The Importance of Eye Health for Graphic Designers

As such, the need for graphic design services globally has grown significantly over the years. Data from Business Research Insights indicates that the graphic design market was valued at approximately $52 billion in 2024, and researchers expect the numbers to reach $68 billion by 2032.

Aside from the rapid market growth, however, the research also indicates that graphic designers seeking to last among competitors will have to put in more hours to adapt to shifting industry trends. For example, researchers point out that designers are expected to expand their knowledge of technologies like smartphones, tablets, and other Internet of Things (IoT) programs. Meanwhile, more advanced graphic designers are expanding into tech areas like 4D, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, and other technologies.

Still, committing to learning new technologies to further their craft as graphic designers means spending longer hours for work. In the long term, this can negatively impact one’s eye health. In this post, we’ll take a look at the relationship between eye health and graphic design and share some tips for maintaining eye health as a designer:

Eye health and graphic design

As a largely visual profession, a graphic designer’s eye health should be the top priority. Maintaining good eye health can help designers more accurately assess colors, details, and other design elements. Clear vision also means you won’t have to strain or squint while doing design work for long periods. Unfortunately, the hours spent staring at and looking closely at digital screens can harm your eye health.

Eye insurance company VSP Vision Care recently partnered with Workplace Intelligence to assess employee eye health. Their findings indicate that the collective increase in screen time may be hurting employee eye health. The majority of employees have at least one eye problem. The most common issues included blurred vision (41%), dry or itchy eyes (24%), and eye strain or fatigue (23%).

The survey findings included employees across generations and types of work arrangements, from on-site and hybrid to fully remote work. This means that these eye problems are inevitable whether you work for a design agency or as a freelance designer. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to help maintain your eye health as a designer. Below are some tips:

Wear blue light glasses

One of the most commonly discussed topics when it comes to eye health in this digital age is blue light. Blue light exposure is especially a threat to graphic designers, who typically spend long hours working on a screen.

Wearing blue light glasses can help mitigate the risks of blue light exposure by filtering it out. Eyewear retailer Eyebuydirect features a collection of high-quality blue light glasses with options for different blue light lenses. For example, the SightRelax lenses can help relieve symptoms like digital eye strain. When looking for blue light glasses, you may also want to check if the lenses are tinted, which may alter your color perception. Some blue light glasses have a yellow, orange, or amber tint to help filter out blue light, but there are also options for clear ones.

Take breaks from the screen

Aside from trying out blue light glasses, you should also make it a habit to take breaks from your screen. Eye health experts recommend the 20-20-20 rule: Look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

You can also work in other healthy routines into your screen time breaks. For example, you can incorporate some desk or standing workouts to keep yourself fit and healthy. Your screen time breaks could also include hydrating habits like having yourself get a new cup of water to ensure you’re meeting the recommended daily intake of fluid of 6-8 cups, or around 1.5 to 2 liters.

Get the right monitor

Finally, if you work as a graphic designer full-time, it may be worth investing in the right kinds of monitors. Color accuracy, for example, is a crucial spec you should look out for to ensure your work accurately represents your creative vision.

You may also want to consider getting a high-end monitor like Samsung’s ViewFinity monitors, which are made for creative professionals. These monitors offer 4K resolution with a matte finish, which can help reduce eye strain as matte monitors are less likely to reflect light glares. The ViewFinity monitor also features Pantone validation for accurate colors and can display up to a billion colors.