If you plan to work in the creative industry, knowing how much a graphic designer makes will help you project yourself towards your long-term goals. Making art for a living is certainly an attractive lifestyle, but it’s also important to consider salary expectations for your future finances, don’t you think?
In addition to probably being curious about how much a graphic designer makes, you may still be questioning whether this career is for you; because, even if the salary of a graphic designer is attractive, in order to feel comfortable on a daily basis, you will have to enjoy what you do.
In the following lines, you will find out what is the salary of a graphic designer in Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and the United States.in addition, we explain you how to set your graphic designer salary step by step, some practical tips you should follow, as well as a list of free tools for you to set your rate. After reading this article, you will be ready to decide your future!
which country pays graphic designers the most?
Freelance graphic designers have not only grown in number, but they have also become smarter and more ambitious. why is this? The answer is quite simple: they manage their own online activities. Therefore, if you’re looking for a career as a designer, it doesn’t hurt to know how to become a freelancer.
Nowadays, working as a freelance graphic designer comes with certain advantages and perhaps the biggest of them all is the possibility for designers to work from wherever they want.
So we will show you how much a graphic designer earns in different countries in North, Central and South America. Whether you want to be a graphic designer interested in working freelance or if you prefer the stability of working for a single company.
Salary of a graphic designer in Peru
According to the job search platform CompuTrabajo, the salary of a graphic designer per month is approximately 1,137 soles .to arrive at this figure, this study on how much a graphic designer in Peru earns was based on 360,865 salaries from different companies and users received during the last 12 months.
On the other hand, according to the Indeed job portal, the more updated you are, your salary could exceed 14,952 soles annually, that is, 1,254 soles per month .
However, if you are just starting in this field, you could earn up to 14,217 soles per year, which is not far from the salary of a graphic designer with more experience!
Finally, how much does a freelance designer earn in Peru? If you want to work independently, you could earn between 2,000 to 3,000 soles per month. As you can see, under this modality you will be able to earn a higher salary. Therefore, it is up to you to choose whether you want to work on your own or in a company. think about it carefully!
Source: indeed.com
Salary of a graphic designer in Colombia
If you are wondering how much a graphic designer in Colombia earns, the job portal Talent estimates an average salary of 18,000,000 Colombian pesos per year or 9,231 Colombian pesos per hour .
While recent graduates receive an amount of 10,968,696 Colombian pesos per year, as they get more experience, they could earn up to 30,000,000 Colombian pesos annually.
On the other hand, according to the CompuTrabajo portal, the salary of a graphic designer in Colombia is 1,074,932 Colombian pesos per month, a figure obtained from the average of 2,037,340 different salaries of companies and users in the last 12 months.
Source: co.talent.com
Salary of a graphic designer in Mexico
To find out how much a graphic designer earns in Mexico, just check the Talent portal to determine that the salary of an average graphic designer is 108,000 Mexican pesos per year or 55.38 Mexican pesos per hour.
As a graphic design intern you could earn 60,000 Mexican pesos per year, while as a more experienced creative professional you could earn up to 180,000 Mexican pesos per year.
Meanwhile, the CompuTrabajo portal in Mexico estimates that the salary of a graphic designer is 8,373.88 Mexican pesos per month, a figure obtained from the average of 1,937,591 different salaries of companies and users in the last 12 months.
Salary of a graphic designer in Chile
On the other hand, according to Indeed portal, the salary of a graphic designer in Chile is 454,864 Chilean pesos per month, which makes an annual average of 5,458,368 Chilean pesos.
Additionally, the salaries of graphic designers in Chile can vary depending on the city in which the professionals work. Thus, the Metropolitan Regions of Las Condes and Huechuraba are those that have established a higher salary to remunerate these digital artists.
For example, in Las Condes, a design professional can receive up to 510,509 Chilean pesos per month, while in Huechuraba the average salary is 500,304 Chilean pesos.
Salary of a graphic designer in Argentina
Now, if your question is how much does a graphic designer in Argentina earn, according to Indeed portal, the average salary of these professionals is 29,100 Argentinean pesos per month .
