How To Make Extra Money As A Graphic Designer

Though you may not realize it, graphic design is almost everywhere you look, it's a skill and career that is e'ervery much in demand. If you lot're wondering how to brand money as a graphic designer, this guide volition help you, whether y'all're just starting on your journey or you've already begun.

It'south effortless to earn money online designing.

Nowadays, yous don't even need to have a degree in graphic design from a university to get started because there are so many online platforms that tin can aid you learn techniques, such as Teachable, YouTube or Skillshare.

I've managed to make pattern one of my largest income streams later recently graduating from academy with a dual degree in Media Arts and Graphic Design — but, as I said, you lot don't need a degree in club to get into this career.

I have been studying graphic design and using what I've learned in the existent world for the past seven years, and my journey is only just getting started.

If yous're wondering how to become a freelance graphic designer, read on to learn the ins and outs of my personal experience in the manufacture. Information technology really is one of the best, high paying online jobs, and is great for those who are looking to find work they tin do while travelling.

Hither's how to make coin equally a graphic designer.

What is Graphic Design?

Earlier nosotros begin to answer how to make coin every bit a graphic designer, it'due south essential to understand precisely what graphic design is.

From billboards and logos to the packaging of your food products. That'south all graphic design.

Essentially, graphic design is finding visual solutions for a specific purpose, whether that's to brand someone want to buy a product, watch a television set show, or come to a big event. Graphic design truly encapsulates almost every visual aspect of your life.

Within graphic pattern, at that place are a few unlike buckets that you might choose to specialize in, including package design, layout design, branding and logo design, or even typography if you're interested in making fonts and playing with type.

Each saucepan is equally equally of import, though some niches might pay a bit more depending on your skill level.

Essential Graphic Designer Tools

If you lot're wondering how to go a graphic designer, you first demand to make sure that you accept all the proper tools. A lot of these can easily exist purchased online, only keep in listen that graphic design is an expensive business to beginning in.

The first matter you're going to need is acomputer, which tin can be either a laptop or a desktop of any brand. The majority of professional person graphic designers will tell you that information technology's best to use Apple products and have a desktop instead of a laptop.

I started out using an Apple MacBook Pro, and I had no qualms with it, but I recently purchased a Mac desktop with a much larger screen, and it'due south so much easier when designing tiny details.Come across this postal service of the best laptops for remote workers.

You lot'll as well need to purchase a membership to theAdobe Creative Cloud. Prices for this depend on which parcel level you choose; I recommend purchasing access to all of the Adobe apps because you never know which i you'll need for a customer.

If you'd rather purchase a monthly subscription, then consider buying a parcel that includes access to Photoshop (which is perfect for creating web images) and InDesign (geared more than towards impress pattern).

Students can purchase access for just $19.99 a month, while I spend closer to $fifty per calendar month to have access to everything.

The terminal graphic design tool that I recommend might sound a little silly, but it'south always corking to have a rulerhandy, especially for print design. This way, y'all can get a feel for just how big the printed particular that you're designing is — in case you don't have access to a printer for practice prints.

10 Means To Make Money As A Graphic Designer

There are tons of means to brand money online as a graphic designer, no thing what niche you're interested in! If you're wondering how to get a graphic designer, take a wait at this list and start selling or making some of these items.

1. Create and Sell Templates

This is arguably ane of the nigh profitable means to get passive income for graphic designers. With this approach, all you accept to do is make templates of any kind, which could be for ebooks, posters, invitations, or Pinterest graphics. Then, sell the templates online.

Many small-scale business owners and bloggers who are always in a time crunch or who don't accept the skillset to create their own designs from scratch love purchasing these products because of how simple it is to customize them.

In one case you lot have your ain template shop gear up upward and you put in the piece of work, you could earn income without doing much else besides marketing your products.

ii. Share Knowledge Through Workshops or Webinars

Online learning is at an all-time high, and I'm sure many of you reading this would even attend an online workshop on 'How to Make Coin as a Graphic Designer.'

If yous've studied graphic design or experience that you know plenty virtually it, then sell access to online courses, workshops, training, or webinars where you lot innovate others to the topic who may non know a whole lot about information technology.

Fifty-fifty if you just hash out nuts, you'd exist helping out many people and making some money along the way. Acquire about the all-time online platforms for selling courses here. Teachable is a not bad platform for creating online courses! Learn more here.

3. Sell Stickers

Due to the contempo popularity of TikTok, small sticker shops are on the ascent. To make stickers, all y'all demand access to is Photoshop or Canva to make text-based stickers or an iPad for illustrative stickers.

The great thing nigh creating stickers is that you can employ dropshipping, which substantially ways that you don't have to be in charge of packing and sending them out if yous don't want to be.

