2027 creative & design salary guide.
Our 2027 creative & design salary guide covers pay across the UK for graphic, digital, motion and wider creative roles. Whether you're hiring into a creative team or reviewing your own salary, see what the market is paying at every level.
Download our 2027 creative & design salary guide.
To get started, fill out the form below to access creative design salary benchmarks for 2027, 2026 comparisons, 2028 projections and the latest hiring trends.
SALARY TRENDS
Creative & design salary trends in 2027.
Creative & design salaries have risen more slowly than the wider UK market this year, at 1.9% against 3.8% across the disciplines we cover. Creative and design is one of the slower-moving specialisms in 2027. Motion and lead roles are rising, while graphic design salaries at junior level have fallen slightly as generative AI tools change the work.
The market is balanced overall in 2027, so employers and candidates are negotiating on more even terms. Demand is moving towards motion, short-form video and people who can direct AI-assisted creative workflows, rather than static production design.
KEY FINDINGS
Key findings for creative & design in 2027.
These figures give you a quick view of salary movement and hiring activity across creative and design in 2027, whether you’re setting a salary for a role, reviewing your own pay or keeping an eye on the market.
- 1.9% average salary increase compared with 2026
- 48% of employers are hiring now or plan to hire within the next six months
- 52% of creative and design professionals are actively looking for a new role
- 60% of creative and design professionals feel their pay doesn’t reflect the work they do
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FAQs
Creative & design salary guide FAQs.
The guide covers 12 creative and design roles from Junior Graphic Designer through to Creative Director. It includes 25th, 50th and 75th percentile salaries across the UK and by region, along with 2026 comparisons, 2028 projections and our latest hiring findings.
The median UK salary across the 12 creative and design roles in our guide is £44,500. Salaries vary according to discipline, experience and responsibility, so use this as a broad market marker and compare the individual role for a more accurate figure.
Salary rises as a role moves from production into concept development, campaign ownership, creative direction and leadership. Specialist skills such as motion and video can also affect where a role sits within the range, as can responsibility for other designers or the wider creative output.
Motion Designer, Creative Lead and Digital Designer are the three most in-demand roles in our 2027 research. Adobe Creative Cloud, motion and short-form video, and generative AI creative workflows are also among the technical skills employers are looking for.
Benchmark against the actual creative discipline, seniority and region. A designer with specialist motion or digital skills, broader creative ownership or team responsibility may need to sit higher in the range than a role focused mainly on production.
No. The figures are base salary only. Bonuses, pension contributions and other benefits should be considered separately when assessing the overall package.
Yes. We can benchmark creative roles around discipline, portfolio expectations, specialist skills, seniority, responsibilities and location.