How To Make Money Online With Graphic Design

How To Make Money Online With Graphic Design

Graphic design is a skill in high demand in our visually-driven world. More and more companies are recognising the value of quality graphic design for branding, marketing, advertising and reaching customers online. This increased demand also brings plenty of opportunities for graphic designers to make money with their skills.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore various ways graphic designers can leverage the internet and their creative talents to generate income working online. Whether you’re an experienced pro or just starting, you’ll find some helpful ideas and strategies here!

Getting Started With Graphic Design

Before diving into ways to make money online, it’s essential to understand what graphic design is and ensure you have the necessary foundation.

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is the art and practice of combining text, images, and ideas using visual communication to convey information effectively. Graphic designers create logos, branding materials, advertisements, brochures, magazines, signs, packaging, websites, mobile apps, and more for companies and clients.

Key Graphic Design Skills

To be successful in making money online with graphic design, some essential skills include:

• Creativity & Conceptualisation: Coming up with visual concepts that meet client goals
• Illustration & Image Creation: Making custom images, illustrations and icons
• Layout Design & Composition: Arranging design elements effectively
• Typography: Selecting and incorporating appealing fonts into designs
• Colour Theory: Using colour meaningfully to evoke reactions
• Branding: Developing visual identities and styles for brands
• Software Skills: Proficiency with design programs like Adobe Creative Cloud

Building competency in these core graphic design areas will prepare you to handle various online projects.

Getting Graphic Design Clients Online

Building an online presence and tapping into networks is critical for finding graphic design clients on the internet. Here are some of the best places to look:

Freelance Websites

Websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and 99Designs connect freelancers with clients from around the world looking to outsource graphic design work. Create a compelling profile and bid on projects to get started.

• Upwork – 5+ million clients
• Fiverr – 4.2+ million buyers
• 99Designs – 1.4+ million designers compete for projects

Social Media

Promote your graphic design services and share examples of your work on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and more. Engage with potential clients and build relationships.

• 96% of freelancers use social media to find new clients
• 91% of small businesses use social media for marketing

Job Boards

Search online job boards and apply for remote graphic design positions. Sites like FlexJobs, Remote.co, and We Work Remotely post quality-screened remote opportunities.

Over 5,000 US companies posted remote design jobs in 2024.

Design Communities/Forums

Connect with other designers and clients by joining popular online graphic design communities like Dribbble, Behance and DeviantArt.

• Dribbble – 3+ million graphic designers
• Behance – 18+ million monthly creatives
• DeviantArt – 95+ million art & design lovers

Graphic Design Services To Offer Online

With the right expertise, equipment and effort, there are endless possibilities for making money with online graphic design. But it helps to focus on the most in-demand services.

Logo Design

Logos powerfully represent brands with visual symbols and are prime offerings for graphic designers. Logos should resonate with target audiences and encapsulate a brand’s essence.

• 81% of startup founders say finding the right logo design is important
• The average sales price for custom logo design services is $200-$500

Tips for making great logos:

• Brainstorm keyword-driven concepts
• Research industry, colours and icons
• Explore different typefaces and layouts
• Provide logo files in all needed formats

Brand Style Guides

A brand style guide documents all the visual details like logo usage, fonts, colour palette and graphical elements representing a brand. This helps clients maintain consistency across marketing materials over time.

Brand style guides typically sell for $1,000-$5,000+.

They usually include:

• Logo files
• Logo usage rules
• Approved fonts & sizes
• Official colour codes
• Design element libraries
• Visual examples

Creating brand style guides is a higher-value service that goes hand-in-hand with logo design.

Business Card & Stationery Design

Business cards make vital first impressions, and stationery extends branding cohesively across all company documents and packages.

Over 5 billion business cards are printed annually in the US alone.

Typical pricing:

• Business Cards – $50-$150 per design
• Letterhead – $100-$250
• Envelopes – $100-$250

Provide clients with professional and affordable options with templates tailored to their brand.

Infographics

Infographics visually communicate information, data and ideas to readers more engagingly. They simplify complex stories or concepts with images, charts, graphs, maps and minimal text.

The demand for custom infographics keeps rising across websites, presentations, reports and social media.

Typical pricing per infographic:

• Basic – $150-$300
• Advanced – $300-$800

Tools like Visme, Canva and Piktochart make creating infographics easy.

Illustrations

Illustrations tell stories with artistic imagery rather than photos. They capture attention on websites, landing pages, flyers, books, posters, cards, etc.

Over 44% of millennials want more visuals and illustrations in content.

Pricing varies widely based on complexity and rights:

• Simple black-and-white – $80+
• Character illustrations – $250+
• Complex, full-colour – $800+
• Unlimited commercial license – $3,000+

Digital art tablets like an iPad Pro and programs like Procreate and Illustrator help bring illustrations to life.

Website Design

Designing websites remains one of graphic designers' most steady sources of online income potential. Clients continually want sites built and updated for personal branding, blogging, ecommerce and lead generation.

Website design packages commonly offer:

• Site architecture planning
• Home page layouts
• Style tile creation
• Custom graphics

Bundles typically range from $1,500-$5,000+. Ecommerce sites often run $10,000+. Additional website maintenance/update retainers can provide recurring income.

Pro tip: Partner with a web developer to provide full-service site design and functionality builds.

Apparel & Merchandise Design

Designed custom t-shirt graphics, apparel prints, and branded merchandise like mugs and hats for startup clothing lines, bands, bloggers, event promoters, and niche websites.

Pricing models:

• Per complete design – $150+
• Unlimited usage license – $500+
• % sales royalty on merchandise

Helpful tools include Printful, CafePress and Zazzle, which handle manufacturing and order fulfilment.

