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Apparel designer vs junior designer

The differences between apparel designers and junior 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 a junior designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an apparel designer has an average salary of $65,467, which is higher than the $53,349 average annual salary of a junior designer.

The top three skills for an apparel designer include adobe illustrator, tech packs and sketch. The most important skills for a junior designer are sketch, graphic design, and adobe creative suite.

Apparel designer vs junior designer overview

Apparel DesignerJunior Designer
Yearly salary$65,467$53,349
Hourly rate$31.47$25.65
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs46,43658,152
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
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 junior designer do?

A junior designer is an entry-level professional who is responsible for creating high-quality designs according to the requirements of clients. Under the supervision of senior designers, junior designers must understand project requirements and projects and use various techniques to create drafts, models, and prototypes. They collaborate with team members to pitch in creative ideas and produce final design solutions that can include banners or logos. Junior designers must also take on specially design tasks and use feedback from other designers to improve.

Apparel designer vs junior designer salary

Apparel designers and junior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Apparel DesignerJunior Designer
Average salary$65,467$53,349
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $105,000Between $43,000 And $65,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CASanta Rosa, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaAlaska
Best paying companyFanaticsNike
Best paying industryManufacturingTechnology

Differences between apparel designer and junior designer education

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

Apparel DesignerJunior Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Apparel designer vs junior designer demographics

Here are the differences between apparel designers' and junior designers' demographics:

Apparel DesignerJunior Designer
Average age3738
Gender ratioMale, 32.8% Female, 67.2%Male, 50.4% Female, 49.6%
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 junior designer 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.

Junior designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage the website and twitter page, write the blog posts and attend numerous fashion shows and sample sale rooms.
  • Coordinate REVIT teaching for inner office/branches.
  • Utilize PowerPoint to create furniture, lighting and final material selection presentations for client meetings.
  • Create PowerPoint templates to be used by clients or other upper management in proposals or live shows.
  • Sketch new designs (by hand and computer aid) add colors and make updates to carry-over styles as necessary.
  • Develop residential designs using Revit.
  • Show more

Apparel designer vs junior designer skills

Common apparel designer skills
  • Adobe Illustrator, 10%
  • Tech Packs, 8%
  • Sketch, 6%
  • Apparel Design, 6%
  • Technical Design, 5%
  • PLM, 5%
Common junior designer skills
  • Sketch, 10%
  • Graphic Design, 9%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 8%
  • Revit, 5%
  • Design Projects, 5%
  • PowerPoint, 4%

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