With its many majestic mountain ranges and a population just under one million, the state of Montana is a popular home for professional artists, who often find well paying positions in the field of graphic design. Businesses all over Montana hire graphic designers to perform numerous visual commercial tasks.
Montana Schools and Training Programs for Graphic Design
Quite a few Montana colleges offer degree programs in graphic design. These include Montana State University, which has campuses in Bozeman, Great Falls and Havre. Similar local degree options include University of Montana in Missoula, Carroll College in Helena and Montana Tech in Butte.
Some aspiring designers earn professional degrees online. Among the best-known colleges featuring online degree programs in graphic design are The Art Institutes, DeVry, ITT Tech, University of Phoenix.
Graphic designers at Montana colleges typically major in visual communications. Subjects may include website design, digital art, photography, animation, technical drawing, typography, printmaking, marketing and related topics.
Working as a Graphic Designer in Montana
In terms of local employment opportunities, Montana graphic designers are in relatively high demand. Designers are hired to create logos, render product descriptions, make promotional artwork and develop educational materials, as well as to design book covers, web pages, product packaging, street signs, building interiors, textiles, assembly instructions and more.
Some graphic designers work for top Montana ad agencies. Examples include G&G Advertising, Montana Commercial Real Estate or Rim Advertising in Billings, Mini Nickel or Adsmith Communications in Butte and Crevin Advertising, Partners Creative or Spiker Communications in Missoula. Other local graphic artists design film credits, movie posters and promotional artwork for top Montana motion picture producers like Black Frog Bayou or THL Digital in Billings, Jokers Wild or Maney Telefilm in Butte and High Plains Films or Irish Luck Productions in Missoula.
Montana graphic designers are also employed by photographers, landscaping professionals, patent offices, software developers, colleges, book publishers, retailers, equipment manufacturers, industrial contractors, architects, real estate agents and internet start-ups. Businesses in the United States currently support more than 250,000 graphic designers. Their salaries depend on education and related experience, among other things. About half of all graphic designers employed in United States earn between $30,000 and $60,000 per year.
Applicable Skills of a Graphic Designer
Professional graphic designers communicate commercial messages by defining the size, color, location, orientation and motion of elements within a limited space. In short, they send messages with images instead of words. Most professional graphic design work involves page layout – the manipulation of visual forms on a page to achieve a desired result.
Graphic designers affect human behavior by juxtaposing visual elements, employing certain color combinations, shifting light sources, changing backgrounds and altering the physical features of words. The result will often subliminally convince consumers to buy things.