Graphic designers have become a fundamental part of today’s world, when it comes to creating graphic campaigns and promoting products , not only do you need marketing and strategies, but a good design to attract the attention of the consumer and illustrate the product you intend to sell and through this way you can earn extra income from home.
Nowadays, more and more graphic designers are requested through online platforms to create designs, logos, cards and endless graphic elements, and this has undoubtedly turned this profession into a job that generates substantial income if carried out in the right way.
If you’re passionate about graphic design and want to find a new way to earn extra income, here’s how you can do it. Don’t miss it!
- Knowledge and skills
- Digital tools
- Get a job as a freelance graphic designer
- Schedule organization
- Earning expectations
Knowledge and skills
Essentially, graphic designers require certain skills necessary to carry out their work, these can be learned in a course or design workshop, which can last from months to years. However, to become a graphic designer you don’t need a college degree or certificate , but this always adds some experience to your resume and can help you get more jobs.
A graphic designer’s basic skills go hand in hand with the digital tools they know how to use, and how they can apply them to get the desired result in the design. In addition to courses or workshops to learn how to design, there are also thousands of videos on platforms such as Youtube where you can easily learn how to use certain digital design programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
Graphic designers will also need to have effective communication skills to understand the customer’s vision and know how to translate it into their designs. They must dominate the creation of different and innovative visual proposals.
Although every graphic designer must have integral knowledge, many of those who have dedicated themselves to the freelance modality indicate that it is better to specialize in an area of design and emphasize it, so that customers come to them when it is a very specific job, since you can’t always cover everything and specialize in each area, and being a specialist in one will help you to generate more extra income.
Digital tools
As mentioned above, digital tools are extremely important for the performance of graphic designer work, that is why every graphic designer must be willing to learn to use them to the fullest and apply each of their instruments.
These digital programs are dedicated to different approaches to design, the most used are Photoshop and Illustrator, however there are many other programs and online tools to design, Canva is one of the most popular lately, as it contains thousands of templates to make the design process easier.
In addition to digital design programs, graphic designers require a graphic tablet to work more comfortably and have access to other functions of design programs. There are currently multiple graphics tablet options that suit each type of designer or illustrator, but the most outstanding brand of all is Wacom.
To work as a freelance graphic designer it is essential that you invest a certain amount of money to acquire the design software, as well as a graphic tablet, these two elements will be essential for you to perform your work and you can generate sufficient extra income that will replenish the money invested.
Get a job as a freelance graphic designer
If you already have enough design knowledge and were able to get the programs and the graphics tablet, you can already start promoting your services as a freelance graphic designer on the different online platforms of extra jobs. There are currently many website options for this purpose, but the most prestigious are Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer.
The first thing you need to do is create a profile on these websites and detail in depth your experience in each design area you manage, as well as the tools you use and the graphics tablet you work with. Another important part of your profile is the creation of a portfolio with your works , as a kind of sample of what you have done and what you can offer to your customers. Try to consult the portfolios of other designers to guide you in the right way to create your portfolio and promote it.
Once your profile is set, you will be able to detail the fees you will charge for your work, most designers work per working hour, a common measure is $10 per hour, but depending on your experience and the complexity of the work you do you can add a larger amount.
Subsequently, depending on the website on which you have registered, you will have two ways to get a job as a graphic designer; looking for offers published by employers and applying, or creating a publication where you promote your services and give a sample of your portfolio for employers to contact you. In any case, you should keep in mind that at the beginning it may be difficult for you to find a project, but as you do work and gain credibility on the website, employers will look for you to create other designs.
Schedule organization
If you have thought about becoming a freelance graphic designer it is because you surely have a regular job that you attend daily, or in which you have a greater burden and obligations, so that your work as a freelance graphic designer is an extra job for you, for that reason you must organize your schedule in the way that suits you so as not to affect your regular job and your personal commitments.
Usually the projects you get as a freelance graphic designer on web platforms have a certain deadline, around which you can work to meet the project on time and not have to work for so many hours. On average, each project will require you to spend at least 4 to 5 hours three times a week, or on weekends, but it will all depend on the complexity and the time you have.
We recommend that you apply for projects based on your time and evaluate if you will have the opportunity to make each design, keep in mind that there may be some weeks in which you will not be able to spend as much time on this work, and others in which you will work more than you think, but both things are fine and in the end everything must adapt to your lifestyle, instead of you having to modify everything for this work. That’s the key to an extra job!
Earning expectations
The profits you can make as a freelance graphic designer depend on many factors, mainly on how many jobs you do each month and how much time you can devote to them, as well as the number of platforms on which you promote your services and make yourself known. Remember that as we mentioned earlier it will be difficult to get projects, but as you have a good reputation as a designer, the offers will come to you and you will be able to earn much more money.
On average a freelance graphic designer who spends at least 5 hours a day working from Monday to Friday, at a rate of $10 per hour could generate $250 per week and $1,000 per month, this is initially a good amount of extra income for a beginner as a freelance graphic designer, but this amount can increase considerably if you get better projects and gain experience that can give you a higher rate for your working hours.
The profit range of a freelance graphic designer can vary between $27,000 to $80,000 per year, this means that when it comes to extra income you will have enough money to devote to your whims, and at the same time you will have the opportunity to save and invest in different financial markets that in the future will report passive income. Undoubtedly worth it for a better quality of life in the future!
Are you ready to start earning extra income as a freelance graphic designer? We bet you are!
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Take control of your time and generate extra income today!