Wage after completion of the "Communication Designer HF" course (formerly HF Communication Design, specializing in visual design)

The courses at Higher Technical College (HF) level qualify you to take on demanding specialist and management tasks or to run a smaller company. With the HF diploma, you have a good chance of increasing your salary.

The salary or salary development depends on various factors, such as the industry, region, size of the company, professional experience, previous education and age. In terms of salary, the question of whether a new position and function in the previous or another company will be taken up with the degree is also decisive.

You can calculate your personal salary prospects in employment with "Salarium", the federal government's salary calculator. We have calculated a possible case to illustrate this. It is intended as an example and shows the statistical average.

Example of a salary increase with the acquisition of a diploma in communication design HF (formerly designer HF communication design, specializing in visual design)

Carlo had completed an apprenticeship as an EFZ photographer and had been working in a small photo agency in Zurich for two years. There he photographed various events (weddings, birthdays, general meetings, etc.), edited the photos digitally and made them available to customers in the desired format (prints or digital). With an EFZ in photography and 2 years of professional experience, the then 22-year-old earned just under CHF 4,530 per month.

Carlo liked the work, but he feared that event photography would become too one-sided for him over time in terms of the tasks and media. He therefore decided to complete the 3-year part-time course to become a communication designer HF (formerly designer HF communication design, specializing in visual design). As he lacked some basic design skills, he first attended a one-year preparatory course, then applied for admission to the course (application dossier with letter of motivation, CV and portfolio, admission interview and conceptual design homework) and was accepted.

After graduating, Carlo made a seamless transition from the photo agency to a recently founded start-up for visual communication in Bern. With his background as a photographer, Carlo was able to make a specific contribution to the team and took on increasingly responsible tasks over the course of seven years - right up to project management. As a qualified communication designer HF with 7 years of specialist responsibility and an increasing management function, the now 34-year-old currently earns just under CHF 6,800, which corresponds to a 50% increase in salary.

This is how you can calculate your salary opportunities: Click on the "Salarium - statistical salary calculator" banner below, then click on the "Calculate salary" button and select the appropriate details:

  • REGION: Select your region / place of work (in the example Zurich, then Bern)
  • INDUSTRY: Select 18 Manufacture of printed matter; Reproduction
  • PROFESSIONAL GROUP: enter the number 81 for "Operating stationary plant and machinery" and then the number 21 for "Scientists, mathematicians and engineers".
  • POSITION IN THE COMPANY: Select the desired position (in the example "without management function", then "lower management").
  • HOURS OF THE WEEK: (42 in the example)
  • EDUCATION Select "Higher vocational training, higher technical college"
  • AGE: Your estimated age after completing the training (in the example 22, then 34)
  • YEARS OF SERVICE: Your number of years of service (in the example 6, then 7)
  • COMPANY SIZE: (in the example "less than 20 employees")
  • 12/13 MONTHLY WAGES: (12 monthly wages in the example)
  • SPECIAL PAYMENTS: No
  • MONTHLY / HOURLY WAGE: Monthly wage

Source:Federal Statistical Office

Note: This sample calculation refers to the data of Salarium 2023, this service is temporarily interrupted. Information can be foundhere. A list of other payroll calculator tools is availablehere.

Click on the image below to access the statistical calculator.

Salarium - Statistischer Lohnrechner

Find now educational institutions that offer courses leading to the diploma in communication design HF (formerly designer HF communication design, specializing in visual design).

Provider of training courses to become a communication designer HF (formerly designer HF communication design, specializing in visual design)