160+ Graphic Design Statistics (2019–2030)

This article is all about data and stats. There are no excessive words.

Graphic Design Statistics (Editor’s Choice)

• The worldwide graphic design industry is worth $43.4 billion. (Ibis World)
• The US graphic design market is worth $13.3 billion. (Ibis World)
• There are 23,900 new job openings for designers every year. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Up to 24% of graphic designers stay in a job for less than a year. (Zippia)
• 68% of graphic designers have a Bachelor’s degree. (Zippia)
• Freelance graphic designers earn $20–$150 per hour. (Finances Online)
• 94% of people will leave a website with a bad design. (Finances Online)
• The global graphic design industry is ranked #9 among all business activities.
• There are more than 400,258 businesses working in graphic design as of 2020. (Zippia)
• 68% of digital marketers use visual assets in content creation. (Finances Online)
• People can remember 65% of visual information 3 days later and only 10% of written content. (Zippia)
• 80% of digital marketers use graphic design in social media marketing. (Ibis World)
• 36% of digital marketers say they use online tools to create content. (Ibis World) 

General graphic design facts & stats

1. 93% of communication is visual.
2. Consistent graphic design can increase a brand’s sales by a third.
3. 75% of clients judge a business’s credibility based on its web design.
4. 85% of small businesses ruin their websites by overcrowding.
5. 80% of small businesses consider graphic design to be very important.
6. 50% of content creators make visual content for less than 5 hours per week.
7. 56.6% of companies had to change their visual content strategy due to the pandemic.
8. COVID-19 may have shrunk the U.S. graphic design industry by 15% in 2020.
9. The average hourly rate for graphic design in the U.S. is $25.66. (Finances Online, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
10. The graphic design employment rate will grow by 3% over the next decade. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
11. Graphic designer turnover is 24% within a year. (Zippia)
12. Up to 17% of designers work for Fortune 500 companies. (Zippia)
13. Canva generates over 3,000 designs per minute.
14. Adobe Illustrator has a zoom capability of 64,000%.
15. 94% of first impressions are design-related. (Research Gate)
16. Approximately 67% of small businesses would spend up to $500 on a logo. (Red Website Design)
17. User Experience directors earn the highest income in the graphic design field. (Noodle.com)
18. Freelance graphic designers make up around 90% of the industry. (IBISWorld)
19. Approximately 68% of graphic designers have a bachelor’s degree. (IBISWorld)
20. Most freelance graphic designers work for private companies.
21. The top 5 industries that hire graphic designers are Fortune 500, media, retail, professional, and technology.
22. 40% of people respond better to visual information than text-only.
23. 73% of companies are trying to beat their competitors using design.
24. 63% of graphic designers are female, and 37% are male.
25. Advertising and marketing cannot survive without graphic design.
26. About 90% of bloggers or businesses with a blog section use images in content marketing.
27. The average age of a graphic designer in the U.S. is 40. (color psychologists)

Graphic design industry growth statistics

28. The global market for design services is expected to grow from $153 billion in 2018 to $249.5 billion by 2022.
29. The global graphic design industry is valued at $43.4 billion and is expected to grow by 3.7% in 2022.
30. There were over 4.6 billion internet users in 2021.
31. User Experience Directors are the highest earners in the graphic design industry.
32. The market size of web design services in the U.S. has declined faster than the overall economy and technology industry. COVID-19 may have reduced the U.S. graphic design industry by 15%.
33. The global market size for graphic designers was $45.8 billion in 2021, with a growth of 2.2%. (IBISWorld, 2020)
34. The U.S. market size for graphic designers was $12.7 billion in 2021, with a growth of 4.1%. (IBISWorld, 2020)
35. The U.S. graphic designers market grew at an annualized rate of -1.6% between 2016 and 2021 and 3.5 between 2014 and 2019. (IBISWorld, 2020)

