Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between apparel designers and architectural designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an apparel designer, becoming an architectural designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an apparel designer has an average salary of $65,467, which is higher than the $59,122 average annual salary of an architectural designer.
The top three skills for an apparel designer include adobe illustrator, tech packs and sketch. The most important skills for an architectural designer are sketch, sketchup, and BIM.
| Apparel Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $65,467 | $59,122 |
| Hourly rate | $31.47 | $28.42 |
| Growth rate | 3% | -3% |
| Number of jobs | 46,436 | 54,358 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 37 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
Apparel designers, also known as clothing or fashion designers, conceptualize and produce items of clothing. They frequently specialize in one type of design, like active, casual, or evening wear. Typical duties include monitoring current fashion trends and forecast future ones, sketching new designs, choosing patterns and fabrics to utilize in garments, and supervising production. They may present items to creative directors, clients, or retailers to determine if the garments are to be conventionally designed or mass-produced.
An Architectural Designer is specialized in planning and designing structures/urban landscapes. They ensure that company policies and standards are maintained when providing services to clients.
Apparel designers and architectural designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Apparel Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Average salary | $65,467 | $59,122 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $105,000 | Between $45,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Vermont |
| Best paying company | Fanatics | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Professional |
There are a few differences between an apparel designer and an architectural designer in terms of educational background:
| Apparel Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Architecture |
| Most common college | Cornell University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between apparel designers' and architectural designers' demographics:
| Apparel Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Average age | 37 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.8% Female, 67.2% | Male, 70.1% Female, 29.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 11.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 18% | 6% |