Pitch Decks & Presentations

Pitch decks and slide presentations convince potential investors, clients, executives, and project stakeholders. Graphic designers make dense data and concepts visually intuitive.

Typical pricing rates average $4,000-$7,000+ for a 30-60 slide pitch deck.

Our recommendations for designs:

• Avoid walls of text
• Storyboard engaging graphics
• Choose theme colours deliberately
• Illustrate processes simply
• Portray vital data visually

Advertisements

Design visually captivating web banner ads, social media advertisements, flyers, emails, billboards and more that drive higher conversion rates for any marketing campaign.

Display ads yield $2 earned for every $1 spent. With great creativity, that ROI can increase exponentially.

Typical ad design pricing:

• Web banner ads – $150+
• Facebook ads – $200+
• Instagram stories ads – $200+
• Billboards – $500+

Tools like Canva and Crello give DIY options for more straightforward ads, while Adobe apps help power advanced animation and personalisation.

Packaging & Label Design

Packaging extends brand identities to physical products. Unique packaging also differentiates on crowded shelves and grabs buyers' attention.

Labelling similarly reinforces messaging on containers like bottles, boxes and bags. Clean label templates quickly adapt across product lines, retaining recognition.

• 89% of buyers say package design heavily influences purchase decisions
• Stock packaging templates sell for $20-$100+ each
• Custom packaging concepts typically run $150 up
• Labelling templates run $50 up

Book Covers & Magazine Layout

Graphic designers are regularly commissioned to create visually striking covers for books and eBooks that represent genres from romance and sci-fi to non-fiction.

Magazine design projects similarly allow flexing creative muscles by laying out stylish templates for online blogs, indie magazines and periodicals.

Pricing estimates:

• eBook covers – $200-$500+
• Print book covers – $500-$1,500+
• Magazine layout templating – $2,000+
• 50+ page magazine design – $3,000+

Practical pointers:

• Study competitive title designs
• Read book/magazine summaries
• Conceptualise title treatments
• Play with fonts and imagery
• Review with author and editors
• Prepare printable and web file formats

Social Media Graphics & Visuals

Brands big and small constantly need fresh and engaging visual social media content to reach followers and get content shared organically.

Bite-sized visual content options:

• Instagram carousels and stories
• Twitter headers and posts
• Facebook & LinkedIn banners
• Pinterest pins and boards
• YouTube channel art & thumbnails

Typical social media kits run $500+ with a la carte visuals $100+.

Scheduling apps like Hootsuite allow brands to plan and auto-post social content regularly.

Additional Money-Making Ideas

Beyond typical graphic design work, plenty of other creative opportunities exist to monetise visual skills online.

Sell Digital Products

Create original design templates, brush packs, textures, illustrations, and more, and then sell them to other designers on digital marketplaces.

Top marketplaces include:

• Creative Market
• Graphic River
• Creative Fabrica

Products generally price $5-$100+, with designers getting 30-50% sales commissions. Building robust digital shops can drive $1000s in residual passive income.

Teach Graphic Design Courses

Share your graphic design expertise by teaching online skillshare classes, ebooks/PDF guides and video courses. These let you earn income continually as new students purchase and take them.

Popular course platforms:

• Skillshare
• Udemy
• Teachable
• Podia

Courses range from free to $100+ based on platform. Set your pricing and earn 50-97% royalties per course sale.

Build teaching credibility by sharing video overviews introducing yourself as the instructor discussing backgrounds and capabilities around the subject matter.

Graphic Design Contests

Test design skills by entering contests with cash prizes or coverage/fame incentives. Regularly check popular platforms for new opportunities.

Leading contest platforms:

• 99Designs
• DesignCrowd
• Freelancer

Contests reward winners with the following:

• Cash prizes ($100-$10,000s)
• Publication Features
• Credibility and Exposure

Carefully review contest terms regarding rights transfers, licensing and usage.

Print-on-Demand (POD)

Upload original designs onto print-on-demand products like t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases and sell through online stores. As orders come in, items get printed and shipped directly to buyers.

Leading print-on-demand platforms:

• Redbubble
• Society6
• Zazzle
• Teespring

Typical earning percentages per product sale:

• T-shirts: $3-$5 profit
• Stickers/art prints: $0.50+
• Phone cases: $1-$3

Getting Started Tips For Graphic Designers

Build Fundamental Technical Skills

Master essential software like Adobe Creative Cloud apps rushing Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to craft graphics and layouts expertly. Learning 3D tools like Blender helps elevate skillsets.

Also pick up valuable coding abilities like HTML/CSS, JavaScript and WordPress to better design websites and grasp technical constraints.

Curate A Visual Portfolio

Assemble examples highlighting graphic design talents and versatility into an online portfolio site. This visibility sustains inbound client inquiries, which is perfect for passive marketing.

Follow best practices optimising imagery, project descriptions and site search engine visibility through SEO optimisation techniques. Exhaustively detailed case studies and features graphics prominently, keeping any unnecessary text succinct.

Network & Find Communities

Connect with fellow designers in online forums, groups and social media chatter to exchange tips/advice, plus get client referrals and collaborators. Share work looking for honest constructive feedback to improve.

Follow industry thought leaders blogging, vlogging and podcasting about the latest graphic design and online business trends. Look for unsaturated niche specialities like AR/VR design.

Conclusion & Key Takeaways

Freelancing graphic design skills using internet tools for global visibility and reaching incredible income potential in 2024 and beyond. Remember to:

• Build in-demand visual skillsets
• Curate online portfolios and profiles
• Offer clearly defined quality services
• Network continuously
• Stay on top of the latest online spaces and tools

Now armed with a 360-degree view of monetising graphic design online. Hopefully, many money-making ideas sparked inspiration! Please reach out with any other questions.

How to Make Money Online? (FAQs)