Roles and Responsibilities of Graphic Designer :

• Create design concepts, including working with marketing and advertising staff to develop concepts
• Develop and produce finished art from rough sketches or design ideas by producing layout, illustrations, or other final elements
• Present work to clients for approval
• Prepare cost estimates
• Layout or paste up materials or copy for publication or production
• Operate or maintain equipment, such as typesetting machines, color scanners, and computers that are used in creating designs and layouts
• Design and execute special projects using techniques such as laser engraving and computer programming
• Consult with designers to simulate the appearance of advertisements and layouts
• Prepare marketing and promotional materials, such as product flyers and catalogs
• Create designs, layouts, or illustrations for use in advertisements or other media
• Work to improve existing techniques for creating graphic designs or layouts, such as new uses of type styles, graphics, color, and layout techniques
• Prepare proposals for advertising campaigns with breakdowns showing costs for various media and promotions.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Skills :

• Graphic design skills are necessary, because they are required to make the designs
• A portfolio of work is needed to show potential clients that you have the experience and skills required for their needs; it also helps them understand why you want to work for them in particular, as well as how you will fulfill their needs (designs must be clear, down-to-earth, creative, and not too flashy)
• Good communication skills are necessary
• Creativity is a major requirement, because they will be working on new ideas, concepts, and layouts for clients
• Working with clients is also important to maintaining good communication, and to ensure quality work is done; because it may not be possible for the client to get involved in the creative process directly, their designer must be able to interpret their needs clearly and creatively in the design process
• Problem-solving skills are needed, to allow freelance graphic designers to brainstorm how best to present their ideas and designs to the client while considering cost, technical capabilities, production limitations (such as size), and preferred mediums of presentation or display (such as Internet)
• The ability to work independently is needed because freelance graphic designers work on their own; they cannot ask the client to help them out with everything, because it will delay the process or cause conflict
• Computer skills are required because most of the work of a freelance graphic designer requires knowing how to operate computers, whether it’s for design (such as vector/raster graphics editors), planning (such as spreadsheets or project management tools), or other purposes (such as Internet).