The modern digital age has made it easier than ever to make money online through several skills. One of the most
If you want to make money as a graphic designer, there has never been a better time. This guide won’t teach the skills of graphic design, but it will show you how to make money as a graphic designer.
What is Graphic Design?
Some people may think that graphic design consists simply of creating advertisements or website graphics, but this is far from the truth. With more online business, entertainment, and recreation than ever, graphic design covers many jobs and duties.
The basic definition of graphic design is creating or finding visual solutions to convey a certain message or objective. In other words, designers project ideas or messages to an audience through visual representation. This branches much further than websites or advertisements, as it can include posters, stickers, books, magazines, apps, and much more.
How to Make Extra Money as a Graphic Designer
Those who have experience in the field or have a current establishment in their career may wonder how to make extra money as a graphic designer. After all, who doesn’t like having extra money in their pocket? Fortunately, numerous platforms can offer extra work for those already in the field.
Before jumping right into making accounts, it is important to decide what service to offer. Designers should market toward their strengths to deliver quality projects to those they work with, allowing them to build a portfolio of their work.
After building a portfolio and reputation, a designer can begin to increase their rate or take on more advanced projects. They can also do this while learning additional skills to offer more or change gears into projects they are more interested in.
How to Make Money as a Freelance Graphic Designer
Freelance work is one of the easiest ways for a graphic designer to make additional money. Freelance is a form of being
Initially, this is an easy way to build a portfolio with a little extra income. But as more projects are taken on, graphic designers could potentially switch to freelance as their
Plus, as the designer’s reputation grows, they can begin to take on larger projects or increase their rate for more income. If you are wondering how to make money as a freelance graphic designer, continue reading below for great platforms to start.
Freelance with Upwork
Upwork is the largest freelance website, and it can be a great platform to find freelance work for graphic designers with experience. Companies or individuals looking for graphic design work will post their listings, and designers can find the jobs that appeal to them. This is a great site for those with diverse skills in graphic design, as it offers a wide array of different gigs, such as illustration, social media post design, and more.
Freelancing with Upwork isn’t the best solution for
Furthermore, graphic designers can build up reviews with Upwork to use for reference with future clients.
How to Make Money on Fiverr as a Graphic Designer
Fiverr is another freelance platform like Upwork, except the contracts are reversed. Instead of job or contract postings, freelancers can post their services and packages for purchase. Listings will typically start at $5 but can have tiered service offerings for more cost. This allows designers to create the types of packages and workloads that they would like to offer and have time for.
If you want additional information on how to make money on Fiverr as a graphic designer, you can check out their blog here.
How to Make Money on Etsy as a Graphic Designer
For those who have ever wondered how to make money on Etsy as a graphic designer, we are here to help. Etsy is an incredible platform to make extra money and expand portfolio content as a graphic designer.
There are numerous graphic design products and services that perform well on Etsy, including:
- Stickers
- Digital Art
T-shirts - Digital Prints
- Sewing Patterns
- Coloring Pages
- Wrapping Paper Patterns
- And much more
In fact, there is likely an audience for virtually any type of graphic design product and service. In other words, don’t be afraid to list art and services to see how they perform. Products or services can always be changed, added to, or altered if needed.
How to Make Money on Instagram as a Graphic Designer
Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms, which makes it an incredible platform for offering graphic design services. The answer to how to make money on Instagram as a graphic designer is actually twofold.
Firstly, the platform can be used to promote a personal graphic design brand, as well as offer services for other creators and profiles. A personal profile can be used as a portfolio of sorts to show work that has been done and display skills. This gives users a reference to look at before contacting the designer for their services on their own Instagram profile or other platforms.
Secondly, graphic designers can use Instagram to make money by selling their art and works directly to their customers. Using a link in bio tool or by simply directing the customers to an online store or any marketplace they are using.
How to Make Money as a Beginner Graphic Designer
There are also options for those who have just begun their learning journey in graphic design. Let’s check out some of the options for those wondering how to make money as a beginner graphic designer.
The best thing for those in the early stages of graphic design is to learn additional skills and techniques to expand a portfolio. Many great platforms can help with this, including:
- YouTube: YouTube has hours upon hours of video content and tutorials available for graphic design.
- Skillshare: Skillshare features courses and programs created by other individuals to teach skills and techniques in various fields. This site offers numerous graphic design courses, and each course features projects to practice what is learned. Skillshare does offer some free courses but requires a subscription to access premium courses. This can be worth it if it teaches how to make money from home as a graphic designer.
- Udemy: Udemy is similar to Skillshare, except it offers more free and premium courses in general. Unlike Skillshare, Udemy is based on a
cost-per-course basis. However, once a course is purchased, it is permanently owned. - Coursera: Coursera is a similar learning platform, but it is linked to academic institutions. This means that the courses have a more
school-like format and experience, which some people may prefer. The courses are often taught by university professors, making them more expensive than other platforms, but it is less expensive than traditional school education. - LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning is another great platform to learn various skills. This platform uses a monthly or yearly subscription basis, but this cost allows access to any course available. LinkedIn Learning is most commonly geared toward
career-oriented skills, which makes it great for career advancement.
These are far from the only places to learn how to make money from home as a graphic designer, but it is a good place to start.
After completing courses and feeling confident in the skills learned, the new designer can offer their services on the above freelance platforms. This is a great way to begin building a platform to pursue a freelance career or even seek a permanent placement with a company. Online courses are an excellent starting point, but experience in graphic design is the best way to build skills and reputation.
Use This Guide to Become a Great Graphic Designer
We hope this guide helped you learn how to make money online as a graphic designer. There are so many opportunities available to help expand a career in graphic design.
After learning how to make money online as a graphic designer, you may want to expand your ecommerce presence to sell your services. This can help you build your online business and give you more control over your service costs and sales.
Fortunately we can help with just that. Head over to our website to start your ecommerce website to take the next step in your career!