DOI: 10.11648/j.ajad.20261103.13 ISSN: 2578-7802

Revisiting Graphic Designer Competencies in the Digital Design Era: Evidence from Job Advertisements in Ghana

Nicholas Opoku
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The growing demand for digital content has created new demands for the competencies of contemporary graphic designers. Building on previous studies on competencies of Ghanaian graphic designers in 2020, this study attempts to further explore how the evolution of digital technologies have influenced the knowledge, skills and professional attributes required in the contemporary digital graphic design labour market. This was done in context of the rapid evolving of graphic design profession in response to technological advancement, digitalization and organizational change. Guided by a conceptual learning model proposed by Richard Voorhees, the study adopted a qualitative approach using a descriptive design. 66 online job ads for graphic design position were purposively selected between January and June 2025 to determine the trends and frequencies of the requests in the job advertisements. Both thematic and content analyses were employed to analyse the job advertisements to uncover the themes and patterns of the competencies requested by the hiring managers. The study found a wide range of multidisciplinary competencies, including creativity, ideation, coding, motion graphics, UI/UX design, meeting deadlines, social media platform management, and self-driven. The study highlights the need for graphic design education to continuously align curricula with evolving industry requirements while encouraging practitioners to engage in lifelong learning and professional development.

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