A number of occupations are frequently classified under the broad term of graphic designer. Graphic design career paths cover all ends of the creative spectrum. Many of these job descriptions overlap heavily.

Graphic Art Managers

The following are positions or responsibilities and typically titles, held by experienced graphic designers in related management roles:

Creative Director

Creative directors are in charge of a creative team that produces artwork to be displayed in advertising campaigns, or on products. A creative team can consist of artists (e.g. art directors graphic designers, illustrators, photographers, copywriters, production artists) and a production staff. Creative directors initiate or inspire creative ideas and make sure that the art works include those ideas to the client's satisfaction. Creative directors typically are promoted from an art director or copywriter position. A creative directors job may also involve responsibilities typically associated with a client representative or a project manager.

Art Director

Art directors make sure that illustrators and production artists produce and complete their work on time and to the creative director or client's satisfaction. Art directors also play a major role in the development of a project by making decisions on the visual elements of the project, and by giving the final say on the selection of models, art, props, colors, and other elements. Art directors need advanced training in graphic design as they often do artwork and designing themselves. However, an art director's time may be consumed doing supervisory and administrative work.

Art Production Manager

Art production managers or traffic managers oversee the production aspect of art to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness. Art production managers supervise artists or advise the supervisors of artists. Creative directors and art directors often assume the role of art production managers, particularly when production cost is not a critical concern.

Hands-on Graphic Designers

The following are positions or responsibilities, not necessarily titles, held by art directors and graphic designers:

Brand identity developer

Brand identity design is concerned with the visual aspects of a company or organization's brand or identity. A brand identity design is the visual element that represents how a company wants to be seen; it is the company's visual identity, and is how a company illustrates its ‘image.' A company's brand identity can be represented in terms of design through a unique logo, or signage, and is then often integrated throughout all the elements of a company's materials such as business cards, stationery, packaging, media advertising, promotions, and more. Brand identity may include logo design. Brand identity development is typically a collaborative effort between creative directors, art directors, copywriters, account managers and the client.

Logo Designer

The job of a logo designer is to give a new and innovative way to express the key message of a company through an image. Logo designers take the information given to them by the client and work, using their own creativity along with marketing strategy to find an appropriate image that their client can use to represent what they are trying to encourage, or sell, or what they are about. It is not likely that a company will specialize in logo design or have a position for a designated logo designer. Art directors and graphic designers typically perform logo designs.

Illustrator

Illustrators conceptualize and create illustrations that represent an idea or a story through two-dimensional or three-dimensional images. Illustrators may do drawings for printed materials such as books, magazines, and other publications, or for commercial products such as textiles, packaging, wrapping paper, greeting cards, calendars, stationery, and more. Illustrators use many different media, from pencil and paint to digital formatting, to prepare and create their illustrations. An illustrator consults with clients in order to determine what illustrations will best meet the story they are trying to tell, or what message they are trying to communicate. Illustrating may be a secondary skill requirement of graphic design or a specialty skill of a freelance artist, typically known for a unique style of illustrating. Illustration may be published separately as in fine art. However, illustrations are typically inserted into page layouts for communication design in the context of graphic design professions.

Visual Image Developer

Similar to illustration are other methods of developing images such as photography, 3D modeling, and image editing. Creative professionals in these positions are not typically called illustrators, but are utilized the same way. Photographers are likely to freelance. 3D modelers are likely to be employed for long-term projects. Image editing is typically a secondary skill to either of the above, but may also be a specialty to aid web development, software development, or multimedia development in a job title known as multimedia specialist. Although these skills may require technical knowledge, graphic design skills may be applied as well.

Multimedia Developer

Multimedia developers may come from a graphic design or illustration background and apply those talents to motion, sound, or interactivity. Motion designers are graphic designers for motion. Animators are illustrators for motion. Videographers are photographers for motion. Multimedia developers may also image edit, sound edit, program, or compose multimedia just as multimedia specialists.

Content Developer

Content developer is a generic term used for describing illustrators, visual image developers, and multimedia developers in software and web development. The term has a broader scope that includes non-graphical content as well. The generic name for content that is used in a digital composition are digital assets.

Visual Journalist

Visual Journalists, also know as Infographic Artists create information graphics or Infographics; visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used anywhere where information needs to be explained quickly or simply, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. They are also used extensively as tools by computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians to ease the process of developing and communicating conceptual information. They are applied in all aspects of scientific visualization.

Layout artist

A layout artist deals with the structure and layout of images and text in a pleasing format for printed media. This can include magazine work, brochures, flyers, books, CD booklets, posters, and similar formats. For magazines and similar productions, color, typeface, text formatting, graphic layout and more must be considered. Is the chosen typeface good for long term reading, or will the eyes get tired? Does that title typeface fit the feel of the rest of the article? Are the photos arranged in such a way that is pleasing to the eye, and directs the reader in the right flow or direction? These are just some of the questions a layout artist must ask themselves. Page layouts are typically done by art directors, graphic designers, production artists or a combination of those positions.

Entry level layout work is often known as paste up art. Entry level layout graphic designers are often known as production artists.

Interface Designer

Interface designers are graphical user interface (GUI) layout artists. They are employed by multimedia, software, and web development companies. Because GUI elements are interactive, interface design often overlaps interaction design. Because interfaces are not typically composed as single computer files, interface design may require technical understanding, including graphical integration with code. Because, interfaces may require hundreds of assets, knowledge of how to automate graphic production may be required. An interface designer may hold the job title of web designer in a web development company.

Web Designer

A web designer's work could be viewed by thousands of people every day. Web designers create the pages, layout, and graphics for web pages, and play a key role in the development of a website. Web designers have the task of creating the look and feel of a website by choosing the style, and by designing attractive graphics, images, and other visual elements, and adapting them for the website's pages. Web designers also design and develop the navigation tools of a site. Web designers may make decisions regarding what content is included on a web page, where things are placed, and how the aesthetic and continuity is maintained from one screen to the next. All of this involves skill and training in computer graphics, graphic design, and in the latest in computer and web technology.

Depending on the scope of the project, web design may involve collaboration between software engineers and graphic designers. The graphic design of a website may be as simple as a page layout sketch or handling just the graphics in an HTML editor, while the advance coding is done separately by programmers. In other cases, graphic designers may be challenged to become both graphic designer and programmer in the process of web design in positions often known as web masters.