Business statistics

36. According to graphic design market analysis, there were 16,823 businesses in the US graphic and design industry by June 2019. (IBISWorld, 2020)
37. The specialized design service had the highest employment level in the graphic design industry at 19.12%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019)
38. 400,258 businesses were working in the graphic design field in 2020. (IBISWorld, 2020)
39. 50% of internet users cited website design as influencing their brand opinions. (PRNewswire)
40. 46% of people decide the credibility of a business based on its website design. (PRNewswire)
41. Full-color ads had 40% more viewership than plain ads. (PRNewswire)
42. 75% of clients rate a business’s credibility based on its web design. (99firms)
43. Revenue growth for the Web Design Services industry declined by 1.9% in 2020 due to falling demand among businesses. (99firms)
44. 94% of first impressions of a business are design-related. (99firms)
45. It takes 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about a website and business. (99firms)
46. 80.8% of web redesign projects are a result of poor conversion rates. (99firms)
47. 64.0% of small businesses maintain a website, while 94.0% of those without one say they will have one by the end of 2019. (99firms)
48. 84.6% of web designers believe crowded web design is the most common mistake made by small businesses. (Eksposure)
49. 23% of small retail businesses don’t have a website. (Eksposure)
50. 32% of small businesses already have a mobile app, and 42% plan to build one in the future. (Eksposure)
51. 80% of small businesses acknowledge the importance of graphic design. (Eksposure)
52. 67% of small businesses think the importance of graphic design to business success will grow exponentially in the next five years.
53. The total revenue generated by the US graphic design industry in 2019 was $15 billion.
54. 80% of small business owners think graphic design is very important or moderately important to the success of their business.

Career statistics

55. Freelance graphic designers account for approximately 90% of the total industry participation. (IBISWorld, 2020)
56. In 2021, women graphic designers were the top earners, with 95% earning more than men.
57. The graphic design industry growth rate during the 2019 and 2029 will decline by 4%. This means the industry will lose around 10,700 jobs during the said period. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019)
58. On the other hand, the employment of graphic designers in the computer systems design field and related areas will increase by 20% from 2016 to 2026. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019)
59. In the US alone, the total percentage change in employment is projected to be 7%, with a 4% change in graphic design employment over the same period. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019)
60. The average age for workers in the graphic design field is 40.5. (Eksposure, 2020)
61. The median age for female designers is 39.8 and 41.3 for males. (Eksposure, 2020)
62. In 2020, the total number of web developers and designers in the US was around 178,900. By 2030, this number is projected to reach over 205,000.
63. Employment of web developers and digital designers is projected to grow 8% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.
64. About 17,900 openings for web developers and digital designers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
65. Graphic designer turnover is 24% in under a year.
66. The percentage of designers on the job for over 11 years is higher and stands at 12%.
67. About 48% of graphic designers are women.

Salary statistics

68. The average annual salary for graphic designers in the US in 2014 was $54,680.
69. The average salary for a visual designer spans around $53,380 per year.
70. The top 10% pay for a web design developer in 2020 was $77,200 per year or $37.12 per hour.
71. Today’s average base pay for freelance graphic designers is $58,614 per year. Overall, web/graphic designers earn an average of $59,000 annually. (Glassdoor, 2021)
72. The average hourly wage for graphic designers is $26. (ZipRecruiter, 2021)
73. Freelance graphic designers earn $20 to $150 per hour. (Eksposure, 2020)
74. Graphic design rates in the US average at around $24.38 per hour.
75. Entry-level graphic designers can expect to make $46,900 annually.
76. The average annual salary for an in-house illustrator is $65,020, which translates to an hourly wage of $31.26 per hour.
77. The best-paying graphic design positions are art director, creative director, senior designer, user experience director, and UI and UX designer.
78. Despite the near-equal divide between men and women in the industry, there is still a wage gap, with women making $46,733 a year on average, compared to $49,181 for their male counterparts.
79. The annual compensation for this career has gone up since 2004. Salaries have increased by an average of 38.25% nationwide in that time.

