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.
Assistant designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real assistant designer resumes:
- 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.
- Maintain engineering drawings, BOM, and provide detailing and drafting records for better understanding.
- Perform flat sketch design and clothing production, meet weekly deadlines as directed by head designer, and consult with buyers.
- Execute trend and textile international resource.
- Design fashion-forward textile using NedGraphics software.
- Develop new thread combinations, embroidery and embellishment designs, fabric combinations and innovative construction details.
- Design light fixtures to customer and principal specifications, utilizing sheet metal and aluminum extrusion methods using SolidWorks.
- Perform thorough UI functional and regression testing using TestTrack and legacy game building tool.
- Coordinate the day-to-day functions of the user experience research and digital design teams throughout the prototyping process.
- Conduct product design, prototyping, procurement, documentation and implementation of new products from inception through to production.
Assistant designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Assistant Designers are proficient in Sketch, Tech Packs, and Adobe Illustrator. They’re also known for soft skills such as Time-management skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Assistant Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Sketch, 15%
Assisted Designer with color selection, sketch development, proper fit concepts, and preparation of samples for buyer meetings.
- Tech Packs, 9%
Created and organized tech packs and merchandising/marketing materials.
- Adobe Illustrator, 7%
Created line sheets for the Fall 2010, Holiday 2010, and Spring 2010 women's collection utilizing Adobe Illustrator.
- Line Sheets, 5%
Merchandised and assembled line sheets seasonally.
- Trend Research, 4%
Traveled overseas for international trend research and theme inspiration for upcoming seasons.
- Garment Construction, 4%
Generated technical design packages with full garment construction requirements for knit product development.
"sketch," "tech packs," and "adobe illustrator" are among the most common skills that assistant designers use at work. You can find even more assistant designer responsibilities below, including:
Time-management skills. One of the key soft skills for an assistant designer to have is time-management skills. You can see how this relates to what assistant designers do because "graphic designers often work simultaneously on multiple projects, each with a different deadline." Additionally, an assistant designer resume shows how assistant designers use time-management skills: "managed calendar deadlines from product development to initial bulk stage. "
Analytical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling assistant designer duties is analytical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "graphic designers must be able to perceive their work from their consumers’ point of view to ensure that the designs convey the client’s message." According to an assistant designer resume, here's how assistant designers can utilize analytical skills in their job responsibilities: "support design team by conceptual research, line development and data entry. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of assistant designers is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday assistant designer duties, as "graphic designers must communicate with clients, customers, and other designers to ensure that their designs accurately and effectively convey information." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provide clear communications to vendors and factories throughout all phases of product development. "
Artistic ability. A big part of what assistant designers do relies on "artistic ability." You can see how essential it is to assistant designer responsibilities because "graphic designers must be able to create designs that are artistically interesting and appealing to clients and consumers." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical assistant designer tasks: "work with adobe photoshop to edit and add artistic styles to the photos. "
Computer skills. A commonly-found skill in assistant designer job descriptions, "computer skills" is essential to what assistant designers do. Assistant designer responsibilities rely on this skill because "most graphic designers use specialized graphic design software to prepare their designs." You can also see how assistant designer duties rely on computer skills in this resume example: "prepared flat sketches and computer spec package, researched and prepared color and trend boards. "
Creativity. While "creativity" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to assistant designer responsibilities. Much of what an assistant designer does relies on this skill, seeing as "graphic designers must be able to think of new approaches to communicating ideas to consumers." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of assistant designers: "attended design meetings to ensure the vision of the creative directors was being upheld. "
The three companies that hire the most assistant designers are:
- PVH6 assistant designers jobs
- URBN6 assistant designers jobs
- Levi Strauss & Co.5 assistant designers jobs
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Assistant designer vs. Graphic design assistant
Graphic Design Assistants help graphic designers in creating art, fulfilling orders, and managing the studio. They may be budding graphic designers looking for industry experience or creative professionals interested in getting into the graphic designing industry. They should be familiar with the different tools and concepts involved in graphic design. Graphic Design Assistants help lead graphic designers to complete different activities. They may assist by lining, coloring, rendering, and adding finishing touches to the designs. They may also be in charge of packaging physical art and booking shipments to buyers. Graphic Design Assistants should be able to showcase their creative prowess. They are welcome to pitch in designs, critique art, and provide input.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an assistant designer are more likely to require skills like "trend research," "garment construction," "plm," and "auto cad." On the other hand, a job as a graphic design assistant requires skills like "graphic design," "cad," "customer service," and "photography." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Graphic design assistants tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $57,595. In contrast, assistant designers make the biggest average salary, $57,526, in the construction industry.graphic design assistants tend to reach similar levels of education than assistant designers. In fact, graphic design assistants are 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Assistant designer vs. Graphic designer internship
In a graphic design internship, one of the primary responsibilities is to accomplish tasks while under the supervision of more experienced colleagues. An aspiring graphic designer may use this opportunity to observe and participate in designing for various industries, handle different clients, participate in creative meetings, and learn strategies from experts. Furthermore, there may also be technical tasks involving research and analysis, gathering materials, coordinating with vendors, and producing reports and other necessary documentation. They may also be responsible for maintaining a database and responding to calls and inquires.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that assistant designer responsibilities requires skills like "tech packs," "line sheets," "trend research," and "garment construction." But a graphic designer internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "graphic design intern," "blog posts," "adobe creative suite," and "photography."
Graphic designer interns may earn a lower salary than assistant designers, but graphic designer interns earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $41,614. On the other hand, assistant designers receive higher pay in the construction industry, where they earn an average salary of $57,526.graphic designer interns earn similar levels of education than assistant designers in general. They're 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant designer vs. Graphic designer/production
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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, assistant designers are more likely to have skills like "tech packs," "line sheets," "trend research," and "garment construction." But a graphic designer/production is more likely to have skills like "graphic design," "art direction," "adobe indesign," and "signage."
Graphic designer/productions earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $59,531. Assistant designers earn the highest pay from the construction industry, with an average salary of $57,526.When it comes to education, graphic designer/productions tend to earn similar degree levels compared to assistant designers. In fact, they're 1.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Assistant designer vs. Graphic designer, marketing
A graphic designer of marketing specializes in developing creative imagery as part of a company's marketing efforts. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with the marketing team to share insights and strategies, conceptualizing designs in adherence to objectives and deadlines, and preparing presentations. One may also subject designs into various revisions and edits as needed. Furthermore, as a graphic designer, it is also essential to keep abreast of the latest trends and have an understanding of the target audience.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between assistant designers and graphic designers, marketing, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an assistant designer might have more use for skills like "tech packs," "line sheets," "trend research," and "garment construction." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of graphic designers, marketing require skills like "adobe creative suite," "brochures," "blog posts," and "graphic design. "
In general, graphic designers, marketing earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $52,640. The highest-paying industry for an assistant designer is the construction industry.The average resume of graphic designers, marketing showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to assistant designers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of assistant designer
Updated January 8, 2025











