15+ High-Paying Jobs for Creative People

Updated December 2024

Do you have a knack for creativity and a mind brimming with innovative ideas? If you’re constantly envisioning new concepts and solutions, you may be wondering what career opportunities align with your unique skills and passions. Look no further! We’ve put together a list of 15+ high-paying jobs for creative individuals. These roles not only require originality and fresh thinking, but also cater to a wide range of talents, backgrounds, and interests—many of which offer lucrative earning potential!

Let’s jump in!

What is a Creative Job?

Before we get into the list—what exactly is a “creative job?” We classify it as any role that requires generating new ideas, concepts, or designs. These jobs often require a blend of technical skills, artistic talent, and innovative thinking. While the traditional image of a creative professional might be a painter or a musician, the spectrum of creative careers has become far wider.

Creative Jobs for Creative People

Here are over 15 creative jobs keep on your radar! Keep in mind that the salaries for these roles can vary based on location, responsibilities, and experience.

1. Creative director

Creative directors lead and develop the creative vision for a company, agency, or project. They are responsible for developing and implementing creative ideas and must be able to think outside the box to come up with new and innovative concepts.

A creative director is also often responsible for overseeing the work of other creatives such as graphic designers, photographers, fashion designers, interior designers, and writers within their organization.

This can be a great job for inventive and innovative people, and the skills needed for this position include strong creativity, vision planning, leadership, communication skills, and an eye for detail.

2. Graphic designer

A graphic designer uses visual elements to communicate ideas through various media platforms. They use typography, images, colors, shapes, and other design techniques in order to create the desired look or feel for clients’ projects.

Graphic designers may work independently or as part of a team depending on the project at hand, but either way, they’ll need to be able to take direction and vision from others and work well under pressure.

Graphic designers should also have solid communication and creative skills as they will often need to liaise with clients to get a clear understanding of their needs.

3. Web developer

A web developer creates and maintains the look, feel, and functionality of websites. They use various programming languages to write code that tells the website how it should look and function.

This can include anything from creating basic websites to developing more complex applications. In addition, they must have strong technical skills and knowledge of web development languages and an eye for design.

4. Copywriter

A copywriter writes persuasive, compelling, and exciting text for advertisements, brochures, website content, and more. They must capture the attention of their audience and create a desire for the product, service, or topic they are promoting. (A copywriter wrote this article!)

Copywriters generally have a degree in English, journalism, marketing, or a related field. In addition, they should be adept at creative writing and have the knowledge to target specific audiences.

5. Marketing director

A marketing director is someone who plans and develops strategies for the promotion of products and services offered by their company.

Marketing directors typically have a degree in marketing or business administration. They must be able to understand what their customers want or need to sell then create campaigns that will appeal to them. They should also have excellent communication skills, the ability to tell a story, sell a product, and have an eye for detail.

Marketing directors may work at an agency, directly with a company, or be an independent consultant to companies that need help with their marketing efforts.

6. User experience (UX) director

A UX director is someone who designs the experiences that people have with products and services offered by their company. They must be able to think creatively while also understanding how consumers interact with technology in order to design interfaces that are intuitive and easy to use for all users.

People in this job typically run the entire UX team, too. It can be a team of designers, analysts, and researchers, some of which we’ll talk about in a moment.

7. UX designer

A UX designer is a great job for a creative people who have a passion for making things simple to use. They are someone who designs user interfaces for software programs such as mobile apps and websites so that they’re easy to navigate on any device (e.g., tablet vs. desktop).

They must have a strong understanding of how people interact with digital products to create an efficient and user-friendly interface. UX designers typically have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or in a technical field, and they also may have certificates from places like Nielsen Norman Group or Google.

They must have strong technical skills and knowledge about how people interact with computers and specific knowledge about each platform (e.g., iOS or Android).

8. User experience (UX) researcher

A UX researcher is someone who looks into the experiences that people have with products and services offered by their company. They are data-driven workers who should have a strong understanding of how people interact with technology and an eye for detail to identify any usability issues that may exist in the user interface.

9. Video producer

A video producer creates sound and video projects for television, film, or web-based media. They’re responsible for overseeing everything from pre-production planning through post-production editing on any given project.

Video producers can work on large projects like commercials, music videos, and documentaries, or projects for corporate companies like training videos, online seminars, and more. They work closely with other creatives such as writers, editors, and directors to ensure that everything runs smoothly from start to finish.

A social media specialist is someone who manages the day-to-day aspects of a company’s presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Channel, and more. (This is different than a marketing manager, who may have social media as one part of their overall marketing strategy.) They are responsible for creating content that will engage customers while also driving traffic back to your website, brand, or store location.

Social media specialists post content that reinforces the company’s brand message, connects with their community, and showcases the brand’s personality. It often includes relevant keywords and trends related to their company and industry to increase visits from loyal followers who want more information about what they do.

11. Mobile designer

Mobile designers must think creatively while also comprehending how customers utilize technology to develop intuitive and simple-to-use user interfaces. A mobile designer creates the user interface and experience for apps used on smartphones and tablets.

