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How to Write a Graphic Designer Job Description

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Are you looking to hire a graphic designer? If so, you need to write a clear and concise job description that will attract the best candidates. If your graphic designer job description is too general, you might attract resumes from unqualified candidates. However, if the description is too specific, you could miss out on amazing talent.

A strong and precise job description is especially critical in a field like graphic design. Graphic designers encompass a spectrum of specialties and capabilities, so finding one that matches your needs can be challenging. Here is everything you need to write a graphic designer job description to attract candidates with the skills and knowledge you need.

Defining What You Need in a Graphic Designer

Graphic designers work at the intersection of art and technology, so they need to translate their knowledge of design principles through design software. Graphic designers often need to collaborate with other team members or communicate with clients, so they also need soft skills like communication.

Are you hiring a graphic designer for an agency that builds websites for various clients? Or are you hiring an in-house graphic designer to create graphics for social media and print marketing campaigns? In either situation, you need a talented graphic designer, but the best candidate will come with different skills and experience.

For this reason, clearly defining your goals and requirements is the first step in writing an outstanding graphic designer job description.

Here are a few of the hard skills and soft skills commonly needed in graphic designers:

Technical skills:

  • Design principles
  • Color theory
  • Ideation (Idea generation, including research, development, evaluation, and application)
  • Branding (The ability to create work that is consistent across platforms and connects with the right audience)
  • Typography
  • Print design
  • The fundamentals of UX and UI design
  • Design software (Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Sketch)

Soft skills:

  • Creativity and creative thinking
  • Communication (visual, written, and verbal)
  • Strategy (understanding how design elements work together to convey meaning and evoke emotions)
  • Problem-solving and troubleshooting
  • Time management

If you’re looking through this list and thinking about programming languages like HTML and CSS, then you might need to hire a web designer instead. Learn about the differences between graphic designers and web designers.

Graphic Designer Job Description Example Template

Here is a general graphic designer job description example format you can use to create your own.

Company Introduction

Open with a short and catchy paragraph about your company. Lead with key details job seekers might appreciate about your company culture, perks, and benefits. Include remote work options if those apply. Keep this opening brief.

Job Description

Here, include a top-level summary of the job. For example:

We seek a creative and innovative Graphic Designer to join our dynamic, growing agency. You will collaborate closely with our sales and marketing teams to craft compelling and visually captivating images and campaigns for clients nationwide.

The position includes developing graphics for print and digital platforms as well as aligning visuals with messaging to maximize impact. We need someone experienced in every step of the design process, from ideation to final deliverable. You will collaborate with internal teams and work closely with clients. You should be able to convert written or spoken ideas into a design that meets or exceeds expectations. Ideally, you will understand branding and marketing, with the skills to adapt style and layout to each client.

Finally, excelling in this position requires high proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite. If you are ready to bring your innovation and dedication to our agency, we look forward to your application.

Responsibilities

You can open with a paragraph summarizing the position’s responsibilities followed by a list of the tasks and duties the job entails. For example, an opening paragraph may look like this:

You will meet with assigned clients and collaborate with sales and marketing to create unique and engaging designs that are on-brand for each client. You will be responsible for getting all the relevant information you need from each client, generating design concepts, and following through with revisions on timelines laid out by the team.

Other job responsibilities can be listed. For example:

  • Coordinates and collaborates with internal teams from the start of a project through completion
  • Gathers all relevant details for each project, ensuring all deliverables are on brand and aligned with marketing’s voice and messaging
  • Advises on optimizations and best practices throughout each design project
  • Translate clients’ business information into visually enticing and emotionally impactful designs for the target audience
  • Develops logos and other graphics as needed
  • Selects colors, font, images, and layout
  • Presents design concepts to the client for approval
  • Implements feedback and changes when appropriate
  • QA designs to avoid errors
  • Maintains updated technical knowledge

If you’re not sure what the day-to-day responsibilities will look like, work with other team members to fill out this part of the graphic designer job description.

Qualifications and Skills

Split this section into “required” and “preferred.” If you list too many skills as “required” in your graphic designer job description, you may miss out on outstanding candidates who only lack one or two items from your list, even though they would excel at the job.

Here is an example to help get you started.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

  • Innovative design skills
  • Layout skills
  • Able to adapt design styles based on the client’s brand
  • Exceptional creativity
  • Flexibility
  • Attention to detail
  • Deadline-oriented with outstanding time management
  • Proficient with Adobe Suite
  • Experience with both print and electronic media
  • Experience working with a team
  • Solid communication skills
  • Easily manages feedback, positive or negative
  • Easily understands and incorporates client and team feedback into designs

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, industrial design, art, interior design, or equivalent
  • Four to seven years of experience in graphic design, preferably with a creative or marketing agency
  • Portfolio of designs used in successful marketing campaigns, showcasing aesthetic awareness and problem-solving skills
  • Excellent communication skills, including the ability to clearly explain design decisions in words and writing
  • Exceptional creativity and innovation
  • Experience presenting design ideas to clients

Work Hours and Benefits

Enhance your graphic designer job description with a section highlighting working hours and benefits. Include any factors contributing to a positive work experience, such as work-from-home opportunities, flexible hours, benefits, office perks, etc. Top candidates have abundant choices, and it helps to provide compelling reasons for them to apply.

Call To Action

Invite candidates to apply with a call to action. If you have specific instructions or requirements, such as using a particular email address or including a portfolio link, mention them here.

Find the Right Graphic Design Candidate

A skilled graphic designer can create images and graphics that elevate your brand and accelerate your marketing results. The first step in finding that person is creating a graphic design job description that will attract experienced candidates. While you wait for candidates to apply, you can start deciding which graphic designer interview questions to ask.

If you need a graphic designer for your company, Insight Global knows how to find and screen the right candidates. We have a robust pool of talent, plus experience in matching qualified graphic designers with great companies. Learn more about how we work with businesses of all sizes to help them hire graphic designers.

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