Yous can hire a third-party vendor to manage all your sales, and you'll however go more than money in your pocket at the end of the solar day.

The best places to sell stickers include Etsy, RedBubble, and Society6. You can also consider hosting your ain website with your designs on Shopify.

iv. Be A Blueprint Consultant

If you desire to brand money every bit a graphic designer with high-ticket items, then becoming a design consultant might exist the chore for you.

With this, you essentially sell an 60 minutes or two of your time to someone who wants your opinions and ideas on graphic pattern for their own business organization. Y'all set your hourly rate and coach and suggest potential designers — giving them communication and pointing them in the right direction.

You can find jobs as a design consultant on FlexJobs, Upwork or Fiverr.

v. Pattern Fonts for Creative Market or Etsy

Fonts are a dandy way to make passive income for graphic designers if you're interested in typography. There are many ways to easily make fonts, even but with your ain handwriting, which you tin then sell for upward to $100 on websites like Creative Market place or Etsy.

6. Make Pre-Made Logo Packages

Similar to creating and selling templates, y'all could create and sell a broad variety of dissimilar logos that are already set up as vectors.

This is a popular style that many smaller businesses that can't afford personalized branding packages create their own logos. All they have to practice is open the design file and swap out the words and colours, and voila, they take their own new logo.

7. Sell Customized Branding Packages

Branding is one of the other loftier-ticket services that you tin offer every bit a graphic designer, every bit these can cost up to $4000 if yous're in high need.

These packages include a personalized logo, color scheme, fonts, patterns, and other similar items that help brands define themselves.

8. Create and Sell Printables

Passive income for graphic designers is easy to come past if y'all create and sell printables online through a platform like Etsy. You could make printables for teachers, students, travellers, literally anything that y'all tin can recall of!

The great affair nearly printables is that they are adigitalproduct, so all you have to do is automate your procedure to immediately send a PDF version of the printable once it's purchased. You don't fifty-fifty have to worry about aircraft.

9. Piece of work With Clients As A Freelancer

Working with clients is a great road to have if you similar a variety of tasks to work on.

By working with clients, you could be designing logos one mean solar day and then helping with the layout design of a printed mag the next. More information on finding these jobs can be plant further downwardly in this commodity.

10. Blueprint Social Media Graphics and Highlight Covers

Social media graphics are another popular fashion to make money equally a graphic designer. Everyone needs assistance with social media, and you could sell packs of social media templates or pre-made Instagram highlight covers for a small price which can add together upwards over fourth dimension.

Where to Find Freelance Graphic Pattern Jobs

Luckily, it's easier than ever to find jobs using online resources. Below are a few of the best places to search if y'all're wondering where to find a graphic design task.

Upwork

When I was get-go wondering how to become a freelance graphic designer, this is where I looked.

Upwork provides an easy-to-apply interface where you can create your own profile, prepare your rates, and connect with clients from effectually the world. Plus, contracts are all made for yous, and you tin can ever guarantee that y'all'll become paid under Upwork's protection policy.

Read more in my detailed article: How To Brand Coin on Upwork

Fiverr

Similar to Upwork, Fiverr is another popular online freelancing platform that works the opposite way.

On Fiverr, the freelancer creates pre-made packages for services with a prepare cost, usually starting at $5 and having tiered prices going upward after that. In that location aretonsof graphic design packages that you could make on this website. Learn more than about making money on Fiverr here.

Flexjobs

Flexjobs is one of the best websites out there to detect remote work-from-domicile positions. There are usually around i,000 graphic pattern positions on this website at a time, ranging between a whole bunch of different industries, then you lot can cull what you lot're most interested in.

Click hither for a list of the current graphic pattern jobs on FlexJobs. Use promo code NOMAD at checkout and receive 30% off your FlexJobs membership.

Facebook Groups

Believe it or non, but Facebook Groups are a keen place to try to notice open positions for graphic designers. There are many nomadic job groups and freelance groups where you can observe posts daily of people who are looking for help.

Just call back always to practice your research and make sure that a posting is legit earlier applying.

This social media platform is often overlooked as a great spot to observe freelance jobs, but their jobs posting lath has a fair amount of freelance gigs.

LinkedIn is also a great place to go to connect with other small-scale business owners who may require your services in the future.

How Much Money Do Graphic Designers Brand?

The average graphic designer salary is around $45,000 per year, but that's if they work full-time hours. This equates to about $22 per 60 minutes, just this can quite obviously alter depending on a designer'southward skill level, specializations, teaching, and more.

If y'all want to make money equally a graphic designer, I recommend that you create stock-still-price packages for your services rather than working by the hour.

This way, y'all tin can account for all overhead expenses that may occur during the process, and often clients prefer that you practice fixed price so that they know how much information technology's going to price them in full.

