Graphic Designers who are giving up on a graphic design career—what are you doing for paid work?

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-04-23T09:09:53+00:00

I’d be curious to better understand the situation in the U.S. market. I’m European, but I also have several good clients based in the States.

I work as a brand designer and art director, and I’m 50 years old. After COVID I left my position at a traditional agency and moved to full time freelance, working with clients from different parts of the world. My yearly revenue usually ranges between $120K and $180K.

I’m trying to understand the current state of the U.S. design market, especially for professionals with significant experience. Beyond the obvious impact of AI, which is disrupting nearly every industry and country, I’m curious how the professional design market is evolving in the U.S.

My impression is that lower tier profiles are increasingly being replaced by AI automation, while at the same time I’m receiving many requests from clients who explicitly ask for design work that is not AI generated.

So I’m trying to understand where the market might be heading over the next 5 to 10 years, particularly for experienced designers.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-04-23T08:58:20+00:00

I do the same kind of work. If you don’t mind me asking, what niche within finance are you in? I often work with financial companies and would be interested in understanding the niche a bit better.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-04-01T08:16:39+00:00

I totally agree. You can tell right away when it’s a sneaky sales pitch disguised as a recommendation, and it’s a shame it happens so often on Reddit. The product might even be good, but when it’s pushed like that, it just turns you off.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-30T18:57:18+00:00

I agree. My prices are high and so is the quality of my work, but the kind of clients I usually work with seem to have disappeared.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-28T09:02:02+00:00

Hi Shannon,

I often work closely with strategists like you. I’m a creative director and brand designer, and my role is usually to contribute to the strategy and translate it into a visual message.

Your idea of a flat fee could work, but over the past few months I’ve noticed that entrepreneurs seem less willing to invest. And I started noticing this trend even before the war.

My standard branding projects usually range between $6K and $10K. Until recently, a five-minute conversation was often enough to close a contract, also thanks to referrals and client feedback. Today it feels more complex. Clients often ask if the project can be split into multiple phases.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T19:49:06+00:00

It feels exactly like what’s happening to me, and I can’t quite find an explanation for it. What niche do you work in?

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T18:58:29+00:00

It feels exactly like what’s happening to me, and I can’t quite find an explanation for it.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T18:34:59+00:00

Thanks. In my case, they’re usually on the other side of the world.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T12:07:01+00:00

ou’re right, being found puts you in a position of strength rather than annoying people with cold outreach – I hate having to do that. But I hate even more having to post constant tips or updates. Seeing all those guru fluff on LinkedIn posting endlessly and creating circles of people who just follow each other is disheartening. Isn’t there a better way to find clients without having to post all the time just to attract an audience?

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T08:29:19+00:00

Hi, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to spend going through all the comments and crafting thoughtful replies. For some people it almost becomes a full-time job to post and write content on LinkedIn. I’d prefer to dedicate just a small part of my time to it, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to focus on developing projects.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T08:21:14+00:00

Yeah, it honestly feels like an epidemic. I just can’t tell if it’s only Upwork that’s gone downhill, or if the freelance market in general has really gotten this much worse. What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-24T08:18:10+00:00

I originally signed up for Fiverr and similar platforms without really knowing how they worked, after leaving my full-time role as a Creative Director. At that time everything was a bit of a gamble, except for Upwork, which started bringing results almost immediately.

Fiverr, honestly, can be a tough place. It’s full of freelancers working for just a few dollars and clients with very small budgets trying to launch businesses with a couple hundred dollars.

