How To Start a Graphic Design Business: Key Steps for Success

Graphic designers are specialists in visual communication, using color, typography, layout, and imagery to express their clients’ visual identity. Starting a graphic design business requires artistic skill and vision, alongside a healthy dose of tenacity, perseverance, and patience. The payoff can be immensely rewarding: As an independent shop or freelancer, you can choose the projects you’re most excited by, set your own rates, and determine the schedule and workflow that’s best for you.

Learn about the types of graphic design businesses you can start, the steps involved, and what it takes to be successful, with advice from Jonathan Mutch, a Toronto-based graphic designer and design consultant who honed his skills in ad shops and agencies before launching his own business.

Types of graphic design work

Depending on your experience and the kinds of clients you hope to pursue, your graphic design business may specialize in one design area or offer a menu of services. 

Here are common areas of focus to inspire your own graphic design business ideas: 

• Branding. Branding work can include logo design, developing a visual brand identity through color palettes and typography, website design, marketing campaigns and advertising assets, and physical elements like signage and stickers. 

• Product packaging. Product packaging design includes branded shipping and packing materials, store merchandising assets, product labels, inserts, instructions, and brand collateral like stickers or decals.

• Motion graphics. A specialty in motion graphics and/or animation includes designing dynamic websites, mobile app experiences, unique brand storytelling assets, and animated social media content. 

• UX/UI. User experience (UX) design focuses on how users navigate a website, landing page, or mobile app. User interface (UI) design shapes the visual elements—like icons, buttons, typography, and menus—that help people interact with those digital spaces.

• Environmental design. Environmental graphic design focuses on the visual identity of physical spaces, using products like banners, posters, window decals, and informational signs to guide viewers.

• Information design. Information designers work with numbers, data, and other technical information to craft visuals like infographics, charts, diagrams, or other data-driven graphics that communicate ideas in a clear, understandable way.

• Print design. Print graphic designers specialize in projects with printed material needs, like magazines, books, pamphlets, flyers, and signage.

How to start a graphic design business

1. Choose your focus
2. Register your business
3. Write a business plan
4. Create a portfolio website
5. Set your rates
6. Find your first clients
7. Invest in project management software

It’s normal to feel the nerves as you make the jump into launching your business—even the seasoned pros still deal with it. “It was a bit intimidating at the start,” Jonathan says. “A lot of people who work in advertising, marketing, or any sort of creative field have a certain amount of imposter syndrome. I still struggle with that. Showing up is important. Trying hard is important. When you’re unsure of something, ask.”

Having a clear structure to work through—from choosing your design focus to setting rates and finding clients—can make starting your graphic design business less daunting. Here are the basic steps to launch your own shop, with insights and advice from Jonathan based on his journey. 

1. Choose your focus

As with any new business venture, start by identifying your niche. List the types of projects you hope to work on, and determine whether you’ll focus on one area of graphic design or offer a broad menu of services. Your focus will influence what kinds of clients you go after, your pricing, how you present your portfolio of work, and your business name.

2. Register your business

Once you’ve chosen a focus, it’s time to choose your business name and structure, such as a sole proprietorship or limited-liability company (LLC), and register your business with both federal and state agencies, which will allow you to correctly handle your taxes and establish your business as a distinct legal entity. Depending on the structure you choose, follow federal and state registration guidelines to have your business recognized by the appropriate agencies.

This may also be a good time to open a business bank account, which can help keep your business and personal finances separate for income tracking, invoicing, and tax reporting. It can also make your business appear more professional as you begin working with clients. 

3. Write a business plan

A business plan can be simple or extensive—and though it’s often used to secure funding from financiers or banks, it can also serve as an internal compass. Describing the types of projects you’re most passionate about, and showing exactly what you have to offer your clients (and how it is uniquely valuable in your given market or focus), makes your strategic decisions more cohesive. A business plan contains the core offerings and services of your company, a competitive analysis that provides the foundation for your unique value proposition, financial projections, and marketing strategies in service of your long-term goals.

