Graphic Design Industry Analysis
Before we go into the design trends, let’s first discuss graphic design as an industry and career.
- The market for graphic design in the US alone is worth $15B with branding and logo design taking 20% of the share.
- A rise in the employment of graphic designers is expected. This should be around 35% between 2015 and 2022.
- Graphic designers will still be important in the next 10 years.
- The pandemic has affected the industry and has shrunk by 10.6% in 2020 alone.
- The on-the-job training requirement is minimal compared to other professions.
- The crowded graphic design categories or markets are newspaper, illustration, and book design.
- There is a high competition in the field so it is not surprising that graphic designers take multiple jobs such as teaching.
- Almost 30% of marketers hire in-house designers while 15% of them hire freelancers.
- In 2019, the average pay for a graphic designer was $27.17 every hour.
- The top industries that hire graphic designers are manufacturing, publishing, advertising, computer system design, and design services.
- There are around 400,258 businesses in the US related to graphic design.
- Typically, you need to earn a bachelor’s degree to start in the industry.
- For freelancers, a graphic designer earns around $20 to $150 an hour, depending on the skills.
- 90% of graphic designers are freelancers.
- Design agencies will typically cost you $85 to $100 per hour.
- 77% of graphic designers are White, 8.89% are Asian, and 5.1% are Black.
- The average age of graphic designers is 40.5.
- More than 53.4% of graphic designers are female.
- Women earn 6% less than men in the graphic design industry.
- Graphic designers in public relations and advertising earn the biggest. While those who are in printing have the lowest earnings.
- It is expected that the digital categories for graphic design will increase by 24%.
- Around 40% of graphic designers leave their jobs in the first two years.
- Most graphic designers finished a degree in fine arts, advertising, and commercial design.
- The print sector will see a 22% decline in employment between 2018 to 2028.
- Expect to see growth in graphic design in the following areas: mobile advertising, animation infographics, computer systems, and video editing.
- For those who will just start in the industry, long hours and low salary should be expected.
- There’s a challenge within the industry considering the rise of pre-designed templates.
- You need to work on the following skills if you wish to be a graphic designer: analytical, creative, time management, computer, and communication skills.
- It should be a common practice to pay premium on projects with fast turnaround requirements
Views on Graphic Design by Businesses
Now, allow us to highlight what businesses think about the craft and industry through these graphic design statistics.
- Around 16% of businesses are willing to invest in design to boost their brand and win the industry competition.
- In the manufacturing industry, there’s also a spike in the number of graphic designers they employ.
- More than 70% of companies have increased their graphic design requirements by 10 times, showing its power in the previous years.
- Only 3% of small businesses believe that graphic design is not important.
- More than 50% of upcoming businesses create their own graphic design as they are concerned about the cost involved.
- Almost 70% of these small ventures are willing to pay $500 for a business logo.
- Typical logos would cost you around $500 - $2000.
- For graphic designers on project basis, the rates depend on the complexity of the requirements.
- People see leading brands such as FedEx, Nike, Coca-Cola, Google, and Apple to have the best logos today.
Social Media and Content Marketing
Let’s dig deeper on how graphic design can impact your social media and content marketing strategies
- Marketers, especially in the B2B segment, understand that visual assets play a critical role for content marketing.
- Over the years, there’s a significant increase of companies using infographic as a visual asset.
- American consumers see around 4,000 - 10,000 ads every day.
- From 2018, the use of visual content increased to 10.5%.
- It is only 34% of the time that marketers will use original graphic designs for their marketing strategy.
- Social media has more than 2.6 billion potential consumers and a great visual asset helps in creating a profile that stands out.
- Infographics are liked and shared three times more.
- You can increase your Pinterest traffic by 62.5% just by incorporating images
- Compelling graphics can receive 105% more engagement compared to links.
- Use large images, 2 fonts at most, and 3 complementary colors for your social media images.
- For non-designers, 35% use tools under two hours every week.
- The common challenge for design is consistency and quality.
- Around 85% of consumers use multiple devices, and graphic designers must exert effort in creating designs that will grab one’s attention.
- 86% of marketers use at least one visual asset for their blog posts.
- 88% of marketers maximize visual content in more than half of the articles they publish.
- Stock photos are often used for marketing.
- Only 37% of marketers use original images and 12% use charts.
- Videos and other presentations are underutilized and are used only 7% of the time.
- GIFs and memes for branding are not often seen and are used 4% of the time.
- When you attach an image to your tweets, you get to increase your retweets by 150%.
- Blog posts with images can increase its traffic by two times.
- If you wish to improve your brand recognition and recall, you must place consistent designs in different venues where your brand appears.
Effects on Consumer Behavior
Graphic design can influence behavior and decision. That’s why designers must use the right elements to stir emotions across the market.
- People judge a graphic design within 90 seconds, and their assessment relies on color.
- 90% of the information that is carried through the brain is visual.
- An average person can process visual information 60,000 faster than words.
- In only 50 milliseconds, a person could decide if a graphic design is visually appealing.
- Humans can store images with color better than those that are black and white.
- Using the right color can improve the readership by 40%.
- Colors can also improve learning and comprehension by 78% and 73% respectively.
- We only remember 10% of the message if there are no supplementary visuals.
- Consumers favor color blue when it comes to branding.
- If you want to have an effective call-to-action, use color red. This is also associated with speed.
- Orange is associated with fun and reminds consumers about sales and promo.
Website Design
Regardless of the size of your company, a website is necessary. But having a live website isn’t enough. You should also think about its aesthetic appeal and user experience. Here are the graphic design statistics that can help you understand why.
- You should be able to work on your website design as 42% of shoppers provide their opinion based on design.
- 52% of online shoppers will not return to your website if they see that the design is not according to their standards.
- Almost half of the market will associate your company’s credibility based on your website design.
- User experience is as important as your website’s overall aesthetics.
- When you invest $1 on your website’s user experience, you are likely to have a return of $100.
- 66% of online consumers enjoy looking at a beautifully designed website.
- 73% of companies are willing to invest in web design to make their brand more recognizable.
- 30% of web designers are said to update their clients’ websites every month.
- Only 21% of web designers update web sites every quarter.
- 85% of small businesses overcrowd their website design, and this is a common mistake.
Future of Graphic Design?
It’s always a clever step to look into the future so you can plan and be one step ahead of the competition. Below are the information that could help you.
- Brands are seen to use bold splashes of colors in an attempt to stand out in the market.
- In the coming years, there will be more futuristic and modern designs, highlighting lines and geometric shapes.
- We may see a decline in the minimalist approach as designs need to embody personal connection.
- We will see more 3D graphic designs and typography in the next few years.
- The use of emojis will be more apparent considering its emotional appeal.
- Designs mimicking nature will also dominate the market.
- Others might use optical illusion to stop the audience for several seconds.
- Brands will maximize custom cartoon characters for their branding.
Conclusion
These graphic design statistics are not just numbers and mere facts. It should be your basis in creating solid marketing visuals. As we always say, an effective graphic design is a balance of science and art. And by using these data, you are not only creating visually appealing marketing collaterals, you are designing assets that speak your brand message.