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Designers

How to become an Advertising Designer

Designs advertisements for many kinds of media, such as TV commercials, posters, newspapers, magazines and the web, at advertising agencies and similar companies.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university or vocational college (senmon gakko) is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualification is required to start, but most people hired as advertising designers straight from study have graduated from a four-year art university or a senmon gakko (vocational college). For mid-career hires, practical experience matters most. When hiring, employers look for knowledge of advertising, communication skills and presentation skills as well as design ability. Almost all design work is done on computers, so computer design skills are also needed. With experience as an advertising designer, people are promoted to art director or advertising director. Some study copywriting and switch to roles such as commercial planner. Others set up their own design studio. As well as design ability, you need planning and expressive skills to come up with new ideas and presentation skills for clients. You also need the ability to read changing times and the expressive power to create visuals that capture people's hearts.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become an Advertising Designer?

No particular education or qualification is required to start, but most people hired as advertising designers straight from study have graduated from a four-year art university or a senmon gakko (vocational college). For mid-career hires, practical experience matters most. When hiring, employers look for knowledge of advertising, communication skills and presentation skills as well as design ability. Almost all design work is done on computers, so computer design skills are also needed. With experience as an advertising designer, people are promoted to art director or advertising director. Some study copywriting and switch to roles such as commercial planner. Others set up their own design studio. As well as design ability, you need planning and expressive skills to come up with new ideas and presentation skills for clients. You also need the ability to read changing times and the expressive power to create visuals that capture people's hearts.

How much does an Advertising Designer earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,395,800 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Designers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become an Advertising Designer?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 46% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Vocational college (専門学校) course: Design.

Will AI change the work of an Advertising Designer?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026