What Are Some Ways to Make Money as a Graphic Designer?

What Are Some Ways to Make Money as a Graphic Designer?

RedAlkemi
May 6, 2021

Some would say that becoming a graphic designer means joining an oversaturated market. However, the reality is quite different. This profession is in demand a lot, and there is still room for newcomers so long as they have great skills and creativity.

Some graphic designers work as freelancers, whereas others prefer to find a regular 9 to 5 job instead of looking for clients themselves.

Regardless of your preference, you will still need to pick a method to make money. Of course, there is no need to stick to just a single idea. Working on multiple gigs is also an option, and it should provide even more opportunities to make money.

If you have been looking for different ways to make money as a graphic designer then you have been doing until now, the suggestions below should come in quite handy.

Design custom merchandise

Custom merchandise is the first idea in this article. You can make your own shirt store and sell the merchandise. Of course, there is no need to limit the venture to just t-shirts. Once the business picks up, you could add other products, like face masks, stickers, sneakers, hoodies, or phone cases. 

If you are thinking about investing in your own manufacturing equipment, consider the risks and costs. Having control over manufacturing merchandise has its advantages, but the risks usually outweigh these advantages. 

Instead, you should consider the dropshipping business model. In 2019, the top 10% of eBay dropshippers made on average $7,731/month profit, which is an indication that dropshipping is a good approach.

It is also worth noting that you do not have to start an ecommerce store from scratch yourself if you want to make money designing custom merchandise. Joining an already established project and working as a graphic designer might be an even better idea since you would not have to manage the business itself but work on merchandise designs.

Edit photos

As a graphic designer, you should have experience with software like Photoshop. If so, why not look for freelance gigs to edit photos? Photographers are not that keen to edit photos themselves, and they hire a pair of helping hands instead.

The work itself can be quite monotonous. Most photo editing involves removing or adding various elements and effects to improve the overall picture quality. Even so, it is still an excellent opportunity to make money as a graphic designer.

Create educational content

Thanks to platforms like Skillshare and Udemy, you can create video tutorials and sell them to others. Since graphic design is so popular, there should be plenty of eager learners who would like to spend their money on a valuable course.

Of course, creating a series of educational videos and selling them is not easy. You will need to put a lot of effort into producing quality content to stand out from the competition.

Besides making money, the process of creating educational videos will also be a great opportunity to become a better graphic designer yourself as you delve deeper into intricate designing topics to produce the best possible content you can.

Stream on Twitch TV

Streaming on Twitch TV may not seem like an obvious idea to make money online as a graphic designer, but some artists have taken this route. They get a webcam and work while streaming the process live. 

If you interact with chat and grow your audience, monetizing a channel on Twitch TV should not be a problem. 

Many people look for new forms of entertainment, and a graphic designer who shares their work could be just the next thing they desire to see.

Money comes from viewers who donate, subscribe and send bits to cheer. At some point, you could also monetize the content by promoting various goods or services from sponsorship deals. 

Collaborate with self-published authors

Self-publishing has eliminated the need for writers to deal with traditional publishing agencies. Now, they can write an e-book and sell it directly on Amazon. And with how popular Kindles and other e-readers are, we can expect even more writers to take the self-publishing route in the future.

Of course, since the book market is so large, writers need to promote their books to sell them. And a good cover is one of the best ways to get potential readers to notice a book and buy it.

As a graphic designer, you can collaborate with self-publish authors and design book covers for them. Working together with a few writers is enough to make a decent income.

Design social media content

Brands that wish to establish their presence on social media need to work hard on their content quality. 
When you have graphic design skills, creating infographics and attractive images should not be that difficult. And if you can prove your worth, there will be plenty of brands wishing to collaborate with you and leave their SM content campaign in your hands.

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RedAlkemi publishes a collection of blogs submitted by guest bloggers in the space of digital marketing, graphic design and web development. If you think you can add value to our blog with your content, we'd love to have you on board! Email us at

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