Introduction
We kicked off the Dribbble Global Design Survey to better understand the design community and how and where it’s growing. We asked questions surrounding careers, salaries, skill building, remote work, and more—gleaning remarkable insights from designers worldwide.
A sincere thank you to all those who responded! We heard from more than 17,000 design professionals and below are some highlights. Keep an eye out for the 2020 survey.
Want to know how you stack up? Download the full report for a data
deep dive—from salary by specialty to critical design skills, hiring trends to career advancement.
The Important Stuff
What’s most important to designers within their career?
Designers, both in the U.S. and globally, are seeking out careers with competitive salaries and supportive,
flexible work structures.
Never Stop Learning
Which skills do designers want to learn?
Designers defined the most critical skills that they want to learn in the next 2-3 years to stay relevant
in their design fields.
Never Stop Learning
How do designers primarily learn design?
When it comes to learning design, global respondents mostly learn on their own, while U.S. respondents tend to learn in school.
Global
Designers
Learn on their own
U.S.
Designers
Learn in school
Remote Rules
Which types of designers are likely to have a remote role?
Illustrators and Brand/Logo Designers are most likely to be fully remote, while Product Designers and UX
Designers are least likely to have a fully remote role.
Remote Rules
What do you like and dislike about remote work?
While respondents enjoy the flexibility of remote roles, they also shared the handful of challenges that
come along with remote work.
Freelance Hustle
How often are designers freelancing?
The vast majority of designers have freelanced in the past year.
Brand/Logo Designers and
Illustrators are more likely than other specialties to freelance.
Freelanced in the past year
Global
Freelance Hustle
How were designers contacted about their last freelance opportunity?
Nearly half of all freelance designers were contacted in-person about their last freelance opportunity.
Freelance Opportunity Channels
Global
Hiring Trends
Which types of designers are companies looking to hire?
Graphic Designers, Product Designers, and UX Designers are the most common designers that companies are
looking to hire this year.
Type of Employment
Where are full-time designers working?
UI/Visual Designers are most likely of all specialties to work at agencies, while Illustrators
are least likely.
Product Designers are most likely to be employed in-house and Art
Directors are least likely.
Brand/Logo Designers are most likely to be self-employed,
while UX Designers are least likely.
Illustrators are most likely of all specialties
to be part-time and unemployed. UX Designers are least likely of all specialties to be unemployed.
Agency
UI/Visual Designers
Global
Self-Employed
Brand/Logo Designers
Global
In-House
Product Designers
Global
Education
Which designers have the most formal education?
While it’s common for all design specialties to have Bachelor’s Degrees, it’s most common for Product
Designers, Graphic Designers, and Motion Designers.
UX Designers are the most likely specialty to
hold a Master’s Degree.
Some College
All specialties
Global
Master’s Degree
UX Designers
Global
Bachelor’s Degree
All specialties
Global
Learning
How do designers learn their discipline?
The majority of specialties claimed to have learned design on their own.
Graphic Designers were
most likely to learn in school and UX Designers were more likely than the other specialties to have learned
on the job.
On their own
All specialties
Global
On the job
All specialties
Global
In school
All specialties
Global
Show Me the Money
Which design discipline consistently earns the most?
Product Designers and UX Designers consistently have the highest percentage of yearly salaries at/above
$75,000.
Graphic designers have the lowest average yearly salary of $53,000 while Product Designers
have the highest average salary of $103,000.
Product Designers
$75,000/yr
U.S.
Brand/Logo Designers
$75,000/yr
U.S.
Graphic Designers
$75,000/yr
U.S.
Demographics
Location
Approximately 85% of respondents live in Asia, Europe, and North America.
-
24%
North America
-
28%
Europe
-
32%
Asia
Demographics
Age
Just over 85% of global respondents are 35 years old and younger, compared to 74% in the U.S.
Demographics
Education
While U.S. respondents are more likely to have a Bachelor’s degree, global respondents are more than 1.5
times as likely to have an advanced degree.
Master’s Degree or higher
U.S.