Post job

Apparel designer vs graphic designer/production

The differences between apparel designers and graphic designer/productions 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 a graphic designer/production takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an apparel designer has an average salary of $65,467, which is higher than the $48,619 average annual salary of a graphic designer/production.

The top three skills for an apparel designer include adobe illustrator, tech packs and sketch. The most important skills for a graphic designer/production are graphic design, adobe photoshop, and adobe illustrator.

Apparel designer vs graphic designer/production overview

Apparel DesignerGraphic Designer/Production
Yearly salary$65,467$48,619
Hourly rate$31.47$23.37
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs46,43695,831
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age3738
Years of experience612

What does an apparel designer do?

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.

What does a graphic designer/production do?

A Graphics Designer in production is the person in charge of designing and interpreting ideas pointed out by the client or the company. The graphics designer must use market standard applications and techniques to produce attention-grabbing designs intended to market a product, service, or company. Graphic designers are an integral part of a company's digital marketing, especially over the internet. The graphic designer must have a good eye for style, typesetting, and the use of colors.

Apparel designer vs graphic designer/production salary

Apparel designers and graphic designer/productions have different pay scales, as shown below.

Apparel DesignerGraphic Designer/Production
Average salary$65,467$48,619
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $105,000Between $35,000 And $67,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CAMenlo Park, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaMaryland
Best paying companyFanaticsOptimum Nutrition
Best paying industryManufacturingTechnology

Differences between apparel designer and graphic designer/production education

There are a few differences between an apparel designer and a graphic designer/production in terms of educational background:

Apparel DesignerGraphic Designer/Production
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Apparel designer vs graphic designer/production demographics

Here are the differences between apparel designers' and graphic designer/productions' demographics:

Apparel DesignerGraphic Designer/Production
Average age3738
Gender ratioMale, 32.8% Female, 67.2%Male, 57.0% Female, 43.0%
Race ratioBlack 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, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage18%13%

Differences between apparel designer and graphic designer/production duties and responsibilities

Apparel designer example responsibilities.

  • Develop marketing and brand awareness initiatives through social media outlets; create and manage company Facebook and Houzz profiles.
  • Create detailed conceptual and sketch presentations for senior management seasonally.
  • Prepare PowerPoint documents for client presentation that include furniture and material selections.
  • Select NYC print studios to handle outsource design projects and monitor progress to ensure work are completed on deadline.
  • Design Missy sweater line for domestic sweater manufacturer.

Graphic designer/production example responsibilities.

  • Manage production of products; custom banners, t-shirts, satin flags, from concept to final product.
  • Manage various publications including catalogs, catalog inserts, brochures, mailers and advertising material.
  • Develop and update conference materials, including PowerPoint presentations, posters, handouts, badges, table tents, and folders.
  • Produce corporate identity systems and collateral print materials, print advertising, product/capabilities brochures, direct mail and newsletters.
  • Produce daily, weekly and monthly newsletters in both print and HTML.
  • Create cleaner HTML email templates and help others within the group improve their HTML skills.
  • Show more

Apparel designer vs graphic designer/production skills

Common apparel designer skills
  • Adobe Illustrator, 10%
  • Tech Packs, 8%
  • Sketch, 6%
  • Apparel Design, 6%
  • Technical Design, 5%
  • PLM, 5%
Common graphic designer/production skills
  • Graphic Design, 14%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 9%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 8%
  • Art Direction, 6%
  • Adobe Indesign, 5%
  • Signage, 5%

Browse arts, entertainment, sports, and media jobs