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Assistant designer vs senior designer

The differences between assistant designers and senior designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an assistant designer and a senior designer. Additionally, a senior designer has an average salary of $102,058, which is higher than the $52,475 average annual salary of an assistant designer.

The top three skills for an assistant designer include sketch, tech packs and adobe illustrator. The most important skills for a senior designer are sketch, graphic design, and human centered design.

Assistant designer vs senior designer overview

Assistant DesignerSenior Designer
Yearly salary$52,475$102,058
Hourly rate$25.23$49.07
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs47,59847,503
Job satisfaction-1
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

What does an assistant designer do?

Assistant designers act as administrative support to senior designers in creating innovative designs by negotiating with the vendors about the prices of decoration materials. They are keen and up-to-date to the latest fashion and trends by conducting surveys and research. They are exceptionally creative and innovative and have excellent IT skills as they use illustration, typography, and photography layouts in the design process. However, being an assistant designer, career development relies on his/her /her specialism, reputation, and experience depending on how its opportunities are influenced by the company he/she works for.

What does a senior designer do?

Senior designers are typically in charge of realizing design solutions that adhere to the business goals and marketing strategies of an organization. They should be comfortable managing graphics designers and making decisions. They must have extensive knowledge of styles, layout techniques, and graphic design while also managing projects and people effectively. Senior designers have a variety of duties, which include delegating tasks to junior designers, maintaining high-quality standards, and collaborating to improve digital creativity standards.

Assistant designer vs senior designer salary

Assistant designers and senior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Assistant DesignerSenior Designer
Average salary$52,475$102,058
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $73,000Between $72,000 And $143,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASeattle, WA
Highest paying stateWashingtonWashington
Best paying companyPVHLyft
Best paying industryConstructionMedia

Differences between assistant designer and senior designer education

There are a few differences between an assistant designer and a senior designer in terms of educational background:

Assistant DesignerSenior Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Assistant designer vs senior designer demographics

Here are the differences between assistant designers' and senior designers' demographics:

Assistant DesignerSenior Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 28.3% Female, 71.7%Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0%
Race ratioBlack 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%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 Percentage13%13%

Differences between assistant designer and senior designer duties and responsibilities

Assistant designer example responsibilities.

  • Develop marketing and brand awareness initiatives through social media outlets; create and manage company Facebook and Houzz profiles.
  • Direct yarn development team.- propose PLM transitional initiatives.- Collaboratively work to evaluate and elevate in-house design process efficiency.
  • Work in mac format adobe suite programs and pc format u4ia.
  • Generate and update style numbers and BOM's in WebPDM system BlueCherry.
  • Research fashion, textile, make up, accessory, and footwear trends.
  • Acquire in depth training in the PLM and used this system on a daily basis.
  • Show more

Senior designer example responsibilities.

  • Identify, plan and lead brainstorming sessions for new blue-sky product opportunities across all boys' lines.
  • Design all marketing collateral within those standards including flyers, ads, conference materials, brochures, and design mailed pieces.
  • Implement HTML and CSS tags.
  • Format designs and media for use in print and web applications; deliver production-ready graphics in HTML and CSS.
  • Design and production of marketing materials, PowerPoint templates for pitch decks, event graphics, various collateral and HTML e-mails.
  • Lead the team in brainstorming sessions and assist with market research and testing.
  • Show more

Assistant designer vs senior designer skills

Common assistant designer skills
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Tech Packs, 9%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 7%
  • Line Sheets, 5%
  • Trend Research, 4%
  • Garment Construction, 4%
Common senior designer skills
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Graphic Design, 5%
  • Human Centered Design, 4%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • UI, 4%
  • CAD, 4%

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