On the one hand, the salary of a junior graphic designer in Argentina who is just starting in the labor field is around 16,875 Argentinean pesos per month; on the other hand, the salary of a graphic designer in Argentina with more experience is between 46,300 and 79,000 Argentinean pesos per month .
According to the portal LayoutMag, which focuses on disseminating relevant news about design, the average salary of a graphic designer in Argentina increases by 11% every 17 months during his career, which does not happen with the other specialties in that country. consider it!
Salary of a graphic designer in the United States
As with most creative fields in the above countries, in the United States we can also see the more experience a professional has, the higher his or her salary will be. So, how much does a graphic designer earn per hour in the U.S.? According to the Indeed job portal, the salary for a graphic designer is $17.68 per hour.
However, the level of education, role, type of company, and geographic location can vary the salary of a graphic designer in the United States.
If you’re looking to expand your talent overseas, then you’ll need to know how much a graphic designer earns in dollars in each of these roles on an annual basis:
Junior graphic designer: $39,750- $56,750
Senior graphic designer: $ 67,500- $ 93,000
Art Director: $ 69,575
Creative Director: $ 126,637
Packaging Designer: $ 59,500- $ 91,000
Web designer: $ 80,000- $ 119,500
Web designer (more than 5 years): $ 83,250- $ 118,000
UX Designer (1 to 3 years) : $ 52,000 to $ 79,500
UX Designer (more than 5 years): $ 92,750- $ 138,000
As you can see, the salary of a graphic designer in the United States depends a lot on their specialization and experience in the industry, which is reflected in the years they have been working.
So, if you aspire to have a graphic designer job in the United States, it’s time to get to work!
Image: Unsplash
how to set my graphic designer salary?
To determine how much a graphic designer makes, it’s important that you consider a few benchmarks to get started. So let’s talk about how to tailor your rates to your work and your clients’ needs. To set your freelance graphic design salary, you’ll need to consider the following elements.
Level of experience
Perhaps this is the most obvious point when determining how much a graphic designer earns. If you’re new to freelance graphic design but have a decade of experience behind you, then you shouldn’t be charging $10 an hour. Just like you shouldn’t charge $500 for a design project if you’re simply looking to make your first logo, should you?
Pricing
are you going to charge an hourly rate and stick to it regardless of the type of client? are you going to quote project-specific rates? how will you charge for other services, such as fixing an existing website design or giving the client additional logo options to choose from? do you charge for revisions and additional work you do? It’s important to ask yourself all of these questions when setting your graphic designer salary.
Details and scope of the project
The most important factor for you to get a fair idea of your graphic designer salary is the size, depth, complexity, deadlines and other specific details of each project. These are the most important determinants of a designer’s rate, especially if you are quoting on a per-project basis.
Time frame
Whether you opt for hourly pricing or not, it’s important to consider how long the project will last. With this, you will be able to make sure that your rates are profitable when comparing how much a graphic designer earns according to the aspects we are mentioning.
Project value
One of the biggest mistakes a freelance graphic designer can make is to charge based on what it costs to complete a project (in terms of time, effort and other expenses). Clients hire you for the value they will get from the completed project, so your rates should reflect that value.
Value you’ll get from the client
The value conversation also goes both ways. If a client can offer you steady, regular work, or if the brand value of having worked for them will help you build authority in your niche, this can influence your final fee.
Expenses and overhead costs
Working as a freelance graphic designer comes with a number of expenses, such as the health insurance you need and the software your work requires. Keep these costs in mind when setting your rates, as they will be what will ensure that your freelance business is profitable.
Image: Unsplash
Tips for setting your rate as a graphic designer
Now that you have a general pricing strategy and a few benchmarks for how much a graphic designer makes, let’s move on to the good stuff: the tricks to setting your rates.
If it seems to you that you’re still improvising quotes from factors that don’t seem to have any relation to each other, that’s okay. There’s no exact science or concrete answer to setting your designer fee. Here are some effective tips to help you along the way.
1. Do your research
On this tip, there’s a lot to do (like reading this guide). Research how much a graphic designer in your niche earns, what are the competitive rates based on your level of experience. Ask clients for key project details before putting together a quote. You can also ask fellow freelance graphic designers to see what they charge.
