Graphic illustrators come up with creative illustrations and designs that are original, unique and fresh, to help their clients find the right professional image they are looking for. Graphic illustrators help their clients maintain, manage, adjust, and create the right materials and images.

Graphic illustrators create rough or crude sketches and artwork that is finished to decorate, clarify, or substitute for written or spoken messages. They use various media such as computers, oils, charcoal, watercolor, and pen and ink to create these graphics.

More graphic illustrators are using computers to prepare their work in digital format. They often create pictures for magazines, books, other publications along with commercial products such as calendars, greeting cards, stationery, wrapping paper, and textiles.