Post job

Assistant designer vs visual designer

The differences between assistant designers and visual 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 visual designer. Additionally, a visual designer has an average salary of $86,495, 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 visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.

Assistant designer vs visual designer overview

Assistant DesignerVisual Designer
Yearly salary$52,475$86,495
Hourly rate$25.23$41.58
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs47,59846,815
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
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 visual designer do?

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.

Assistant designer vs visual designer salary

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

Assistant DesignerVisual Designer
Average salary$52,475$86,495
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $73,000Between $51,000 And $143,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASan Bruno, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonCalifornia
Best paying companyPVHByteDance
Best paying industryConstructionStart-up

Differences between assistant designer and visual designer education

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

Assistant DesignerVisual Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Assistant designer vs visual designer demographics

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

Assistant DesignerVisual Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 28.3% Female, 71.7%Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9%
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 visual 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

Visual designer example responsibilities.

  • Design, project manage, and build retail stores from sketch to completion.
  • Manage website redesign including copywriting and updating all website content.
  • Produce and deliver HTML5, CSS3 and graphical items.
  • Design team brand and logo for organization.
  • Provide approved design in HTML5 to web developer for publishing.
  • Utilize expertise in Photoshop CS6, HTML5/CSS, Squarespace, and JavaScript.
  • Show more

Assistant designer vs visual designer skills

Common assistant designer skills
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Tech Packs, 9%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 7%
  • Line Sheets, 5%
  • Trend Research, 4%
  • Garment Construction, 4%
Common visual designer skills
  • Sketch, 19%
  • Visual Design, 8%
  • Graphic Design, 5%
  • UI, 5%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • Visualization, 4%

Browse arts, entertainment, sports, and media jobs