Remember, as a graphic designer, it's pertinent to let your client know the number of revisions that yous will make per deliverable, or else you could apace be taken advantage of. I recommend assuasive two revisions maximum and putting information technology in your contract with the client for precaution.

When I practise hourly work, I charge at the minimum of $25 per hour just take had some clients where I've charged up to $40.

It truly varies, and as a freelancer, you can likewise sometimes enquire your customer what their budget is earlier you give them a hard number for your charge per unit. I accept also washed a broad multifariousness of fixed-price projects, which is what I prefer doing. This varies depending on what the projection is.

I mainly specialize in layout pattern (workbooks, lead magnets, ebooks, print books, etc.) and charge on a scale.

Here'due south an example of a recent workbook I made, where I created the following tiered system: 30 pages for $600, 31 to forty pages for $800, and 41 to 50 pages for $1,000.

Tips For Being Successful as a Graphic Designer

To be a successful graphic designer, in that location are a few guidelines that y'all should hold yourself to.

Exist Realistic

The starting time essential thing is beingness realistic about what y'all tin achieve, and holding yourself answerable to any deadlines and agreements. Don't give yourself deadlines that you don't think y'all can easily make, and ever be in communication with your customer in example something comes up.

Create Contracts

If you lot detect that you lot're working outside of a platform like Upwork and you've managed to snag a client of your ain,alwaysmake sure that you create a contract for legal reasons.

Some of the all-time websites for storing and creating these include And.Co and Honeybook. PayPal Business is too a viable selection.

Keep A Spreadsheet for Tax Flavour

I can't recommend this enough: go on rails of all of your income and expenses equally a freelance graphic designer.

These will come up in handy later in the year when it's time to pay your quarterly taxes (or almanac, depending on how much you make).

Stay On Elevation of Manufacture Trends

With any creative service-based business, you must stay on top of what's currently popular. Y'all don't desire to create something for your customer that isn't going to appeal to today'southward audience unless it's genuinely what your customer wants.

Set Your Own Guidelines

Equally a freelancer, you become to fix your own guidelines, which is something to keep in mind.

You determine how much work to have at a given time, you help to gear up deadlines with your client, and you create your own work hours. If you find that some office of the puzzle isn't quite working out, then change it!

Pros and Cons of Earning Money Online Designing

Similar with many jobs out in that location, beingness a freelance graphic designer has its own pros and cons. Some parts of the work I love, and others I don't!

Pros of Working equally a Freelance Graphic Designer

Here are a few of the pros:

1. Work from Anywhere

The main pro for existence a freelance graphic designer is that you tin truly piece of work anywhere. I always said I wanted to brand my dream of beingness a freelance designer piece of work and then that I wouldn't be tethered to one location. This is one of the best remote jobs.

2. Gear up Your Own Hours

As mentioned earlier, freelance graphic designers are essentially in charge of themselves because they're their own boss. I love being able to gear up my hours, but it can be challenging if I accidentally overbook myself.

3. Piece of work With Clients Worldwide

Being an online freelance designer allows yous to connect with people that yous might not have had the chance to connect with otherwise. For example, I've worked with clients all over the United States and also in the United Kingdom.

Cons of Working As A Freelance Graphic Designer

Here are a few of the cons:

1. Takes Up A Lot of Storage Space

The amount of storage that graphic blueprint files take up is crazy. I swear that my computer is a lot slower than it used to exist because of all the stuff I've had to do on it related to graphic pattern.

A style around this is to purchase an external difficult drive or using an online platform like Dropbox or Google Drive, just even then information technology even so takes upward a lot of storage.

two. Some Clients Aren't Easy to Work With

Some clients aren't amazing… at that place, I said information technology. Every once in a while, you lot sign a contract with a client that yous end up not being very happy with because they keep trying to add on extra work.

Be certain to e'er refer to the contract and remind them of the services that you initially signed for.

iii. Information technology's Expensive

Being sure that you lot e'er have the proper equipment and tools to be a graphic designer can add up. I pay $50 a month for Adobe Creative Suite in improver to having an Apple desktop computer and laptop, which is some other couple one thousand dollars.

But, those things are an investment. And, depending on your tax situation, they can be a write-off.

Charging fixed prices is always a proficient idea because you can calculate how much you are spending on expenses per month and add that into your charge per unit.

Determination

It's a lot easier than y'all might think to earn money online designing! In that location are and then many great educational tools out there to get you started in the procedure, and the number of job boards makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to connect with clients.

If you're a creative individual, maybe graphic blueprint is something you can get into. As I mentioned, take a wait at platforms such as Flexjobs and Upwork and commencement making coin online today.

The royalty-costless images in this mail service were sourced on Shutterstock.