5 Great Part-Time Jobs for Graphic Designers

Freelance graphic artists can sometimes go through ups and downs with their finances. Work can pick up heavily during a certain time of the year and months later could drastically decrease. As freelancers, we must always look to the future and prepare ourselves for what may lie ahead. Until your business takes off to the point where you are working steadily year round, there are certain part-time jobs you could take on that often need the skills of a graphic designer. Here are five great part-time job opportunities for graphic designers. 1. Screen-printing shop Screen printers normally need a graphic designer to not only create the T-shirt designs but to also set them up for print. Photoshop is heavily involved in this process and when screen printers hire, a prospective employee that knows how to use Photoshop will look more desirable than other applicants that don’t. In turn, if you have clients that need screen-printing services, you’ll instantly have a connection with a printer. They may allow you to get an employee discount on the printing price so that you can add your own mark up and make a profit selling the service to your own clients. This way, the screen printer gets business, you make a little money and everybody wins. 2. Kinko’s Working directly with clients who need graphic design and printing services everyday can’t help but to fine-tune your knowledge of the entire process. You can actually get experience working with the machines that produce projects that you’ve probably outsourced to professional printers in the past. This will help you to have a better understanding on how to give options and suggest printing enhancements with your clients. You may even get the opportunity to create designs that Kinko’s can use in their template collection to sell to customers. 3. Local TV station Think of your local 6 p.m. news program. When an anchor is reporting, there are tons of graphics on the screen. The small bar at the bottom that shows the name of the person speaking, graphics for transitions between segments of the program, graphics to highlight the headline of the story and subsequent pictures that help the reporter to complete their segment are all created by someone right? Even if you’re hired into the station as something else (intern, administrative assistant, etc.) you can still offer your services and make management aware of your skill set. After seeing samples of your work, the opportunity may arise where you will be called on to complete a project. 4. Art supply store I love supplies! I will go down the aisle of any office supply store and completely lose track of time admiring all of the options available. Art supplies are no different, and there are so many to choose from! But more importantly, working at a store like this will give you exposure and an inside track on all of the new resources available to artists of all disciplines. Fine art might not be your skill set, but your knowledge of art in general puts you in a more experienced position than your everyday Joe. All of the things you can learn about color theory, preserving and showcasing your artwork after it has been produced, classes and trainings, etc. can all be used to enhance your own graphic design work. 5. Apartment leasing office I know it may sound strange, but hear me out … A leasing office needs graphic design services on a regular basis. Most of the time, there is always some type of promotion going on for discounts in rent, community activities, posting rules and regulations, and sending out correspondence to residents. Having a background in graphic design will definitely assist you with carrying out these duties, and I bet that after completing a couple of really nice projects, the owner of the apartment will ask you to do even more.