2. Know your value
When you’re not busy enough and need the work, when you’re negotiating with a client you really want to work with, when you’re simply not confident enough in your skills and the value your work creates for clients, it’s easy to set a relatively lower graphic designer salary. Understanding that value is imperative so that you can set rates that allow you to earn what your work is really worth.
3. Start with a high price and negotiate
If you offer a client a slightly higher budget, you can always give a little in a negotiation. It’s much harder to get arguments for earning more than your original budget (unless the scope of the project changes, of course). That’s why it’s always best to start negotiations with a slightly higher price and go from there to set a freelance graphic designer’s salary.
4. Increase your rates regularly
This should be taken into account from now on. The rates you set last year should not be the same as the rates you will charge in the current year and the next. Your value as a freelance graphic designer increases with every project you do, with every course you participate in, and with much more. So your rate should increase with it.
5. Be a little flexible
In addition to the financial benefits, there are other benefits you get for your work. For example, if working with a specific client substantially increases your authority, that’s a type of currency that can justify your flexibility on the monetary side. Undoubtedly, a fundamental aspect when it comes to knowing how much a graphic designer earns.
6. Remember your overhead
As we mentioned earlier, working as a freelance graphic designer comes with expenses and costs that are not incurred by permanent graphic designers. Therefore, your costs are higher and your clients’ costs are lower than those of a full-time designer; your rates should take both aspects into account.
Image: Unsplash
Free tools to set your graphic designer salary.
By now, you know that visuals are part of a compelling strategy that will help you determine your graphic designer salary. what happens when you don’t have professional design software or enough experience?
Free tools are a practical solution for those who want to start setting a graphic designer salary regardless of whether they are experienced or novice designers. Here are some resources to help you on your way.
Graphic Design Resume Templates
After you have the clarity of knowing how much a graphic designer charges, a CV, or resume, will help you illustrate your academic and professional achievements and skills. Regardless of the type of graphic design job you want, a well-written CV is the first step to optimizing the success of your job search process. The advantage of these graphic design CV templates is that you will be able to modify and adapt them to your needs.
Graphic design CV templates.
Graphic Design Quote
When it comes to setting your freelance graphic designer salary, it’s difficult to start from scratch. Your rates should take into account many factors that are unique to you, but pulling a number completely out of thin air won’t help you set realistic prices that compensate you fairly and work for your clients as well.
This is all true regardless of how much experience you have as a freelancer, and it’s even harder to find a graphic design salary that’s right for beginners. That’s why we’re coming to the rescue! Start your freelance career in graphic design with the help of this template to build your quotes.
Graphic Design Quote.
Ebook: What does a graphic designer do?
Many people tend to assume that a graphic designer’s job is simple, easy. Sure, anyone can create a logo or design a brochure, right? Someone’s nephew (who has loved to draw since he was five years old and is the only artist in the family) can supposedly do the job in a couple of hours. But is it really that simple?
While pursuing creative freedom and getting paid at the same time is one of the perks of being a graphic designer, the job itself is not just limited to creating landing pages, logos, infographics, fonts or even brochures. find out what a graphic designer does with our guide!
Ebook What does a graphic designer do?
Graphic design courses to improve your profile
If you are looking to be the graphic designer that every company wants to have in their ranks, in addition to having the skills we have mentioned, it is crucial to constantly reinforce your knowledge. So, in order to have a considerable graphic designer salary, you must always keep learning!
To make your graphic designer salary more attractive over time, you can’t miss the opportunity to take the courses we mentioned above. Our experts will teach you how you can improve your skills and abilities to consolidate your goals in no time.
Image: Unsplash
we’ve reached the end of the article! Now you know how much a graphic designer earns and what their job consists of. From this point on, you are in the ability to decide if this career is for you or not. As you have seen, if you decide to go into design, you will be able to work in different areas of the industry.
On the other hand, we know that charging a fair and competitive price is not an exact science, but hopefully the above numbers will give you a rough idea of how much a graphic designer makes.by understanding the current rate in the area of design you work in and with your level of experience, you can make sure you don’t settle for less than you deserve!