12 ways to make money as a graphic designer

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Graphic design skills are highly sought-after in the freelancing world, opening doors to many job opportunities. People earn a lot of money in Graphic design, but it also means that there is a high competition level in Graphic design.

Before we discuss ways to make money in graphic design let’s first discuss what graphic designing is

What is graphic design?

Graphic design is a profession in which experts create visual content by hand or by using software to express ideas that move, educate, and enthrall people.

As you know graphic design is a broad industry. There are various niches and micro-niches in which you can earn a lot of money. You must focus your work on a certain design field, such as a logo or website design.

Rather than calling yourself a graphic designer who does all types of design work, Consider focusing on a micro-niche, for example, creating graphic templates and devoting all of your energy to mastering them, in this manner, you'll have target clients with a particular demand. It will be simpler to promote your unique point and attract customers. Because mastering all the micro-niches will make you lose your unique point.

There are various niches but here we will discuss the best 12 for graphic designers, especially for beginners and these are also how you can make money as a graphic designer

Graphic design niches

1.          Logo design
2.          Web designer
3.          Print-on-demand
4.          Offer a service
5.          Create and Sell graphic templates
6.          Create and Sell stickers
7.          Teach a course
8.          Design Social Media Content/design social media graphics
9.          Start a Blog or YouTube Channel
10.          Design & Sell Fonts
11.          Sell Customized Branding Packages
12.          Create and Sell Printable

Also read :How to start freelancing successfully as a beginner in 2023

 

Logo design

Logo design is the creation of the ideal visual brand identifier for a business. Logos are practically the identity of a brand. In my opinion logo designing is a great niche for every beginner graphic designer. There are many organizations, companies, industries, and brands that are going through the rebranding phase and want to modify their logos they need a logo designer and many companies spend a lot of money on their branding or rebranding. I don’t mean it is easy to start with but I think by going through error and trials this niche offers many great ways and handsome income to you.

Also, you may design and market a variety of logos because many small firms cannot afford unique branding packages.

Print on demand

The order fulfillment strategy known as "print-on-demand" (or "POD") involves printing products as soon as a customer places an order.

Print-on-demand is one of my favorites because it’s a lot easier as compared to other niches. If you are a beginner graphic designer and in the learning phase you can start with print-on-demand on a big platform like Amazon Merch on Demand, Teespring or Spring, and Printify. You can start with Canva. Make free designs in Canva and upload them on these platforms. Whenever your design product sells, you earn a commission. The production and shipment of products are made by the platforms.

Offer a service

You can offer one of the services as a freelancer on platforms like Fiver, Upwork, or people per hour by making your gig. The clients approach you by seeing your gig. You can earn $40–$75/hr. as a freelance graphic designer on platforms like Upwork.

Website designer

The term "web design" describes how websites that are presented online are created. A web designer is responsible for a website's design (refers to the colors, text, and pictures displayed), feel, and occasionally even content.   

Also read :How to Make Money on Gumroad as a Beginner: A Comprehensive Guide

Create and sell graphic templates

This is undoubtedly one of the most appealing passive income streams for graphic designers. You have to make templates of any kind like Social Media Graphic Templates, eBook Templates, Flyer Templates, and many more, and sell them online. If you don’t know how to make these templates from scratch, you can customize them on platforms like Canva.

After making templates, you can set up your shop on a platform like Etsy, put in your work, and start earning money.

Create and Sell stickers

Creating and selling stickers is the same as a graphic template. You can use Canva or Photoshop. Canva is easy to use and customization is easy but I will recommend Photoshop because it has a lot of features that are not in the Canva free plan. 

If you don’t want to purchase a membership, along with using Canva you can also use Photopea which is free.

After making templates you can sell them on Etsy.

Teach a course

If you have a lot of knowledge of graphic design then you can also sell your online course or webinars and share your knowledge, experiences, and recommendations with various people who don’t know about these. In this way, you can help people and also earn money through it. Udemy, Skillshare, and Systeme are good platforms to sell your courses.

Start a Blog or YouTube Channel

This is similar to teaching a course but instead of selling your course, you can teach through blogging or vlogging. In blogging or vlogging you can further make money in various ways.

For example

Also read :What are the best printable products to sell? 30+ best printable ideas that sell to make money online

You create graphic templates. Make a YouTube channel and make videos on graphic templates. Tell your audience which sites to use to create and sell these templates, which types of templates are more in demand, which sites are beginner-friendly, and many other things. You can earn money through Google AdSense by running ads on your videos, or by affiliate marketing, you can promote platforms you use to your audience.

Both are very popular and people earn a lot of money through these.

Design Social Media Content

Social media content pretty much includes anything people share whether it is creative, inspirational, educational, or entertaining on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Another well-liked method for graphic designers to bring in cash is through social media graphics. Everyone needs assistance with social media, so you might provide pre-made Instagram highlight covers or packs of social media templates for different kinds of social media content.

Design and sell fonts

If you're interested in typography, fonts are a superb method for graphic artists to earn passive cash. By using your handwriting, you can easily create fonts and you can sell on platforms like Creative Fabrica, Creative Market, or Etsy.

Sell Customized Branding Packages

A branding package is a set of digital, physical, or printable assets developed to represent the unique image of the brand. These packages come with a custom logo, color palette, fonts, patterns, and other elements that help firms establish their identities.

One of the other high-ticket services that a graphic designer may provide is branding, which can cost up to $5000 if they're in great demand.

Create and Sell Printable

Also read : 5 ways to make money on creative Fabrica as a graphic designer in 2024

A printable is a graphic design or piece of art or text that you can download online edit if you want and use them. For example stickers, calendars, daily planners, etc. Printables are one of the most popular digital products.

It's simple to generate passive money as a graphic designer if you produce and market printable online using a service like Etsy. You can use Canva (graphic design software) to create these printables. you could create handouts for anybody you can think of, including instructors, students, travelers, etc.

The best part about Printables is that they are digital products, so all you need to do is automate your procedure to deliver a PDF copy of the printable right away once a customer makes a purchase. Shipping is even taken care of for you.

 

Conclusion

There are various other ways to make money in graphic design you can also go into the gaming industry or stock graphics but the above-listed 12 ways, in my opinion, are great for beginner graphic designers.

If you have a creative mind, graphic design can be something you might pursue. In this incredible sector, there are simply too many fantastic methods to make money.

Here are some of my favorite platforms

Creative Fabrica is a marketplace that offers fonts, graphics, craft designs, tools, and many more. Creative Fabrica is such an amazing all-in-one platform for graphic designers and I highly recommend it.

Shutterstock

You can download the best royalty-free images from Shutterstock, including photos, vectors, and illustrations. Shutterstock is also an amazing platform to make money as a Shutterstock Contributor.