Whether you’ve completed a fine art degree or are considering applying to art school, you may be wondering: what can you do with an art degree? The answer: literally, anything. We live in a world where people are continuing to lean into creativity—we see it in advertising companies, in graphic design work, in the websites we browse through, the artwork tattooed on peoples’ bodies, and on your social media via photography, fashion, and videography.
We could list 100 job options for you, but we are going to stick to 40 of the top jobs.
A fine art degree gives you skills that will set you up in a wide range of art careers. As a fine art grad, the world is your oyster! Let’s take a peek at some of the art degree jobs out there for you.
Illustrator
There are a surprising number of illustrator jobs that can come from a fine arts degree. You can find illustrators who work in full-time traditional roles and others who work as freelancers. We see their work in media outlets, in medical and informative pamphlets, and inside children’s books or graphic novels. Fine art degree programs can help students excel in a career as an illustrator by teaching them different illustration techniques. As students complete projects and begin building an illustration portfolio, the coursework will also help them develop a style of their own. Here are just a few possible illustration careers for art majors:
- Fashion illustrator
- Children’s book illustrator
- Medical illustrator
- Comic book illustrator
- Film storyboard illustrator
If you’re looking for more information on illustration careers for art majors, check out these guides on who pays illustrators and how much, how to become a freelance illustrator, and a beginners guide to illustration. When setting up your illustration portfolio, check out these great portfolio examples for some inspiration.
Designers: Graphic & Web
When it comes to the realm of the creatives, graphic designers are in high demand. This includes web developers and designers who work in the digital space. Let’s face it: virtually all businesses need graphic work for their marketing campaigns, social media platforms, and communications. A great thing about design is that it’s an art career that encompasses many cool professions and industries. Your art degree can come in handy for all types of design jobs, as it will help you learn how to solve problems creatively, and prepare you for working both independently and as part of a team.
Once you’ve zeroed in on a design field, you should get started on building your online design portfolio. We have templates specifically created for design that you can fill with design case studies of the projects you’re most proud of from art school.
Some of the art degree jobs available for designers include:
- Graphic designer
- Web designer
- Video game designer
- UX/UI Designer (if you’re looking for some ideas for your online portfolio website, check out these UX designer portfolios)
If the route of UX/UI designer piques your interest most, check out everything you need to know to get started in that job.
Photographer
Photography is a particularly diverse field when it comes to art major jobs. A fine art degree program can help prepare students for a career in photography in many ways. Besides gaining some technical photography knowledge and starting to build an online photography portfolio, fine art students can develop their photographer’s eye by learning good observational skills. They’ll also learn communication skills that will help with pitching their photography projects to clients.
If you have a passion for photography and are ready to dip your toe into doing it as a full time gig, we have great resources for you in how to start a photography career while staying at home and how to become a successful freelance photographer.
Some of the different types of photography careers for art majors include, but remember, this list isn’t comprehensive:
- Portrait photographer (including the trendy field of pet portrait photography)
- Wedding photographer
- Fashion photographer
- Travel photographer
- Landscape photographer
- Wildlilfe photographer
- Food photographer
Artist
If you’re determined to find a job practicing art, it’s because you’ve decided to make your passion your ‘job’ and become an artist. A fine art degree can help prepare you to become an artist in many different visual art disciplines. It can give students some background knowledge that provides context for their art, such as art history and social science.
As an artist, you may consider selling and monetizing your work as a side business or as an apprentice under another artist. There are so many types of art specializations and the ones listed below are very open-ended. Unlike becoming a food photographer or a medical illustrator, these art careers offer a lot of freedom in how you approach them and what subjects your art will focus on.
But that freedom also means you’ll likely be going into business for yourself. As opposed to being a specialized field where skilled professionals are in demand, you’ll have to put more effort into promoting yourself and your online presence is going to be an important part in helping you succeed. Whether you are selling artwork through your own website or directing people to a market you’ll be at through your social channels, you need a strong online presence. Having a great online art portfolio is essential, and you’ll definitely want to set up an online store to help sell your work. (Want to learn more about art marketing? Here’s our guide to promoting your art.)
- Ceramics artist
- Sculptor
- Makeup artist, including fashion editorial makeup or special effects makeup
- Digital artist
- Collage artist
- Glass artist
- Textile artist
- Painter
- Craft maker
- Artist assistant
Fashion Designer
If you like to express yourself through clothing, fashion design may be the right art related job for you. A fine art degree can help you excel in this job by teaching you about concepts like fashion history, fashion trends, and color theory. In addition, as an art major, you’ll know how to present your ideas including techniques for sketching your designs and how to build a fashion design portfolio.
If you’re interested in getting into the world of fashion but don’t feel a design career is right for you, then consider becoming a fashion stylist. This job involves coming up with ideas for photo shoots and choosing clothing and accessories for shoots, clients, ads, and events. With the world of social media, having a platform to kick start your career as a fashion stylist is right at your fingertips, literally. Try starting your own account to share the looks you’ve created and develop your own personal styling brand that you can amplify.
