UX Design vs. Graphic Design: Choosing the Right Career Path

User experience design (UX design) and graphic design—these two design-centric job titles may sound similar. Still, they perform distinct tasks using different skill sets within the product development process. While graphic designers focus on visual elements, UX designers focus on the complete interaction between a user and a product.

Explore the difference between UX designers and graphic designers, clarify some other design roles, and discover how you can transition from graphic design to UX.

A quick guide to design roles

Browse some job boards, and you’ll likely see several roles that include the word “designer.” To confuse matters further, some hiring managers use some of these terms interchangeably. However, each typically has a specific role to play in the product development process. Take a quick look at four common design roles:

• Graphic designer: Graphic designers use color, shapes, images, and fonts to create visual content for print and digital media. These designs often serve as static, non-interactive layouts—logos, product packaging, advertisements, signage, brochures, or displays—used to communicate with customers.

• Visual designer: Visual designers typically focus on designing a product or brand identity that spans multiple platforms and customer touchpoints.

• UI designer: Where graphic designers create static visual content, user interface (UI) designers create interactive visual content. This includes the graphical elements of apps, websites, and electronic devices that users interact with.

• UX designer: UX designers focus on the interaction between a user and a product, including how that experience made them feel. This type of design goes beyond the visual to include information architecture and product prototyping.

Read more: What Does a UX Designer Do?

What is the difference between graphic design and UX design?

One of the biggest differences between graphic design and UX design is the scope. Graphic designers focus on visual elements. UX designers take a broader perspective by focusing on the interaction between a user and a product. Typically, graphic design is just one part of the bigger user experience.

Discover a few additional differences between UX designers and graphic designers: 

Type and focus of design

Graphic designers design visual elements, while UX designers design interactions. The former might involve a specialized set of design-related skills, like color theory, typography, and computer-aided design, while the latter involves a multidisciplinary set of skills that includes design, user research, information architecture, wireframing, and prototyping.

Graphic designers use visual elements to communicate a brand message, so they often focus on staying true to their brand identity. UX designers advocate for the user, making sure a product meets user needs in a way that is accessible, intuitive, and enjoyable. 

Graphic design vs. UX design: Tasks and responsibilities

With such different focuses, UX and graphic designers often focus on different elements of the product development process.

Day-to-day tasks for a graphic designer might include:

• Collaborating with clients and art directors

• Creating logos, images, and illustrations

• Choosing colors, images, and fonts for layouts

• Using digital illustration tools and photo editing software

Day-to-day tasks for a UX designer might include:

• Identifying user needs, goals, behaviors, and pain points through user research.

• Creating user personas and user journey maps

• Designing site maps, wireframes, and prototypes

• Validating designs through user testing and iterating with new features or fixes

• Collaborating with product designers, developers, UI designers, and stakeholders

Tools and software

The tools and software UX and graphic designers use to complete their tasks also differ.

Graphic designers might use pen and paper, a tablet and stylus, or a computer at different stages of the design process. While particular software choices differ from designer to designer and company to company, many will use illustration apps, photo editing software, graphic vector editors, and layout editing software.

A UX designer might use a variety of tools for different tasks. Some tools are specifically for low and high-fidelity prototyping, flow-charting, building questionnaires and surveys, wireframing, and usability testing. 

Learn more: UI vs. UX Design: What’s the Difference?

Graphic and UX designer salary

How much you earn as a graphic or UX designer depends on several factors, including location, education, experience, and industry. However, UX designers generally earn a higher salary than graphic designers. Discover how three different sources report average or median salaries in the US.

Graphic design vs. UX design: Educational requirements

UX designers and graphic designers might also have different educational backgrounds. Graphic design jobs often require a bachelor’s degree in graphic design or a related field. 

Since UX is a relatively new field, you won’t find as many established degree programs in UX specifically. Instead, UX designers might get their degrees in computer science, human-computer interaction, psychology, or design. 

As the field of UX continues to grow and evolve, some universities are taking notice and offering new programs in user experience. These might take various titles, like:

• Interaction design

• Digital technologies

• Communication design

• Product design

• Multimedia design

Interested in earning your bachelor’s degree in UX? The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of London lets you specialize in user experience.

UX design and graphic design: Which is right for me?

If you have a passion for creativity and technology, a career in design could be a good fit. The type of design you choose will depend on your unique skills and interests. 

If you’re visually oriented and could spend hours manipulating color palettes and fonts to make a graphic look just right, graphic design work might be for you. If you’re interested in human psychology and love investigating a problem through research and data, consider moving to UX.

Learn more: Your Guide to Graphic Design Degrees

From graphic designer to UX designer: Making the transition

If you have some experience in graphic design, you may find some compelling reasons to consider shifting to UX. Demand for graphic designers is projected to grow by 2 percent over the next decade, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [1]. The BLS predicts the demand for UX designers to grow by 8 percent—much faster than average [2].

So, how do you make the transition? Luckily, many visual design skills you’ve developed in graphic design will transfer into UX. Good aesthetics typically have an impact on UX. 

That indicates that you may focus on building out your skills in some other areas of UX design, including:

• User research: A big part of the UX designer’s job is understanding what users need and how a product can best meet those needs. This requires user research.

• Information architecture: In UX, function often trumps form. It’s great if something looks good, but that means little if it doesn’t work. Learning best practices for information architecture can empower you to structure content on websites and apps that is intuitive to the user and makes every click count.

• Testing and iteration: In graphic design, once something looks right, your job is likely done. UX involves a more iterative process, where you design something, build it, test it with real users, and then return to the design process to revise. 

Get started in graphic design or UX design.

Based on your specific design goals, you may determine if graphic design or UX design is the right career path for you. Consider building your skills in either concentration to begin your job search.

If you're ready to shift to a career in UX, enroll for free in the Google UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera. This program can help you build job-ready skills in less than six months, with no experience or degree required. You’ll walk through the design process with UX professionals from Google and complete three end-to-end projects for your portfolio—a website, a mobile app, and a cross-platform experience. 

If you’re an aspiring graphic designer, consider getting certified with the Fundamentals of Graphic Design course offered by CalArts on Coursera. This course is designed to help you learn how to create your own images and implement color, rhythm, and pattern.