Artworkers are an extremely important part of any creative team. An Artworker is not be expected to have much creative input, but crucially is responsible for taking creative design concepts from the art director / designer, tidying up the design files, reworking them as necessary, to correct colours, typography, leading, kerning and so on, to ensure files are 100% accurate and ready to go to print. Artworkers are essential in ensuring the creative work retains its integrity and reaches its full potential both in print and also across digital channels.

Strong Mac skills are essential, as are a high level of expertise with all the common Adobe Creative Suite products (Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator in particular). An extremely sharp eye for detail and a methodical approach are also important to ensure design files are accurate and error free.

Artworkers also need to be able to work with design that spans all types of formats from large scale outdoor advertising and hordings, to exhibition graphics, press ads, brochures, POS, direct mail, corporate literature etc. Employers will also want to see that you’ve got strong retouching skills – that ability to retouch images to ensure they meet print and web standards.

It’s essential that artworkers have a strong understanding of print processes – both in terms of pre-press and post-production – so that files are set up accurately for print and costly mistakes are avoided.

Traditionally, artworker jobs were focused around printed media. While that still forms the majority of an artworker’s work, artworkers are increasingly required to work with digital media, now that it is such an integral part of all creative campaigns. Experience with setting up digital files such as banners, email templates, web safe images and so on, is therefore an important skill. Any experience with HTML and CSS is increasingly advantageous, though not essential.

Salary wise outside of London the role generally pays between £18,000 to £35,000 depending on regional variance and level of experience.

We couldn’t limit our ethos for being a recruitment company who do things the right way to one location. That just wouldn’t be fair!

We seek to work with everyone from independent start-ups to globally renowned businesses across the West Midlands, supplying them with the best marketing, PR, Creative and Sales talent.

A hub for skilled creative and communications professionals. The West Midlands is home to the cities of Worcester, Birmingham, Coventry, Stafford and Wolverhampton.

It plays host to some instantly recognisable brands and innovative start-ups within the agency and media space, making it a hub for creativity outside of London. Birmingham also spotlights some fantastic financial & professional service organisations, educational institutions, charities, FMCG & consumer brands, alongside boasting a rich manufacturing + engineering heritage.

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Top skills in demand in The West Midlands (well according to us anyway):

The West Midlands has strong demand for marketing, digital and communications skills. These are some of the most popular roles we work in partnership with clients on.

• Marketing + Digital Marketing Specialists

• Account Handling/Management

• Public Relations

• Development (Front, Back-end & Fullstack)

• Content Specialists

• Designers (Graphic, Digital)

• Project Management

• SEO

• PPC/Paid Advertising
  

What are salaries like in The West Midlands?

Providing a benchmarker for salaries, our Midlands salary survey is the perfect tool for those based in The West Midlands to gain an idea of what the market is offering.