Job description: Graphic Designer in Kenya
Duties, requirements, interview questions and a template ready for you to advertise your vacancy today.
Role summary
A graphic designer turns messages into visual pieces that people notice, understand and remember. The role produces material for social media, advertising, packaging, print and the web, always within the brand identity. Consistent, professional design makes a small business look trustworthy and helps every campaign perform better, while careless files cause expensive reprints and delays.
Main duties
- Design graphics for social media, digital adverts, email campaigns and website banners
- Create printed materials such as brochures, flyers, packaging, signage and exhibition stands
- Develop and apply the brand identity, including logos, colour palettes, typography and templates
- Prepare print-ready files with correct bleed, colour profiles, resolution and fonts
- Retouch and edit photographs and create illustrations and icons when required
- Adapt each design to the formats and sizes required by different platforms and printers
- Interpret briefs from marketing and sales, present concepts and incorporate feedback constructively
- Organise source files and assets in a shared library with clear naming and versions
- Produce simple animations or short video edits for social media content
Typical requirements
- Degree, diploma or certificate in graphic design, visual communication or a related field
- Two or more years of professional design experience in an agency or in-house team
- Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign; Figma or Canva is an advantage
- A portfolio showing a range of real projects for print and digital media
- Knowledge of print production and of preparing files for commercial printers
- Basic motion graphics or video editing skills are desirable
Key skills
Vacancy template ready to copy
Replace the fields in square brackets with your company details.
Graphic Designer — [Company name]
At [Company name] we are looking for a graphic designer to give visual form to our brand in [City]. The role involves creating pieces for social media, advertising and print, working closely with the marketing team and taking each project from the first concept to the final file.
Responsibilities
- Design graphics for social media, digital adverts, email campaigns and website banners
- Create printed materials such as brochures, flyers, packaging, signage and exhibition stands
- Develop and apply the brand identity, including logos, colour palettes, typography and templates
- Prepare print-ready files with correct bleed, colour profiles, resolution and fonts
- Retouch and edit photographs and create illustrations and icons when required
- Adapt each design to the formats and sizes required by different platforms and printers
- Interpret briefs from marketing and sales, present concepts and incorporate feedback constructively
- Organise source files and assets in a shared library with clear naming and versions
- Produce simple animations or short video edits for social media content
Requirements
- Degree, diploma or certificate in graphic design, visual communication or a related field
- Two or more years of professional design experience in an agency or in-house team
- Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign; Figma or Canva is an advantage
- A portfolio showing a range of real projects for print and digital media
- Knowledge of print production and of preparing files for commercial printers
- Basic motion graphics or video editing skills are desirable
What we offer
- Salary: [Salary]
- Benefits: [Benefits]
- Location: [City]
Interested in this vacancy? Apply today.
How to hire a graphic designer
Judge the portfolio before the CV
For a designer, the portfolio is the main evidence. It should be requested with the application and reviewed first, looking for work similar to what the business actually needs and not only attractive personal projects.
Ask which work was their own
Portfolio pieces are often team efforts or based on templates. Asking the candidate to describe the brief, their exact contribution and the constraints of each project separates authors from assistants.
Keep the design test proportionate
A short exercise based on a fictional brief is fair. Requesting finished work for a live campaign without payment is not, and experienced designers will decline and tell others about it.
State print, digital or both
Print production demands technical knowledge that purely digital designers may lack, and video is a separate skill again. The advert should be explicit about the real mix of work expected.
Test response to criticism
Giving feedback on a portfolio piece during the interview shows how the candidate reacts. A designer who defends every decision as untouchable will struggle with the daily revisions of commercial work.
Interview questions for graphic designer roles
Could you take me through one portfolio project from the brief to the final result?
What to look for: A clear process: understands the objective, explores options and justifies decisions.
What did you do when a client or manager rejected a design you believed was right?
What to look for: Listens to the reason, separates taste from objective and proposes alternatives without resentment.
How would you prepare a file for a commercial printer?
What to look for: Mentions bleed, CMYK, resolution, outlined or embedded fonts and a proof before the run.
How do you keep designs consistent with a brand when producing many pieces quickly?
What to look for: Uses templates, style guides and shared libraries instead of starting from scratch each time.
What would you do if you received a brief with almost no information?
What to look for: Asks targeted questions about audience, message, format and deadline before designing.
What did you do when sales, marketing and the owner each wanted a design finished on the same afternoon?
What to look for: Agrees the order of work with the manager, gives each person a realistic delivery time and avoids silent delays.
Where do you find images and fonts, and how do you check that they can be used?
What to look for: Awareness of licensing and copyright, using licensed or properly free sources.
Which piece of your work performed best, and how do you know?
What to look for: Connects design to results such as engagement or sales, not only to appearance.
Shortlist better with the Saplic ATS
Posting the vacancy is the first step. The Saplic recruitment system organises everything that comes afterwards.
Free, no credit card required
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Frequently asked questions
What are the requirements for a graphic designer in Kenya?
The most common ones in vacancies are: degree, diploma or certificate in graphic design, visual communication or a related field; two or more years of professional design experience in an agency or in-house team; proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign; Figma or Canva is an advantage.
Is it better to hire an in-house graphic designer or use freelancers?
Freelancers suit occasional projects such as a logo or a brochure. When the business needs new pieces every week for social media, promotions and sales, an in-house designer is faster, cheaper per piece and far more consistent with the brand, because they come to know the products thoroughly.
Can one graphic designer also handle video and web design?
Many designers manage simple video edits and website graphics, and that versatility is valuable in small teams. Full video production and website development are separate professions, however. Expecting expert results in all three from one person generally leads to mediocre work and an early resignation.
How much does it cost to advertise graphic designer vacancies on Saplic?
Nothing. Posting the vacancy is free and no credit card is required. The recruitment system for organising the people who apply is free as well.