Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based graphic design, editing, and drawing application program that has become the industry standard for graphic design professionals. The online era has made visual communication more important than ever, and Illustrator is an invaluable tool to help designers create compelling logos, posters, infographics, animations, and other design elements for the web as well as the real world.

Illustrator has become the industry standard in part because of its longevity. Development of Adobe Illustrator began in 1985 on the original Apple Macintosh platform, and it has continually been improved and expanded to other platforms along with other Creative Suite and Creative Cloud applications such as Acrobat, Photoshop, and InDesign. Today, it is capable of quickly creating designs that work across print as well as the web and apps for both desktop and mobile devices. And, because its use is ubiquitous in the industry, working in Illustrator makes it easy to collaborate and share with other graphic designers.

While Illustrator today has a wide range of powerful tools and use cases that were unimaginable when it was first released, successfully using this program requires the same skills that have been the hallmark of graphic designers in any era. Today’s top graphic design professionals bring together a talent for creativity in visual communication with a mastery of traditional principles regarding the use of space, color, and typography to convey information effectively with images and text. Illustrator is simply the tool that makes it possible to use these skills to reach the widest possible audience.

A background in using Adobe Illustrator is increasingly essential for a career in graphic design. With the advent of the internet and e-commerce making visual aspects of brand communication and web design more important than ever, graphic designers that are able to work in digital formats using this industry-standard program have terrific opportunities to find work for their in-demand skills.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), graphic designers earned a median annual salary of $52,110 per year as of 2019. And, while most graphic designers have a bachelor’s degree in the field, those lacking a 4-year graphic design degree “may complete technical training in graphic design to meet most hiring qualifications” according to BLS.

Absolutely! Coursera offers a wide range of popular courses in web design, digital marketing, and graphic design, including courses that teach skills in Illustrator. You can learn these skills through individual courses as well as Specializations spanning multiple courses from top-ranked schools like California Institute of the Arts and University of Colorado Boulder. And, because learning online lets you view and complete course materials on a flexible schedule, pursuing your education in Illustrator with Coursera is a flexible option that can make sense for students as well as mid-career graphic design professionals seeking to refresh their skills for the digital age.