When it comes to working in fashion design, whether that be as a clothing designer or a stylist, there are so many options for your art to collab with others, whether it is with photographers, videographers, make-up artists, etc. To help you grow your business in fashion and build a network, you’ll need a rock solid online portfolio: create your fashion portfolio website in minutes using Format’s award-winning templates.
Interior Designer
Interior design involves making interior spaces more beautiful, functional, and safe. Interior designers need knowledge in a wide range of areas because they have to do everything from choosing decor items to designing spaces while keeping in line with building codes.
Interior designers play a much-needed role in the real estate market. There are lots of opportunities to find positions working with real estate agents to stage homes or commercial buildings or working with new builders creating spaces.
To become an interior designer or a spatial designer you’re probably going to need to take some interior-design-specific courses to get all the specialized knowledge required. But an art degree will prepare you to get started by teaching you about what can go into making a space beautiful, such as design theory. In addition, your art major background can help when it comes to getting your design plans approved by clients, including producing design drawings and making presentations.
Before you start building your interior design portfolio, take a look at these carefully curated examples.
Architect
Like interior design, architecture is another art-related job that calls for specialized education as it requires a lot of technical knowledge. If you love the fundamental principles of building design and art, then pursuing an architecture career post grad after you receive your art major may be perfect for you. The knowledge gained from an art degree background can be a valuable asset in architecture, especially if you have a history background. You can also draw on your illustration skills when it comes to making plans and getting your ideas across to stakeholders.
If you decide to follow this career path, take a look at these architecture portfolios for some design inspiration. Then get started on your own online architecture portfolio with templates specifically designed for architect work.
Videographer and Filmmaker
One of the hottest gigs on our arts jobs list? Filmmaking.
Getting into the world of videography or film can involve shooting, video editing, and producing. You can work with agencies, for a company, or as a freelancer. There are so many options when it comes to this form of multimedia, from weddings, sports, and live events to commercials, training videos, real estate and advertising.
Thankfully, many art programs include some film study and video production courses these days. So as an art grad, you’ll understand some of the techniques and basic rules that go into shooting video.
Building a portfolio for your videography is easier than ever. Just pick a website builder that is specific to film with built-in video embedding functionality.
Need some video portfolio inspiration? Check out these six creators with incredible video websites.
For more inspiration on how to start promoting your video work, check out our guide on how to make a Youtube channel, and list of 32 Youtube video ideas.
Art Management
There are also ample opportunities to move into a leadership or management role with your fine arts degree through various art director roles that cover a large range of art designations, ranging from an artistic director of an art theater to the art manager of an ad agency. These art management roles are necessary in marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television—essentially all of the job options we’ve discussed. This role is all about overseeing the art and the artists and creating unity in the work. You’ll find a lot of transferable roles between your fine arts degree and becoming an art manager, from following timelines to ensuring that work is submitted/ready when it needs to be.
Curators for museums and galleries are another great job option when it comes to art management. These roles are great for someone with a passion for sharing art as the curator assembles, catalogs, manages, and displays artwork.
When you are building your online portfolio for an art management role, be sure to showcase the art you’ve managed. Adding a blog where you can describe your role in the work or using descriptions throughout the website are two options. Make sure that you also credit any other artist that you’ve worked with in the portfolio examples you are using.
- Advertising Art Director
- Commercial art gallery manager
- Museum/Gallery Curator
- Exhibition Designer
Musician
Becoming a musician is another possible career for art majors. If becoming a musician or music teacher is something you’re interested in, consider having your fine arts degrees focus on music, whether that is through majoring or minoring in it or simply taking electives. The knowledge you can pick up from these courses includes everything from music theory and score-reading to composition and audio postproduction. So they’ll provide you with some of the technical knowledge you’ll need to build your music portfolio and launch your career.
Beyond teaching, musicians can find freelance work through different events or playing at different venues. Musicians are also needed to support other types of art, like community theater and Broadway productions.
Following your dream of becoming a musician doesn’t mean you have to give up on your other art career ambitions. Here are five musicians who also create amazing visual art.
The Key to Success in Any Arts Job
Now that you’ve read through this list of careers in art, you should have a better idea what to do with an art degree, knowledge of how valuable a fine art degree really is and hopefully some inspiration on where you can take your career. Your fine arts degree is your starting point that offers you a path to a wide range of arts jobs by providing knowledge and a space to practice that will help you succeed. An amazing part of the art world is how collaborative it is; so many of these art job options we’ve listed have opportunities to work together with one another.
The key to excelling in any of these jobs that involve art is building an amazing online portfolio. Having a website to show off your talents to potential clients and employers will make it much easier to land whatever arts jobs you have your sights on. It’s important to choose the right online portfolio site: at Format, we have templates tailored to the various art forms so you can choose a template that fits your work. Make sure to pick one that really embodies your artistic style and brand. You can find countless stunning and customizable templates here and a list of the art professions along the side to help guide you. Once you get your portfolio sorted, you’ll be better prepared to take on whatever art career you have in mind.
Want to learn more about launching your dream art career?
Want To Become An Art Therapist? Here’s How
How to Get Your Work in an Art Gallery
Learn How To Get An Art Teacher Job
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