illustrator/references/skills.md

Competences — illustrator

Source: ESCO v1.2.1 occupation-skill relations (http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/1b949bae-882f-40ff-9fe7-3c8ede5e38b5).

Essential

• analyse texts to be illustrated (skill/competence)
• art history (knowledge)
• consult with business clients (skill/competence)
• consult with editor (skill/competence)
• contextualise artistic work (skill/competence)
• copyright legislation (knowledge)
• ensure visual quality of the set (skill/competence)
• finish project within budget (skill/competence)
• follow a brief (skill/competence)
• follow work schedule (skill/competence)
• gather reference materials for artwork (skill/competence)
• graphic design (knowledge)
• intellectual property law (knowledge)
• interpret illustration needs (skill/competence)
• labour legislation (knowledge)
• perform ideation activities (skill/competence)
• select illustration styles (skill/competence)

Optional

• apply desktop publishing techniques (skill/competence)
• collaborate with a technical staff in artistic productions (skill/competence)
• create 2D painting (skill/competence)
• create animated narratives (skill/competence)
• create original drawings (skill/competence)
• create sketches (skill/competence)
• design graphics (skill/competence)
• design greeting cards (skill/competence)
• desktop publishing (knowledge)
• develop artistic educational activities (skill/competence)
• develop educational resources (skill/competence)
• edit negatives (skill/competence)
• edit photographs (skill/competence)
• gather reference materials (skill/competence)
• ICT software specifications (knowledge)
• multimedia systems (knowledge)
• perform image editing (skill/competence)
• plan art educational activities (skill/competence)
• use digital illustration techniques (skill/competence)
• use traditional illustration techniques (skill/competence)

Market evidence (job-ad analysis, 5 ads, as of 2026-07-14)

Share of analyzed job ads mentioning the item (threshold ≥ 20 %). Source: JSearch/Adzuna APIs.

Hard skills

• character design — 40 %
• digital illustration — 40 %
• graphic design — 40 %
• hyperrealistic artwork — 20 %
• illustration — 20 %
• illustration design — 20 %
• image editing — 20 %
• medical illustration — 20 %
• drawing — 20 %
• color theory — 20 %
• complex concept visualization — 20 %
• composition — 20 %
• design — 20 %
• anatomy knowledge — 20 %
• artwork — 20 %
• painting — 20 %
• scientific illustration — 20 %
• technical illustration — 20 %
• visual communication — 20 %

Methods

• universal design principles — 20 %
• project management — 20 %
• accessibility standards — 20 %
• needs assessment — 20 %

Responsibilities

• educational material development — 20 %
• final illustration formatting — 20 %
• medical illustration production — 20 %
• mpc graphics illustrations — 20 %
• illustration draft preparation — 20 %
• image creation — 20 %
• image design refinement — 20 %
• illustration creation — 20 %
• donor engagement support — 20 %
• book cover delivery — 20 %
• book cover production — 20 %
• character illustration delivery — 20 %
• character portrait creation — 20 %
• collaboration with project lead — 20 %
• color illustration — 20 %
• publication graphic creation — 20 %
• scientific research — 20 %
• visual material development — 20 %
• visual tone establishment — 20 %
• website maintenance — 20 %