Nearly every industry in the world today can benefit from having professional creative assistance with their marketing materials and printed collateral. While some industries “get by” with minimal creative design in their marketing efforts, there are some industries that need more than that and the top industries that need professional design help might actually surprise you.

When you think of getting “professional creative assistance” you might think of getting help with designing logos, business cards, brochures and the like. However, this isn’t all that could be lumped into that category. For instance, social media graphics and blog post artwork are also part of the design work needed by those seeking creative assistance. Traditional marketing efforts using direct mail pieces, ads in magazines and newspaper publications, and flyer inserts are other ways that businesses could use professional creative assistance.

What industries need the most creative assistance?

Top 5 Industries Needing the Most Creative Assistance

Advertising and Marketing

Believe it or not, advertising agencies are among the industries that need the most creative assistance. Sure, they employ graphic designers and artists, but they sometimes need additional help from other design firms and freelancers. Design agencies utilize freelancers to supplement their already complete design staff – sometimes as consultants, production artists (who take on some of the repetitive work for the agency), and graphic designers to help the agency keep both their deadlines and their clients’ deadlines when their design staff is overloaded. In 2009, advertising agencies made up 40% of the by being a customer of the design industry. That number was expected to soar from just under 200,000 designers working in the U.S. to almost 325,000 by 2018.

Products Packaging & Manufacturing

This probably comes as no surprise, however, it’s surprising that it’s among the industries that needs the most creative assistance. When you think about all of the packaging that is created for some of the biggest brands, it begins to make sense. The manufacturing industry employs the most graphic designers globally, 14% of all full time positions within the design industry. Since the turnaround times tend to be quick and time sensitive, the manufacturing and packaging industry tends to utilize design firms over freelancers to meet their needs.

Magazine & Textbook Publishing

Some say that the printed publication industry, such as newspapers and magazines, is a dying industry. Having been employed  by two weekly newspapers in the past, I would tend to agree. In fact, in 2017, there was expected to be a 16% decrease in employment of professional graphic designers in the periodical design (newspapers, magazines, and directory assistance books). Does this mean that periodical and book publishing is omitting quality design from their pages? Not likely. They likely switched to using freelance artists and designers to create their design, without having to pay weekly salaries and benefits to large art departments. Still, they are among the industries that need the most creative assistance.

Specialized Design

The industry of specialized design (part of the professional, scientific and technical services industry) employs an unusually high number of designers – 57.3%, in fact. They are among the most common and most specialized – so why is this so? Well, specialized design covers a wide range of businesses – lawyers, accounting, architectural, science and research – all of which need design services. The specialized design industry also includes interior and industrial design, as well as graphic design.

Motion Picture & Video

The last industry, which comes as no surprise, is the motion picture and video industry. Because of the nature of the industry, it calls for a high number of graphic designers and creative professionals. However, this comes as no surprise – the video industry has exploded over the past few years to a point where video, particularly with regard to search engine optimization, is a huge ranking factor. Infographic videos are becoming more popular and easier to create.

So, what does this all mean? Graphic design and creative assistance are needed in all industries – however, the five industries listed above tend to need th most help with design and creative advice. Does your industry fall into one of the above categories? Should there be an industry added to the list of those needing the most assistance?