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The differences between apparel designers and visual 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 visual designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a visual designer has an average salary of $86,495, which is higher than the $65,467 average annual salary of an apparel designer.
The top three skills for an apparel designer include adobe illustrator, tech packs and sketch. The most important skills for a visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.
| Apparel Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $65,467 | $86,495 |
| Hourly rate | $31.47 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 46,436 | 46,815 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 37 | 38 |
| 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.
A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
Apparel designers and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Apparel Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average salary | $65,467 | $86,495 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $105,000 | Between $51,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Fanatics | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Start-up |
There are a few differences between an apparel designer and a visual designer in terms of educational background:
| Apparel Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Cornell University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between apparel designers' and visual designers' demographics:
| Apparel Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average age | 37 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.8% Female, 67.2% | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% |
| 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, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 18% | 13% |