The gig economy is certainly growing. However, people have their doubts about its growth. With The United States inclining the most towards the growth of freelancers, the world is becoming more acceptable and adaptable to the ever-changing working style that is freelancing.
- Freelancers in the US: 59 million (Statista)
- Freelancers contribution to national economy: above $715 billion
- Growth in American freelance jobs since 2013: 13% V/S Growth in non-freelance jobs: 2% (IBIS World)
Different Ways to Freelance (Freelancing in America report)
The Freelancing in America report tells that most of the freelancers work independently on contract basis.
| Type | Percentage | Numbers |
| Independent Contractors(Project-by-project basis; no employer) | 40% | 21.1 million |
| Moonlighters(primary job and freelancing on the side) | 27% | 14.3 million |
| Diversified Freelancers(part-time job and freelance) | 18% | 9.3 million |
| Temporary Freelancers(working with an employer, client, project on a temporary basis) | 10% | 5.5 million |
| Freelance Business Owners | 5% | 2.8 million |
Ideal Work Environment for Freelancers (And Co)
The battle of work-from-office and work-from-home has been going on for a long time. With 25% freelancers working from both the working environments, we see the freelancers’ preferred work environment.
Nonetheless, Stanford proves that working from home improves performance by 13%.
| Environment | Percentage of Freelancers |
| Home | 25% |
| Office | 25% |
| On The Road | 23% |
| Co-working Spaces | 20% |
| Client’s Office | 4% |
| Coffee Shops | 2% |
| Other | 1% |
Working from home improve performance by 13% (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
Freelancing as Graphic Designers at Glance
Amongst the whole wide world of freelancing, graphic designers are the largest part of it and comprise 90% of the freelancing industry.
- Graphic design industry rank among business activities: 9 (IBIS World)
- Freelance graphic designers: 90% of the industry. (IBIS World)
- The graphic design industry is worth: $43.4 billion V/S the US graphic design industry is worth: $13.3 billion (IBIS World)
- Freelance graphic designers hourly rate: $15 to $150 (Eksposure)
- Freelance graphic designers in the US: 129,359 (Zippia) – Men: 45.2% V/S women: 49.0%
Challenges in Graphic Designing
As the demand of graphic designing has increased, more challenges are faced by the digital marketers.
- Consistency: 43%
- Designs: 22%
- Sourcing data for graphics: 22%
- Getting a wide reach: 12%
Graphic Designing: Preferences of Digital Marketers
Besides graphic designers, digital marketing professionals also put their efforts into getting the designs right.
36% of the digital marketing professionals use online tools and software and have tried designing graphics on their own.
| Digital Marketers | Ways of Getting Designs |
| 36% | Online tools and design software |
| 29% | In-house designers |
| 19% | On-premise software (Adobe Suite, etc) |
| 15% | Freelance designers |
Graphic Designing: Efforts and Time (Venngage 2020)
In order to get the best out of visual content, 11% of digital marketing professionals spend more than 15 hours a week on graphic designing.
| Digital Marketers | Hours Spent (weekly) |
| 28% | Less than 2 hours |
| 22% | 2-5 hours |
| 22% | 5-10 hours |
| 9% | 10-15 hours |
| 11% | More than 15 hours |
Graphic Designing: Skills and Earnings (Monster/Payscale)
The education dynamics has changed with the rise of freelancing. Upgrading skills is certainly crucial. These skills play a major role in determining your average income.
| Skills | Average Annual Earnings |
| Desktop Publishing | $39, 904 |
| Adobe Flash | $40,382 |
| Illustration | $40,788 |
| Adobe After Effects | $41,278 |
| Macintosh | $56,255 |
Graphic Designing: Degrees Pursued and Wage Gap (Zippia)
- Education choices: 1) Visual and Performing Arts, 2) Communications, and 3) Business (Data USA)
- Specialized Majors: 1) Visual and Performing Arts, 2) Communications, and 3) Business (Data USA)
| Bachelors | 73% | $54,145 |
| Associate | 18% | $50,468 |
| Masters | 5% | $58,196 |
Graphic Designing: Gender Composition
The impact of the difference in gender roles is seen in the graphic designing industry. Although, the gap is certainly closing.
Year 2021: Women earned 95% of what men earned (Zippia)
| Male | Female | |
| Freelancers (Zippia) | 45.2% | 49/0% |
| Average Salary (Data USA) | $55,585 | $46,317 |
| Median Age (Data USA) | 41.3 | 39.8 |
Graphic Designing: Industry Ranking
The graphic design space is booming every year. Though its growth has been slow, it is growing steadily and widespread. Here is the breakdown of how each industry engages with graphic design.
- Graphic designer earnings in 2019: $50,688; average national salary: $55,524; $4836 less (Data USA)
Graphic Designing: Industry Ranking as per Involvement (BLS)
| Industry | Percent of Employment | Hourly Wages |
| Specialized Design Services | 17.97% | $28.69 |
| Advertising and Public Relations | 4.50% | $29 |
| Printing and Related Support Activities | 4.44% | $22.01 |
| Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers | 4.32% | $24.04 |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 3.15% | $22.48 |
Graphic Designing: Industry Ranking as per Hourly Wages (BLS)
| Industry | Percent of Involvement | Hourly Wages |
| Federal Executive Branch | 0.07% | $42.35 |
| Software Publishers | 0.63% | $39.23 |
| Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | 0.06% | $38.46 |
| Legal Services | 0.03% | $37.40 |
| Cable and Other Subscription Programming | 0.79% | $37.06 |
Key Takeaway
As the top 9th rank amongst all the industries, graphic designing has come a long way. With freelancing by its side, freelance graphic designing is paving the way for better visual communication and comfortably efficient gig opportunities.
Head of Design at DesignBro and is responsible for UI/UX Design, managing the global designer community, and ensuring quality levels of both designers and designs remain high.