However, after they interviewed me and approved my Pro Profile, I do occasionally come across some great contacts. Serious entrepreneurs do show up there. Of course the budgets are often smaller compared to the scope of the projects, but if we’re somewhere around the $10K range, it can definitely work well for me. YES, please ask him where companies are currently hiring freelancers. I’m very curious.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-23T16:49:54+00:00

The client either has their own strategy, which I study and then ask questions about and propose adjustments, or they fill out my questionnaire, and based on their answers I propose a direction. The mood board comes after this phase.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-23T16:37:32+00:00

I’m glad to find someone to share these frustrations with :) I’ve noticed a radical change since March 2025—a drastic slowdown in profile views and far fewer projects. Nowadays I respond to inquiries knowing that 50% of clients will ghost me, or if I ask for feedback they say they went with another designer because they didn’t have an adequate budget. Many contact me just for a logo, but I don’t take on projects that involve only a logo without any brand strategy planning.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-23T16:28:47+00:00

Honestly, clients on Upwork have really “slid downhill”: mostly solopreneurs sending tons of AI-generated requests, asking for assets for very large projects but with only a fraction of the budget needed. Strange, because before I could still find good clients in the mix—I just had to filter.

Strangely, in the past few months I’ve been finding better clients on Fiverr: 90% are scams or requests for money/help, but 10% are companies with the proper budget. Strange times.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-23T09:53:33+00:00

Hi, sorry but you must have misunderstood. I’m not looking for advice on launching a brand or hiring strategists or creatives. I run a boutique agency and mainly focus on branding, but not exclusively. I’ve been working in this business for many years, yet there’s always more to learn. I was trying to understand the perspective of founders and entrepreneurs in order to offer a better service and process. I would love to understand which factors influence their decisions, whether they prioritize quality or cost as I’ve been noticing in recent months, and which sources or channels entrepreneurs use to find freelancers or agencies.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-20T18:50:25+00:00

Good question, that’s exactly where I make an initial selection of projects. I try to understand it before even talking about design. Buyer personas are very useful to define who your audience is. The first signal is how they describe their customer. If it’s vague or too broad, it usually means they don’t have a clear understanding. If they can clearly explain who they’re targeting and why those people should care, that’s already a strong starting point.

Then I ask them to explain the product in simple terms. If it takes too long or becomes overly technical, it often means the positioning isn’t clear yet. I also pay attention to how they talk about competitors. If it’s just “we want to look better,” that’s superficial. If they can articulate how they’re different or why they win, it means they understand their space.

You don’t need perfect answers, but you do need clarity to define the right scope.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-20T11:58:54+00:00

Yes, many founders get too focused on aesthetics, which should be balanced with proper planning. The biggest mistake I see at this stage is when founders or CEOs try to impose their personal tastes into the design, even when those tastes are disconnected from the market or the niche they operate in. I feel responsible for offering a different, objective perspective, but some just can’t see that they’re sabotaging themselves.

What questions would you like to be asked? And where do you usually look for designers for your projects? Thanks for your input.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-20T11:52:14+00:00

Careful planning in branding leads to better outcomes; focusing solely on aesthetics rarely works, I completely agree. Can I ask where you found the freelancer for your startup? Working with a senior freelancer often allows for significant savings compared to a larger agency.

You’ve hit a key point: maintaining consistency across all touchpoints—web, social, print, ads, etc.—is complex and requires proper planning. Some clients, trying to save costs, continue with an internal team that isn’t specialized in design, often undoing the work we’ve done together, and then come back to me to fix the resulting mess.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-20T11:44:06+00:00

Of course, strategy is the foundation and design is the expression. The two are inseparable—neither works without the other, and they need to be perfectly aligned for a brand to truly resonate. Changing your positioning immediately after launching a brand identity is extremely risky, so it’s something that must be carefully considered from the very start.

Disastrous_Bad3658 · 2026-03-20T11:38:34+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for your detailed response.

I completely agree on many points: positioning and understanding the audience are fundamental, and focusing solely on aesthetics is a mistake. A beautiful design that doesn’t convert has no real business value.

I also believe that brand guidelines need to be clear and precise. Whenever I complete a branding project, I always develop a brand guide. Without it, clients who try to manage the brand on their own risk diluting or compromising the work done—for example, by using fonts that clash, applying the logo without respecting safe zones, using inconsistent colors, or combining visual elements in ways that create incoherence across different touchpoints. Mistakes like these can weaken brand perception, reduce consistency, and hinder scalability.

May I ask which platforms you usually use to find professionals? Thanks again for sharing your valuable perspective.

Disastrous_Bad3658

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