4. Create a portfolio website

For professional graphic designers, a portfolio is your primary sales tool. Potential clients need a place to view your work to get a sense of your style and interests. Making it easy for them to do so is one of the best ways to market your services.

You can build your own portfolio website using Shopify’s website builder or create a profile on one of the many freelancing platforms popular with designers, like Behance, Dribbble, and 99designs. Some freelancing sites, like 99designs, offer a marketplace feel where you can bid for projects and interact with clients, while others, like Behance, are oriented more toward discovery and showcasing your past work.

Jonathan once landed a job at an advertising agency because one of its employees had seen some of his early work on Flickr. “He was really into my work; I was into his,” he says. “We exchanged prints, and he’s like, ‘I’m working at this small ad shop, I’d like you to meet them.’”

Jonathan’s advice: Don’t let not having client projects to showcase stop you from adding projects to your portfolio. If you don’t have past work to feature yet, you can do small projects for family and friends, spec projects for existing brands, or even create imaginary brands to showcase your work.

5. Set your rates

Pricing your services is one of the perennial challenges for any freelance graphic designer or independent business owner. If you’ve worked for an agency, take cues from what they charge per hour, per day, and per project. From there, shape your pricing by considering factors such as your location, experience, and specific skill set. All of this will inform what clients will be willing to pay. 

Your industry peers can also advise on pricing, especially if they are in a similar niche or location. “Don’t just look it up online, where I think a lot of people might not be telling the truth,” says Jonathan. “Have honest conversations with colleagues, or people that you went to school with, or friends in the industry.” Those conversations can help you understand what your work is worth and how to price it without scaring anyone off.

Over time, he adds, you’ll develop an ability to feel out what a client can and can’t afford, and how much you’re able to adjust your rates—or not.

6. Find your first clients

When it comes to finding your first graphic design clients and marketing your business, word-of-mouth referrals and your own network are two of the strongest assets you have. Knowing whether you’ve developed your network enough to support your move to independence can be a difficult moment to pin down. 

“I’ve had colleagues who started their own thing straight out of school, while others waited eight to 10 years. It takes a certain amount of bravery to hop out there and really attack it,” he says. “For me, it was almost just an instinct. I had had enough working with the agency I was at, and it was time for a change. I reached out to a few people, could tell that there would be a little bit of work, and made the jump.”

Relying on your network, however small it feels in the beginning, also brings the bonus of increased trust. For Jonathan, it’s still the first place he’ll turn for a gut check. “I don’t work with a lot of people that I don’t know anything about,” he says. “It’s often a friend of a friend, or someone can vouch for this person.”

Lean on your network in the beginning to find graphic design clients, surface new opportunities, and make connections in the graphic design industry, and then rely on their insights or past experiences to guide your decisions as you grow. Showcasing your work and style on social media and your website not only helps you generate more leads, but also builds new connections with like-minded creatives who may become trusted peers.

7. Invest in project management software

Running a graphic design business means balancing the creative work with administrative responsibilities that all small business owners must contend with. One of the best ways to deal with this is by investing in intuitive, easy-to-use project management and accounting software.

“I’ve always struggled with being both the creative and the accounts person,” Jonathan says. “The work is what excites me; bookkeeping, invoicing, doing your taxes at the end of the year, plus the uncertainty of whether or not you would find full-time work … all that stuff scared me off from really diving in at first.”

Look for tools that combine client communications like invoicing and payment processing with accounting and time tracking for hourly-rate projects, like HoneyBook, Harvest, and FreshBooks.