Web design statistics

80. 94% of consumers will leave a website with poor graphic design. (Red Website Design, 2018)
81. The normal attention span for web users is 6.8 seconds, but using visual assets can improve the attention span by approximately 50 milliseconds. (Red Website Design, 2018)
82. It takes 50 microseconds for a website visitor to register a visual appeal. (Red Website Design, 2018)
83. More than 46% of website visitors relate the website design to the credibility of the brand/company.
84. 80% of small business owners think graphic design is very important or moderately important to the success of their business. (Visually)
85. About 50% of internet users say that website design greatly impacts their opinion about a brand.
86. Consumers prefer to see the colors blue and green in web design.
87. The elements consumers appreciate most in website design are photos, images, color, and videos.
88. People spend an average of 5.94 seconds looking at a website’s main image.
89. High-quality images get more attention.
90. Users spend 80% of their time on the left side of the page looking at information.
91. 75% of people form their opinion of a website based on its aesthetics.
92. 48% of people cited that a website’s design is the number one factor in determining credibility.

Logo statistics

93. It takes a website visitor 10 seconds to form an impression of a brand logo, but it can take up to seven impressions for the visitor to recognize the logo.
94. Approximately 18% of small businesses are willing to spend up to $1,000 on a logo design, while 67% are willing to spend up to $500. (Red Website Design, 2018)
95. A graphic design student created Nike’s logo for $35.
96. Rebranding your logo can have a significant impact on your business.
97. Logo and branding design make up $3 billion of the total graphic design market.
98. 29% of consumers say creativity is the most important aspect of a brand.
99. Color improves brand recognition by up to 80%.
100. About 33% of the world’s top 100 brands include blue in their logos.
101. 60% of consumers admit that they will avoid a brand with good reviews if the brand logo is unattractive, unappealing, or odd.
102. People spend about 6.4 seconds focusing on a brand’s logo when they visit a website.
103. 73% of leading brands use sans serif fonts.

Use of visual graphics in marketing

104. 68% of digital marketers plan to increase the use of visual assets in future content activities. (Social Media Examiner, 2019)
105. 51% of B2B digital marketers value visual assets in content marketing. (Social Media Examiner, 2019)
106. 62% of marketers use visuals for landing pages or blog content. (Venngage, 2020)
107. The most frequently used visual asset is stock photography (40%), followed by original graphics (34%), charts & data visualization (12%), video & presentations (14), and Gifs & Memes (4%). (Venngage, 2020)
108. 86% of marketers use visuals in at least 81% of their blog posts. (Venngage, 2020)
109. 88% of marketers use visuals in 50% of web articles. (Graphicszoo, 2020)
110. Color influences 85% of shoppers’ purchase decisions.
111. 32% of marketers consider visual content important for their businesses.
112. 65% of brands use infographics for marketing purposes.
113. Infographics get more likes and shares on social media.
114. 67% of online shoppers rated high-quality images as “very important” to their purchase decision.

Benefits of visual graphics in digital marketing

115. 32% of digital marketers claim visual images are the most important type of content, followed by blogging (27%), videos (24%), live video (9%), and podcasting (1%). (Social Media Examiner, 2019)
116. When a visual graphic accompanies a message, people can remember 65% of the information three days later, compared to 10% when the message is conveyed without a visual. (Brain Rules)
117. 60.8% of digital marketers say that visual assets are essential to successful marketing. (Red Website Design, 2018)
118. There is a 2.5% increase in sales for every 2000 business cards passed to consumers. (Graphicszoo, 2020)
119. Original graphics (40%) perform best and deliver the most engagement, followed by videos and presentations (24%), stock photos (13%), and charts and data visualization (9%). (Venngage, 2020)
120. 49% of digital marketers say visuals are very important to their marketing strategies. (Venngage, 2020)
121. 65% of digital marketing executives claim visual assets are crucial to brand story communication. (CMO Council, 2015)
122. Visual presentations are more persuasive than non-visual presentations. (Carlson School of Management)

