The graphic design industry can be demanding and stressful sometimes. We get to a phase somewhere in our career, where we need to decide if we need a change in our working life or not. If you are thinking about a perfect alternate career for a graphic designer, you came to the right place because I have put together a list of different career options you can switch to.
Why Should You Try Going On A Different Path?
Life is sometimes confusing, and humans usually crave change. Like with any other thing, when we do it frequently, the process of doing it becomes cut-and-dry, and the fun seems to fade away. Of course, this does not apply to everyone.
Some are not happy at what they do, and you might find yourself in a situation that makes you fed up with the work you’re doing. Now, I am not by any means saying that you have to hate being a graphic designer to switch the profession, but it’s nice to know about the different career options you can change to.
Sometimes it may happen that creating the perfect design is not satisfying anymore, the whole graphic design process becomes too stressful to handle, or your boss has unrealistic demands. In that case, you feel deep down inside of you that something needs to change.
If you find yourself in these lines, it’s time to have a conversation with yourself, find a quiet place, sit down, and ask these questions:
What Makes You Happy?
There must be something you could do to make you happy when you’re feeling stuck as a designer. You might go on a walk, pet some pets, try meditating or doing some sports to release the feeling of stuckness, and you might be back on track in no time.
Why Did You Choose Graphic Design?
You got to ask yourself why you started doing digital designs in the first place. What was the core reason behind your choice of becoming a graphic designer?
Was it the creative process, creating something new from nothing, playing with colors and patterns, or was it something else? This question can help you find the hunger you once had when you started your career.
Why Do You Want The change?
Find out the issue forcing you to think about the career change. Are you feeling stressed because of your strict deadlines, or don’t find enough new projects, is your boss nagging you, or don’t get along with your colleagues? Do you need more money?
In that case, continue with your reading, and you might find the solution.
Explore Other Options!
Before you go ahead and switch your career, try changing the company you are working for. Maybe a switch of the working environment might be helpful for you. It might even help you feel motivated again. Sometimes all you need is a change in your workspace, and you might find the desire and motivation you once had.
Check Out The Alternative Careers for Graphic Designers:
1. Become A Freelance Graphic Designer
I know it is not an exact change in career paths, but going from working for a company to working for yourself might be a great idea. You will become your own boss, and you will choose the conditions and the clients you would like to work for.
Plus, as a graphic designer, you already have the necessary skills, so you won’t need to learn new ones, like switching to a totally new career. Learning new skills would take time to become proficient, and this process can be frustrating at times.
2. Think About Becoming A Project Manager
Project managers are one of the cornerstones of the design industry. They are the pillar that is responsible for an unbeaten project run. From the pitch to the delivery, they are the ones who will make sure that the project is running successfully.
Becoming project management is an ideal career choice if you can handle the extra responsibility of managing a project. Companies pay a considerable amount to project managers who are good at their job.
3. Become A Copywriter
For graphic designers switching to copywriting is a viable option. In this field, you will work with words and write a text for advertising purposes. Copywriting is like graphic design, a very creative and fun process.
This industry is really fascinating. Think about all the great headlines that you read on advertising brochures and billboards. Copywriters come up with those words and make them stand out.
Imagine that you come up with a word or sentence, which makes people think about it and anchors it in their head. That’s deep. As I mentioned before, copywriting is a very creative job where you play with words instead of graphics like designers do.
There is a high demand for good copywriters. If you’re thinking of becoming one, you will have a lot of fun because the process of copywriting is delightful, and you can expect a nice paycheck for your services at the end of the month.
4. Try Web Developing
Web development and graphic design have a lot of skill sets that overlap with each other. If you want to become a web developer, you will need a keen eye to catch all the details that are in front of you.
Because you’ve already developed sharp eyesight from daily pixel work, and you are undoubtedly pretty good at noticing minor flaws and fixing them up, it makes you a perfect candidate for a web developer.
Besides that, nowadays, learning to code is really easy with multiple online courses available at different online sites. The only thing you need to conquer is making logical decisions to make your coding process more manageable.
Don’t get me wrong; I am saying web development is undemanding. If that were the case, there would be a massive surplus of web developers in the market. Clients would not pay them a considerable amount of money to get their websites up and running as they do these days.
This career choice is the best paying one on this list, and it is a viable career switch from design. The web developing process is creative, and there are a lot of skills that overlap with graphic design.
So, if you want to switch your career, you should consider web development as your new option.
5. Switch To UX Design
You can try switching to UX design. User experience design is also a simple switch from a graphics designer standpoint. For example: Let’s say you can code in Python. What if you now decide to learn and become a Java developer.
It will be a smoother transition. You will have an easier time learning Java as you already know the basics of programming, so you will not have to start from ground zero and build your foundation. The basis as a developer has already been laid out, and now you are just adding bricks to it.
Similarly, if you decide to switch to UX design from graphics design, you will know most of the UX design rules, and it will be a smoother shift for you. Because UX design is a somewhat newer field, and it is not flooded with expert UX designers, you will be able to find a job with ease.
6. SEO Specialist
You can even consider becoming an SEO specialist. This is a trendy field to work in right now. As the online industry grows, more people are looking to get their SEO rank up. The demand for SEO specialists is there, and it is a possible career switch if you are looking for something new.
Take The Decision
At the end of the day, you will need to decide which career path will be the best fit for you. But whichever option you choose, remember you will need to be patient and thirst for new knowledge because switching to a new career might not be as easy as it seems.
I hope I was able to help you with your decision by writing Alternative Careers for Graphic Designers as a guideline to follow. If you are patient and persistent, you are on the right way to achieving what you want.
