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Freelance Graphics Designer Jobs in Raleigh, NC (NOW HIRING)

Production Graphic Designer

Raleigh, NC

$17.25 - $21.50/hr

About the Role We're hiring a Production Graphic Designer to join our growing in-house creative ... bring freelance partners up to speed when needed. What Success Looks Like * A steady stream of ...

Production Graphic Designer

Raleigh, NC · On-site

$17.25 - $21.50/hr

About the Role We're hiring a Production Graphic Designer to join our growing in-house creative ... bring freelance partners up to speed when needed. What Success Looks Like * A steady stream of ...

Design Director

Durham, NC · Hybrid

$105K - $136K/yr

You will oversee both in-house and freelance designers and partner with brand, multimedia, and ... Lead a team of Graphic Designers and Senior Graphic Designers observing the Association ...

Design Director

Durham, NC · On-site

$105K - $136K/yr

You will oversee both in-house and freelance designers and partner with brand, multimedia, and ... Lead a team of Graphic Designers and Senior Graphic Designers observing the Association ...

Design Director

Durham, NC · Hybrid

$105K - $136K/yr

You will oversee both in-house and freelance designers and partner with brand, multimedia, and ... Lead a team of Graphic Designers and Senior Graphic Designers observing the Association ...

Design Director

Durham, NC · On-site

$105K - $136K/yr

You will oversee both in-house and freelance designers and partner with brand, multimedia, and ... Lead a team of Graphic Designers and Senior Graphic Designers observing the Association ...

The ideal candidate is a junior graphic designer with a broad background in digital media, social ... freelance included) in graphic design, digital media, or communications preferred Additional ...

Freelance Graphics Designer information

See Raleigh, NC salary details

$18

$33

$46

How much do freelance graphics designer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jul 3, 2026, the average hourly pay for freelance graphics designer in Raleigh, NC is $33.71, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $27.12 and $40.67 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Freelance Graphics Designer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Freelance Graphics Designer, you need a strong grasp of design principles, creativity, and proficiency in graphic design, often supported by a relevant portfolio or degree. Mastery of tools like Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and familiarity with digital asset management systems are typically required. Outstanding communication, self-motivation, and time management help freelancers succeed in client interactions and project delivery. These skills are crucial for producing high-quality design work, meeting client expectations, and maintaining a steady stream of freelance opportunities.

What does a freelance graphics designer do?

A freelance graphics designer is a self-employed professional who creates visual content for clients on a project-by-project basis. Their work includes designing logos, marketing materials, websites, social media graphics, and other visual assets to communicate a brand's message. Freelance designers often work with multiple clients simultaneously, manage their own schedules, and handle the business aspects of their services, such as contracts and invoicing. They may collaborate remotely or onsite, depending on client needs.

What are some common challenges freelance graphic designers face when working with clients, and how can they be managed?

Freelance graphic designers often encounter challenges such as unclear project briefs, scope creep, and managing client expectations. To address these, it's important to communicate clearly from the outset, set detailed contracts, and establish milestones for feedback and revisions. Regular check-ins with clients and using project management tools can also help keep projects on track and ensure both parties are aligned throughout the design process.

What is the difference between Freelance Graphics Designer vs Graphic Designer?

AspectFreelance Graphics DesignerGraphic Designer
Work EnvironmentIndependent, remote or client-site projectsIn-house or agency settings
CredentialsPortfolio, design skills; certifications optionalDegree in Graphic Design or related field often preferred
Employment StatusSelf-employed or contractorFull-time or part-time employee
Client InteractionDirect with clients, project-basedWithin a team or agency, collaborative

Freelance Graphics Designers work independently, managing their own clients and projects, often without formal employment. In contrast, Graphic Designers typically work within companies or agencies, following organizational workflows. Both roles require strong design skills, but freelancing offers more flexibility and self-direction, while in-house roles provide stability and team collaboration.

What are the most commonly searched types of Graphics Designer jobs in Raleigh, NC? The most popular types of Graphics Designer jobs in Raleigh, NC are:
What cities near Raleigh, NC are hiring for Freelance Graphics Designer jobs? Cities near Raleigh, NC with the most Freelance Graphics Designer job openings:
Production Graphic Designer

Production Graphic Designer

Relay

Raleigh, NC

$17.25 - $21.50/hr

Other

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 5 days ago


Job description

Relay is the Intelligent System of Action for the physical economy. While the digital revolution has often left the deskless workforce behind, we are closing that gap by transforming analog frontline operations into a data-rich, AI-powered ecosystem. We aren't just selling radios, we're building the digital foundation for the 80% of the global workforce that doesn't work at a desk.

Why Join Relay?

  • A Proven Winner: Join a hyper-growth company trusted by over 10% of the Fortune 500, continuing to move upmarket with massive impact.
  • High Value, High Impact: With 47% of our revenue from $100K+ ARR customers and 135% Net Revenue Retention (NRR), you'll be joining a company rooted in value creation.
  • Market-Leading Innovation: The Relay platform captures 1 billion new data points weekly and features award-winning AI tools like TeamTranslate, with 500% YoY growth.
  • World-Class Leadership: Our stellar leadership team is built to help us scale toward our next major milestones.
  • The Relay Culture: We're dedicated to helping you do the best work of your life (BWIML), investing in your growth through L.I.T., living our CHASE values, and learning from incredibly talented, supportive teammates who make the work (and the wins) better every day.

Now, here's what we're building, and where you come in.

About the Role

We're hiring a Production Graphic Designer to join our growing in-house creative team and help us scale how Relay shows up across every surface. This role is the engine behind a lot of our day-to-day output - sales enablement, conference materials, ad variations, one-pagers, template populations, and asset adaptations across mediums.

