Careers › Commercial Artist

Career as Commercial Artist

The job role of Commercial artists is unique and progressing these days. Talking of which multimedia artists, graphic designers, and even animators are all the part of being the commercial artists. Those who want to pursue their career in this field need to have a good hand on operating computers and exploring different designing programs such as charts, illustrations, and graphs. There are different commercial artist programs that you may get in the institutions. The best part is such colleges take this career sector to be quite important. The training can include hands-on experience and classroom training to make some portfolios that may help the students to acquire the right employment opportunity. It is a commercial artist who has the knack to express the need of the client through his magnificent art. The artists may have to do tasks that include creating and illustrating graphics and video arts or charts while making the idea look appealing to the people.

Job Profile

Career as Commercial Artist

To opt for a career as a commercial artist, you need to have a good creativity level. There are different job profiles that you can focus on depending on your area of interest. Listed are some of the job roles you can opt for:


Art Directors are responsible for creating visual styling and images in magazines, newspapers, and even television production. The artists and creative workers in this department help them in supporting the artwork and layout. Art Directors can get a salary up to Rs. 1,364,667 per annum.

 

Graphic Artist is another great role in which the persons have to create graphics for the company logos and layout for the illustration of the product or website. Graphic Artist can get a salary up to Rs 595,973 per annum.

 

Photographers with their level of creativity and great technology expert solution along with the blend of business and composition skill create a simple looking event to a great story to watch. Photographers can get a salary up to Rs 994,990 per annum.

 

Illustrators are on creating a picture for commercial products and newspapers. They use painting and hand drawing with a digital media platform. Illustrators can get a salary up to Rs 707,630 per annum.

 

The salary of every artist in this background may vary depending on the type of industry they choose. 

 

Pros and Cons of a Commercial Artist

Pros of becoming a Commercial Artist 

  • The timing is never fixed. Rather it is flexible and one gets an opportunity to have their own business or work with someone.

  • Passion artists can always get the job and money satisfaction level at the end of the day

  • To be an artist requires no formal education as long as they have the right skills and training acquired.

Cons of becoming a Commercial Artist 

  • There is a lack of job security for artists.

  • The rate of competition is quite high in today’s time

  • The job security is not much for the commercial artist

  • There is also income uncertainty since very few talents get the opportunity to support them by selling the work.

Future Growth Prospects and How to get there faster

It is expected from artists to be extremely disciplined. To get to the top sector and be proficient in different software programs like Illustrator and Photoshop and Indesign can help the artist reach miles. But for this, the one needs to not just have the creative skills but also good aesthetics knowledge. By earning an undergraduate degree then focusing on understanding the technical aspects of art, photography programs and then creating a strong portfolio will show their hard work to the clients.

How do I get there?

The educational qualification of an artist can be customized as per the need of the job within the same sector. The students are expected to have a 4-year university certification with art history as their exceptional subject along with natural science and English being the core ones. They should also take some training from the institutions that have got a great infrastructure so that computer training is rightly availed. There are many diploma certificates and degree level courses for a commercial artist available. The applicant can choose a PhD and also a postgraduate in fine arts. The duration of such a course can vary from 1 to 5 years too. 

  • The diploma course of fine arts is of 1 year which a student can do right after 12th standard.

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is another Course with a duration of 4 to 5 years.

  • Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (BA) with the duration of the three-year program.

  • You can also choose the post-graduation course like Master of Fine Art (MFA) which is a two years duration program.

  • Master of Arts in Fine Arts (MA) is a two years duration program.

What are the Top Colleges where one should be studying to become a commercial artist?

 

Rank of College 

Name of College, City

Programme Fees

1

Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai

Diploma in Performing Arts Dance-Rs 23000/-

2

Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda, Baroda

Master of Fine Arts-Rs 70000/-

3

Kala Bhavan, Visva-Bharati, ShantiNiketan

Diploma in Performing Arts-Rs 20000/-

4

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Diploma in Fine Arts-Rs 2000/-

5

College of Art, New Delhi

Master of Fine Arts-Rs 70000/-

6

National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi

Bachelor of Fine Arts-Rs 35000/-

How much does it cost?

The training price may vary depending on the area of interest. It can range from Rs 2000/- at the basic level and can go up to Rs 80000- at the high level of the training that also includes a good infrastructure facility, computer, hostel and other sources included in it.

Books and other Study Material

Other than being creative these are some of the best books and study material that you can choose:

  1. Phaidon Press’s The Art Book
  2. Edward Winkleman’s How to Start and Run a Commercial Art Gallery
  3. Bert Dodson’s Keys to Drawing, Opportunities in Commercial Art and Graphic Design Careers by Barbara Gordon
  4. Danny Gregory’s The Creative License

What if this career does not work out for me? What are the other options for a person with these credentials?

You can always focus on careers associated with the film industry, academia, newspapers, advertising agencies, and architecture. You can always apply for getting the training done in different industrials range like insurance, baking, and public relation and thus join them to get a variety of media and techniques rightly used. You can also be a Drawing Teacher, Production Artist, Art therapist, Music Teacher, and Furniture Designer to name some that equally have got similar scope.

Other careers of your interests

Content on this page is by Career Expert
Mrs. Kum Kum Tandon
MA (Psychology), M.Ed, Diploma in Educational Psychology, Vocational Guidance & Counseling (NCERT, Delhi) | View Complete Profile
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