10 of the Most Popular Types of Designer Illustrator Jobs in 2026

See what kind of roles similar to Designer Illustrator jobs are hiring now

Top Types Of Designer Illustrator Jobs

• Illustrator

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  An illustrator is an artist who creates commercial designs and images. Some illustrators work with traditional media, utilizing watercolors or oil paint to produce their designs. They often produce works for publications such as children's books, newspapers, and magazines to highlight the text. Others may use illustration and editing software to create digital images. These kinds of illustrators work in a variety of industries; their job duties may include designing images for apparel, accessories for toys, or sketching interior design or architectural prints. Manufacturers also use illustrators to create product packaging, while advertising companies hire illustrators to work on marketing materials.

• Illustration

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  Illustration is a popular job search query. Most salaries for Illustration jobs pay between $38,500 (25th percentile) and $68,000 (75th percentile) annually. Currently, there are not many open positions nationwide for Illustration job searches hiring now on ZipRecruiter. You can take a look at what is available and find similar job searches in this list.

• Full Time Illustrator

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  Full Time Illustrator is a typical job search query Most salaries for Full Time Illustrator jobs pay between $38,500 (25th percentile) and $68,000 (75th percentile) annually. You’ll find many open positions nationwide for Full Time Illustrator job searches hiring now on ZipRecruiter.

• Freelance Illustrator

  Salary range: $50,500 - $128,500

  Freelance illustrators work in many different industries; they create commercial designs and images for a variety of uses. Instead of working on the staff of a company, freelance illustrators are independent contractors who can be hired to work on a short- or long-term basis. One of the most common types of freelance illustrators is a publication illustrator. They create images for books and articles that complement the text or highlight subjects in a magazine or newspaper. Other freelance illustrators develop accessories for toys, apparel, or interior design sketches. While many use traditional artistic mediums, such as pencil or watercolors, others utilize graphic design programs to create product packaging or marketing materials.

• Fashion Illustrator

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  As a fashion illustrator, your job is to create fashion-focused drawings that highlight clothing, shoes, or accessories. To accomplish this, you may create a hand-drawn design, sketch garments, use CAD software to detail the proportions described in your drawings, or create sewing patterns. Fashion illustrators often help select themes, colors, fabrics, and other aspects of seasonal fashion content. You may be asked to conduct market research, communicate with vendors, work with models, and sew examples. Fashion illustrators frequently use graphic design programs like Illustrator and Photoshop, particularly when trying to accurately portray the appearance of clothing in a two-dimensional medium like magazine advertisements.

• Online Illustrator

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  As an online illustrator, your duties involve creating graphics, digital images, and other visual assets. Your responsibilities vary depending on the needs of your client or employer, with most work centering on drawing or graphic design. You use computer software to illustrate for the internet or multimedia productions, assessing the needs, style requirements, and specifications for each project. Employers and clients often ask for sketches or outlines of what you plan to draw before you start creating and digitizing the illustrations.

• Remote Illustrator

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  As a remote illustrator, you work from home to design illustrations for a company or organization. You can find illustrator positions that design video game backgrounds, TV or film storyboards, textbook and magazine illustrations, marketing materials, and children's books. Your responsibilities involve creating 2D and 3D images to meet customer expectations. You can complete your duties with images drawn by hand, digital software, or a combination. You communicate with clients to assess their needs, develop drafts for their approval, and complete projects according to an agreed upon timeline. A remote illustrator may work as a full-time employee or as a freelancer.

• Entry Level Illustrator

  Salary range: $38,500 - $68,000

  Illustrators use multimedia and graphic design software to create logos and other creative elements like infographics and diagrams, which companies publish in conjunction with articles, sales collateral, and other materials. As an illustrator, your work could appear in a book or as a visual component of a website. Your responsibilities likely include frequent interaction with clients and collaboration with other design team members. You must be able to translate imaginative ideas and visual solutions into clear, readable imagery, accept feedback from your client, and then refine your illustrations to meet their specifications.

• Digital Illustrator

  Salary range: $51,000 - $157,000

  As a digital illustrator, you design creative graphics for your employer. You might work for an advertising agency, the entertainment industry, or a design studio. Your responsibilities are to use digital tools on your computer to create branded images or marketing materials. Unlike a graphic designer, your work is more artistic. You create original works of your own design for both digital and publications. Your other duties include working with digital design software, translating client ideas into art, and working with other marketing professionals to complete project deadlines. You can also do this job on a freelance basis.

• Illustration Artist

  Salary range: $51,500 - $68,500

  Illustration Artist is a common job search query. Most salaries for Illustration Artist jobs pay between $51,500 (25th percentile) and $68,500 (75th percentile) annually. You’ll find many open positions nationwide for Illustration Artist job searches hiring now on ZipRecruiter.