We won’t lie to you: When it comes to graphic design, the market could be referred to as saturated. With the availability of professional design software reaching an all too ubiquitous level, everyone is opening a design studio and marketing their skills. Sadly, a lot of those individuals are actually pretty good at designing. So how is a start-up lad to stand-out from all those cheeky web makers? The answer: By having a vast array of complimentary skills.

Using what we’ve seen in our own design work, we’ve compiled a short but comprehensive list of some special skills you can cultivate to make yourself more desirable as a designer, as well as an artistic individual. This will ensure you win more and more work while solidifying your job security—and that’s a bonus if we’ve ever heard one!

  1. Web Design: This is somewhat of a no-brainer, but if you’re a competent web designer, as well as a fantastic graphic designer, then you’ll be finding a lot more work than someone who isn’t. Why is this? Well, because clients like to keep all their creative elements in one basket. If there’s a studio willing to design the visual elements of their new site and implement the code of said site to boot, why on earth would the invest in a company that will only give them graphics, and no finished product? They just wouldn’t!
  2. Illustration: On a similar note, being a pretty fantastic illustrator will save you a lot of headaches, too. For example, being bloody brilliant at drawing will spare you the need to license out those gig poster designs on contract. It will increase your profits and all while potentially endearing yourself more to your existing clients. With that in mind, the only way to gain competency in this category is to grab a pen and get to practicing! We’ve all had to woodshed our artistic skills, and we have a feeling you aren’t (or won’t) be any different.
  3. Online Marketing: Like web design, knowing how to market your client’s designs is an invaluable skill. If you can offer the ability to spread and advertise your productions in addition to actually producing them, you’ve instantly increased your value in the client’s eyes.