About Fashion Illustration Jobs

If you are fascinated by the fashion drawings in department store ads, then a career in fashion illustration may be for you. Read on to find out about the required training and skills, as well as what you should expect of a fashion illustrator job.

Skills

A fashion illustrator must be a talented artist, with a particular knack for drawing. In addition, she must have an understanding of the fashion industry and its trends.

Tasks

A fashion illustrator's objective is to produce hand-drawn sketches or computerized images of clothing and accessories that reflect a creative vision and bring in business.

Employers

Fashion illustrators either work full time or as freelancers for clients such as advertising agencies, department stores, catalogs and design houses.

Education Requirements

A bachelor's degree is not a prerequisite for entering the fashion illustration field. However, an associate's degree in art, fashion design or graphic design is essential, while completed business and computer literacy courses will provide candidates with an advantage.

Geography

Illustration jobs are most abundant in the fashion capitals of New York City and Los Angeles. Nonetheless, there are many fashion illustration opportunities to be found in other parts of the US.

Salary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the median yearly salary of fashion illustrators to be $55,840.

Resources

• Fashion illustrator career overview