Design jobs and careers

A career in design involves executing creative ideas that could take the shape of brand materials, campaigns (online, offline or integrated), digital, web, user interface, app or product. This is an agency and in-house role. In-house, a designer will often be embedded within the marketing department or internal creative studio. As part of an agency they will work closely with the rest of the creative team (including Designers, Artworkers, Copywriters, Art Directors, Creative Directors). The Designer has many titles, these will usually be determined by the channel they work on or their specialism (i.e Graphic Designer, User Interface Designer etc).

Why consider a career as a Designer?

A role as a Designer could include working across a huge variety of media. Master the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign) and you could choose a huge number of design orientated pathways. Designers are in huge demand both within agencies and in-house teams.

What a career or job in Design may entail…

The focus of the designer is to develop concepts into polished designs, this could be digital (web, social media, email), print (advertising, direct mail, packaging, marketing collateral, branding, events, point of sale), or integrated (multi-channel). Depending on the environment the designer will have varying levels of conceptual responsibility.

Often the Designer will take concepts created by the Creative Director, Art Director or Senior Designer; using their sketches, scamps and ideas, the Designer’s job is to develop these in the design software of their choice (often the Adobe Suite; Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) and flesh them out into high fidelity designs. Depending on team structure some Designers will artwork their designs too – this is more common in-house or as part of smaller creative teams, within agency, there is more likely to be Specialist Artworkers or Creative Artworkers.

Typical role titles include

Graphic Designer
Visual Designer
Junior Designer
Midweight Designer
Senior Designer
Conceptual Designer
Creative Designer
Brand Designer
Packaging Designer
Integrated Designer
Digital Designer

Career progression example

Design Lead
Art Director
Lead Designer
Graphic Design Lead
Design Manager
Head of Creative Design
Head of Creative
Creative Manager

Salary Benchmarks

At an entry level, junior/graduate Designers on average will be earning between £18k-£25k. At the mid-level you’d be looking to earn £25k-£35k and seniors would be looking to earn £35k+.

Is it right for me? The skills it takes…

You will need to be detail oriented and technical when it comes to design software and packages. You’ll need to have great communication skills and the ability to carry out in-depth research. Creativity and the ability to work to tight, strategic deadlines also play a big part in this sector.

What qualifications does it take?

You will usually need a foundation degree or diploma within a relevant subject. For example, these could include graphic design, graphic communication, illustration and fine art.

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Our latest User Experience & Design jobs

We connect ambitious organisations with their greatest assets, equally ambitious talent.

Digital Designer

  • London OR remote
  • Permanent
  • Upto £55k

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Leading Generative AI Scale-up

Join one of the top generative AI teams in the world.

Remote friendly culture with office locations in London and Europe you can use.

Full details

13th Mar

Content Designer

  • London
  • Contract
  • Up to £400 p/day "Outside IR35"

Full details

3 Months Initial - Remote Work

2-3 days per week.

Remote work (from the UK).

Full details

13th Mar

Creative Lead

  • Bristol - hybrid working
  • Permanent
  • Up to 50K DOE

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Creative Agency

Join a fantastic Global Agency and work with a talented team of designers.

Hybrid working with a great Bristol office.

Full details

11th Mar

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Salary guides:

  • -
    Design Perm Salary Guide

    The purpose of this guide is to provide a snapshot of Design salary bandings across different skillsets and industries.