#Disclaimer this may not be a general assertion or it could be restricted to my geographical location. With that being said I think graphic design is so underrated. Lemme tell you why:
1. Salary is low
The salary of a graphic designer is generally low. You may or may not know someone who is making big money working for a big company but for the mere mortal man, his salary is quiet. This is because there has been a saturation of graphic designers of late and everybody is getting into it because they think is easy(Thank you youtube :( ). Also, a lot of designers feel mastering the app is the same as having the skill hereby lacking any skill or creativity. This proceeds to employers not respecting the work of a graphic designer because it's the same design schemes they see over and over again.
2. Everybody thinks it's easy
Knowing how to copy people's designs doesn't make you a designer just as me knowing how to rap all of Kendrick Lamar's albums doesn't make me a highly decorated artist. Yes, it is good to seek inspiration from designers but at some point, the training wheels have to come off. Making your art makes you an artist, and making your designs makes you a graphic designer.
3. Supply and Demand
Well with the 3 months of economics that I was forced to study, the one thing that got stuck in my head is, when supply exceeds demand market price goes down. Well, this knowledge is for the work field too. There are a lot of designers available for work meaning there are a lot of people willing to take less for your work. This is a problem because a lot of these affordable workers are not just copycat designers who only see it as a side hustle but still steal the jobs of the truly passionate ones.
4. Skill Set
Software Engineers take at least 6 months to hone their craft to employable status, data analysts take roughly 3 months. Then you have some designers claiming to be able to do it in 2 weeks. Now don't get me wrong I also had this notion and later got to find out that it's naive. Let's look at it from another angle, your knowledge base of 2 weeks can be reduced to days if you used canvas instead of adobe. There are even websites that can duplicate the same design trends that we claim to draw inspiration from so when you don't up your skill, you either become undervalued or underpaid
Conclusion
I do not wish to step on anyone's toes but the disrespect has to stop. Graphic design is very cool and requires talent and creative instinct that does not appear in two weeks. So to my designers out there keep working, and keep adding more to your craft because the value of any business or brand is its image. You are responsible for how a lot of businesses are perceived and you should be respected.