12. Software engineer

Software engineering a great job for creative people. They design, develop, test, and maintain software products (think: Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, Google Chrome, and other software like that.) They work closely with programmers and others on the software development team members to create high-quality software that meets the needs of their clients or employers.

13. Brand manager

A brand is the core identity of a business. It’s what consumers see when they make decisions. The brand manager is responsible for ensuring the brand represents the values and voice of the company while also accurately communicating its services and products to consumers.

To do this, brand managers must be able to develop a high-level vision, based on research and testing, that ties the marketing plan to business goals, industry trends, and evolving consumer needs. They then craft and deliver campaigns that align with the company vision through extensive relationships across creative teams (social media, web development, videography, graphic design, etc.).

14. Business development manager

A business development manager is responsible for developing and implementing marketing and sales strategies for their company. They work with clients and partners to identify new growth opportunities and oversee all aspects of the sales process.

15. Email marketing specialist

What’s your favorite newsletter? Or have you ever been wowed by an email from a clothing brand? Have you wondered how a brand woos you to buy products after you’ve seen a fourth, fifth, or sixth email from them? An email marketing specialist was likely behind this push.

An email marketing specialist is responsible for creating and executing email campaigns that promote a company’s products or services. They must have an in-depth understanding of crafting effective emails that will engage recipients and encourage them to take action.

16. Product designer

A product designer is responsible for designing and developing products that meet the needs of consumers. They also make improvements to existing products.

Think of the iPhone. They come out with new ones what seems like every year. However, there needs to be reasons for people to buy a new one. Product designers help make improvements (better camera, sleeker look, less weight, etc.) to the iPhones so the new ones are worth buying.

They work with teams of engineers, marketers, and executives to create these innovative and practical products and sell them to the public.

17. SEO specialist

An SEO specialist works on optimizing content for search engines such as Google and Bing. They focus their efforts on improving rankings in organic search results through content creation, link-building campaigns, and other methods on websites and blog posts.

A key component of SEO is keyword strategy development to try to create content that stands apart from other brands. A creative mind helps with that. As an SEO specialist, you will discover what people are researching related to your brand, then you create content that responds to those searches.

18. Animator/Illustrator

Animation and illustration are great outlets for creative people, and finding a job with these skills is even better!

Animators and illustrators help bring stories to life in visual mediums. They can work on projects like:

Movies
Music videos
Training videos
Advertisements
Commercials
YouTube videos

Rasmussen University says that “some animators choose to develop a specialty, such as hand-drawing, designing 3D characters or creating computer-generated images (CGI).” Many work on a project-by-project basis, too, which gives you flexibility on when and who your work for.

19. Advertising Account Executive

Advertising account executives oversee a company’s advertising efforts. They might work in an agency who does client work, or they might work in-house for a company or brand. They combine creativity with strategy as they do things like developing ad concepts, planning ad placement, managing deadlines, and more.

The Pros of a Creative Job

Having a creative job—especially as an imaginative person—can have a slew of upsides. Here are just a few:

A Rewarding day-to-day

First and foremost, having a career where you use your creativity every day helps you enjoy what you do (which should be the primary goal of any job seeker). There’s nothing quite like coming up with a solution to a challenge, finding the perfect words to tell a brand’s story, or finding the ideal design to convert customers for your website.

creative collaboration

Collaboration with others is often a necessary part of the job for creative people. It can be an opportunity to brainstorm in an innovative space, learn from colleagues, and share ideas and practice your craft together.

A Healthy Brain

Finding a way to make money doing what you love pays off in more ways than increasing the balance in your bank account. Your creativity may reveal itself when you try a new hobby or discover a passion, and then you can leverage those skills to find a job you love.

Studies have shown that creativity helps you with:

reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms
performance on cognitive tests
enhancing your immune system
improving your motor skills

If you have a job that boosts creativity, it could help promote your overall health.

Something new Everyday

A creative person often wears many hats in their role and rarely struggles to find ways to keep themselves busy. This may mean they are less likely to suffer from boredom or need to look for things to do. Creative roles also allow them an opportunity for self-expression and helps them feel fulfilled.

job security

The benefits of creativity are varied, but one thing is certain: if you have a creative skill set and the ability to showcase it in your job, then there will always be work out there for you in one way or another. Why not take advantage by finding employment in an area where your skills can really shine? Or think about finding a fulfilling side hustle or even starting your own business.

Should I work in-house or at an agency for creative work?

The benefit of working in a creative field is that you have many options for the kind of workplace where you can thrive. For some, working in-house with a brand will allow you to deep dive into everything they do to become an expert in how they want to be represented to their customers. For others, working at an agency with the fast pace and diverse clients will be a thrill. Both come with upsides and challenges, so it’s really a matter of discovering what suits your talents and personality best.

The workforce has changed over the last few years. Many job seekers have found wide opportunities exist for fulfilling careers that also pay well. That’s no different for creative people who want to find jobs that maximize on their originality and compensate them well for it. If you want to start a new career or just change up your current position, these high-paying jobs for creative people may be a great place to start.

Get your job search started by heading over to our job board and checking out our creative job openings!