Visual graphics and social marketing

123. 80% of digital marketers use visual assets in social media marketing. (Social Media Examiner, 2019)
124. Visual assets in social media posts deliver a 650% higher engagement rate than plain text posts. (Red Website Design, 2018)
125. Tweets with visual assets generate 150% more retweets, whereas Facebook posts with images deliver 230% more engagement. (Red Website Design, 2018)
126. Blog articles with more visual assets generate 2x more social media shares than articles without images. (Red Website Design, 2018)
127. Infographics and videos are popular visual graphics. (Piktochart)
128. Our brains process visual information 60,0000 times faster than words.
129. A study found that Twitter and Facebook posts with at least one image will be shared by twice as many people compared to posts without visuals.
130. Text combined with relevant images can increase how much an audience will remember it by 650%.
131. It is estimated that there will be 4.41 billion social media users by 2025.
132. Up to 68% of marketers predict they will utilize more visual material.

Color statistics

133. 92.6% of consumers say that color is the key factor in their purchase decision. (Kissmetrics)
134. 80% of website visitors perceive brand enhancement based on colors. (Neil Patel)
135. Color ads attract 40% more attention than black-and-white ads.
136. Color improves readability by 40%, comprehension by 73%, and learning by up to 78%. (Color Com)
137. Color is a key factor in brand recognition and can increase brand recognition by 80% through a signature color. (Crowdspring, 2017)
138. Changing the color of a CTA button can improve conversion rates, such as Performable’s 21% increase by changing from green to red and Ript Apparel’s 6.3% increase by changing from green to yellow.
139. 90% of initial gut reactions to products are based on color alone.
140. Colored logos have an 80% chance of increasing brand awareness.
141. 57% of consumers link blue to business success, 43% associate it with reliability, 34% with trust, and 28% with security. (Visually)
142. 33% of the top 100 brands include blue in their logo. (Crowdspring, 2017)
143. 85% of people are attracted to brands that use visual graphics. (Graphicszoo, 2020)
144. 76% of consumers associate red with speed. (Joe Hallock)
145. 28% of consumers associate orange with fun, while 26% associate it with cheap. (Joe Hallock)
146. Colored images catch viewers’ attention for 2 seconds more than black-and-white images.
147. When Performable changed the color of its CTA button from green to red, there was a 21% increase in conversion. (Hubspot)
148. 57% of small business owners associate blue with success, followed by green (35%), white (32%), and black (29%). (Visually)

Design in Content Marketing

149. Companies in 2021 used original graphics in content most often. (Venngage)
150. Most marketers add visuals to their content marketing. (Orbit Media)
151. 52% of marketers rate visual content as very important. (Venngage)
152. Infographics and videos are some of the most popular forms of visual content. (Hubspot)
153. 84% of customers agree that promotional videos have convinced them to buy something. (Wyzowl)
154. Infographics have had the largest increase in usage among B2B content marketers. (Content Marketing Institute)
155. More than half of all Facebook posts are visual. (Hootsuite)
156. 92.6% say the visual dimension is the number one influencing factor affecting purchasing decisions. (Neil Patel)
157. Color improves readership by 40%. (Colorcom)
158. Around 51% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers prefer using visual assets in content marketing. (Piktochart)
159. 50% of companies increased their graphic design budget from 2021. (Piktochart)
160. 19% of businesses don’t use graphic design, but 67% of those companies would if there were a quicker, less expensive way to create graphic design materials. (Piktochart)
161. Almost 40% of companies struggle to consistently create aesthetically engaging content. (Piktochart).
162. 37% of companies would like to automate the process of creating consistently visually appealing content. (Piktochart)

Editor’s note: Did we use your stat but haven’t credited you properly? Did we mention a stat twice? Let us know.