5 key elements of a successful graphic design business

1. Showcase an adaptable style—or an iconic one
2. Continuously seek creative inspiration
3. Adjust your rates with time and experience
4. Offer tiered pricing
5. Foster client and agency relationships

Here are Jonathan’s five tips for building your own graphic design business: 

1. Showcase an adaptable style—or an iconic one

Whether you strive for an immediately recognizable graphic design style or pride yourself on your ability to transform for each project, you’ll likely still encounter the age-old debate over the merits of being a generalist or a specialist. Over the years, Jonathan has settled on a both/and approach, favoring one or the other depending on the client, or creative momentum in general.

“I’ve worked hard to be adaptable, because often you’re working within the constraints of a brand, especially in advertising, and you need to be creative within that framework,” Jonathan says. “When you’re creating brands, it’s also important to be flexible, because what you think is cool isn’t what a client might think is cool.”

There is, of course, an occasional exception to that rule: “As much as I’ve tried to be flexible and be able to create the best work I can within the circumstances that I find myself in, there are people who have a very set style, and people seek them out because of that style. I’ve seen people be hugely successful that way.” 

The risk of sticking with one style is knowing whether it will remain in demand over the long term, or whether you’ll have cornered yourself after the moment has passed. Consider your strengths, target audience, and where you are in your career. If you’re just starting out, consider showcasing adaptability across your portfolio while reserving a section for your riskier, bolder style.

2. Continuously seek creative inspiration

To grow as a graphic designer—and to stay relevant to clients—it’s important to look beyond the immediate world of graphic design. To evolve your style or your range, try to consume a broad, diverse collection of works across the creative disciplines.

“I still spend an incredible amount of time on Pinterest, but picking up a book, heading for a walk, looking at record covers, hanging out with other people, and seeing what they’re into has been very beneficial,” Jonathan says. “I’ve also got an inspiration folder that I’ve been keeping since 2010. It’s fun to just bop around in there and see what I was into then.” Past loves have a habit of coming back around, and you never know what a fresh perspective might bring. 

3. Adjust your rates with time and experience

One of the trickiest things to navigate as a new graphic design business is setting your rate. It’s a balance of need and value— for both you and your potential clients, who will consider your rate against their own expectations.

“Charge what you think your time is worth. You don’t want to go in too hot, but you also don’t want to undervalue yourself,” Jonathan says. “After about a year, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what companies and agencies are willing to spend, and you can adjust from there.” 

Remember, too, that you should adjust your rates as your experience and list of graphic design clients grow. “I’ve slowly crept my rate up over eight to 10 years,” Jonathan says. “It’s gotten to the point where I’m comfortable with it, and I don’t get laughed at when I say, ‘That’s my rate.’”

4. Offer tiered pricing

Offering more than one pricing option allows for flexibility and provides opportunities to upsell or expand on your services. For example, you can productize your services by creating a three-tiered option: a basic package covering core deliverables, a mid-tier option that includes additional applications, and a more comprehensive tier for ongoing support or strategy guidance.

Jonathan, like many graphic designers, has day rates, as well as flat-rate project quotes. Once he has a sense of a prospective client’s budget, he’ll typically offer three pricing tiers with various components and optional add-ons. Sometimes, clients will select a lower tier, but keep the door open for continued business down the line.

5. Foster client and agency relationships

Just as a well-tended network helps you to find new projects and connections, the relationships you build during the project also have the potential to generate steady, continuous contracts down the line. How you structure your interactions and process—and how easy you make that process for your clients—all impact the longevity of the collaboration. 

Part of effective communication with graphic design clients is clarity around pricing and scope for creative work, and maintaining the boundaries you agree upon. For example, Jonathan says, “Have a strong understanding as to what they’re after, and don’t start the project until both parties are very clear. Often there’s, ‘Oh, can you help with this and this and this?’ and then a small project that you think you could wrap in a couple of weeks turns into eight weeks. It gets way out of scope, and you have to have those awkward conversations.” Clarity from the beginning will set you and your client up for success later on.

“Over-communicate, be incredibly transparent, be friendly and approachable,” says Jonathan. Your client relationships will translate into word-of-mouth referrals. Fostering those relationships is just as important as delivering top-notch creative work.