According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Graphic Designers earnings average out to
just over $42,000 a year (graph 1 - top) based on 2005 statistical analysis
(see graphics) of job postings found on three websites which track salaries.
This is thousands of dollars per year more than the median salary for all
American workers. According to the BLS, from 2008-2018, the field of graphic
design will grow by almost 37,000 jobs (graph 2 - bottom), or 13%, higher by
5% than the overall expected civilian workforce growth of 8.2%. As of 2008,
there were about 286,100 working graphic designers, a large majority of
which had chosen to further their education through higher education.
In doing this
research, it should be noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
focused on a few areas of expected growth within the field of graphic arts:
Internet advertising and marketing, mobile phone and other young electronic
media, and Web sites for a growing range of products and services. This will
be tempered by the continuing decline of print media like newspapers and
magazines. This is representative of a broad shift away from traditional
pen-and-paper design towards digital design. As such, ZCAF’s lesson plans
delve into new media such as animation and digital media design. Students
will get the chance to work with an animator, and discuss new media careers
such as Video Game Designer. When ZCAF instructors teach about color, we
include a discussion of film and theatre light coloration techniques, and
the way light is ‘mixed’ on computer monitor screens and with computer
printers. Information that most teenagers will not get in a traditional high
school art classroom, because there simply is not enough time to expose
students to some much detail in typical High School art programs.
