The field of graphic design utilizes artists who can apply their skills to the selling of products and services. Graduates of grapic design schools are confronted with the need to develop unusual sensitivity to color and design, graphic production techniques, and a broad vocabulary of imagery.

Independent design studios, advertising agencies, publishing houses, government agencies, and industrial corporations are examples of those that seek the services of graphic design school graduates. Their design services vary from in-house projects to public need, and run the visual gamut from graphic budget presentations (e.g., graphs, charts, illustration) to concepts in traffic management or packaging of industrial products.

Graphic design schools try to balance the complementary facets of creative discipline and contemporary perceptions with studies in necessary techniques such as computer graphics, typography, lettering, layout, principles of advertising and marketing, package design, photographic applications, and graphic production. They are then applied to such arenas as television, corporate identity, media advertising, promotional pamphlets, brochures and packaging, technical illustration, and sign graphics. Students who complete the Graphic Design program may free-lance their skills, or be employed on a salaried basis in corporate or other business sectors.