We're approaching this role with a specific philosophy. We're hiring a designer who thinks in systems and uses AI as a real part of their workflow - someone who, when handed a repetitive task, instinctively asks "what's the smarter way to do this?" Production at Relay isn't about volume for volume's sake. It's about building patterns, templates, and workflows that let us move faster without losing the bar.

You'll work closely with the Art Director (who owns our Figma design system) and the Creative Director - executing within the system, helping evolve it as you go, and building out the AI-assisted workflows that make high-volume production possible. The three verbs that frame this role: executing, adapting, supporting.

What You'll Do

Produce high-quality work across every surface of the brand. One-pagers, sales enablement collateral, conference signage and takeaways, segment- and partner-specific materials, ad variations, slide decks, web modules, and physical/print pieces. You'll move fluidly between formats and adapt creative across mediums.

Work within and help evolve our design system. You won't be building it from scratch - that's the Art Director's mandate - but you'll be a daily power user. Contribute components, flag gaps, and help the system get sharper over time. You'll also bring AI tools into how the system is maintained, running consistency audits, helping with documentation, and using AI assistants as thinking partners when patterns need to evolve. Component-based thinking is core to how you work.

Use AI tools to work smarter, not just faster. This is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have. We expect you to be actively using AI in your design workflow today - for layout iteration, asset variation, copy support, and rapid prototyping. You'll help build prompt libraries, templates, and repeatable patterns the rest of the team can plug into.

Turn around requests with consistent quality. Sales enablement, conference work, and segment-specific collateral come in steadily. You'll keep things moving, hit deadlines, and apply the same level of craft whether it's a high-visibility campaign asset or a quick resize.

Connect the work back to the business. Pay attention to what we sell, who we sell it to, and how the work you're producing supports the bigger picture. The best production graphic designers aren't heads-down in Figma all day - they're asking questions about who the audience is, why something matters, and what would make it better.

Support the broader creative team. Take direction from the Art Director and Creative Director, give and receive feedback on each other's work, and help bring freelance partners up to speed when needed.

What Success Looks Like

  • A steady stream of consistent, on-brand work shipping across sales enablement, events, web, and ads - without quality slipping when volume spikes.
  • Templates, components, and AI-assisted workflows you've built or contributed to that make the next round of similar work faster for the whole team.
  • AI-augmented maintenance habits built into the weekly rhythm. Audits run, gaps flagged, documentation updated. AI doing the heavy lifting, and you doing the judgment work.
  • Less manual repetition over time. Things you're doing by hand today should be partially automated three months from now.
  • The Art Director and Creative Director freed up to focus on higher-leverage work because the day-to-day is in good hands.
  • Clear evidence of you thinking ahead - flagging brand inconsistencies, suggesting smarter approaches, and bringing ideas instead of just taking direction.

What You Bring

  • 2+ years of design experience, with a portfolio that shows craft, range, and consistency.
  • Strong working proficiency in Figma, with hands-on experience inside a component-based design system. You don't need to have built one from the ground up, but you should be fluent in how a good system works and what it feels like to design within one.
  • Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign).
  • Active, current use of AI tools in your design workflow. This is a hard requirement - we want people using AI today, not curious about what it could do. You should be able to walk us through specific examples in the interview, including how you use AI tools as thinking partners (not just as image or asset generators)..
  • Range across mediums - exposure across print, digital, and web with a willingness to learn new mediums. You don't need to be the deepest expert in any one area at this stage, but you should be able to move between them and adapt accordingly.
  • A systems-first mindset. When something feels repetitive, your instinct is to look for a smarter way to do it.
  • Strong attention to detail. Pixel alignment, type, color, spec - the small stuff matters because the small stuff adds up.
  • Critical thinking and curiosity about the business. You ask why things matter and want to understand the work in a larger context.
  • Comfort in a fast-moving environment. Priorities shift, things move quickly, and we want someone who's energized by that, not thrown by it.

Nice to Have

  • B2B SaaS or technology experience.
  • Exposure to a high-growth startup environment.
  • Experience contributing to (not necessarily building) a Figma design system.
  • Experience using AI tools for design system maintenance (audits, documentation, consistency work).
  • Conference and event collateral production experience.
  • Photography or video editing skills.
  • Familiarity with web design fundamentals.

If you're passionate about technology, driven to make a difference and align your work to a bigger mission, and excited to join a company that's shaping the future of frontline work, we encourage you to explore opportunities at Relay!

The Relay Hybrid Work Model

At Relay, relationships are at the core of everything we do - and this translates to how we approach our customers and our work internally. Our relational approach is also at the heart of why we ask all Relayers in our hybrid model to work from the office a minimum of 3 days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

About Relay | Culture, Benefits & Perks

Our culture hinges on Relayers getting LIT up in an environment that fosters Learning, Impact, and Teamwork, where we CHASE the best work of our lives. We call this BWIML (Best Work In My Life).

At Relay, we offer:

  • 100% Paid Insurance: Health, Dental, Vision, Long/Short Term Disability, and Life Insurance for you and your dependents
  • Generous Paid Time Off
  • 401(k) Savings Plan + Company Match
  • Baby Cash Reward + Paid Parental Leave
  • Wellness Perks: If you're joining our Raleigh-based HQ, you'll have access to a world-class onsite fitness center with instructor-led classes, plus tennis, basketball, pickleball, and cycling
  • Team Events & Culture: From company celebrations to team outings, we work hard and have fun doing it.
  • Latest tech, standing desks, and all the tools and software you need to thrive

The future of frontline work is being built here. Come build it with us. We can't wait to hear from you.