choice for many. The career prospect in this field is quite promising and a number of jobs is available in the market. If you have a creative mind and an urge to excel in this field, this is the right career option for you to grow and move on.