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The differences between associate designers and production 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 associate designer and a production designer. Additionally, an associate designer has an average salary of $56,770, which is higher than the $54,760 average annual salary of a production designer.
The top three skills for an associate designer include sketch, CAD and customer service. The most important skills for a production designer are sketch, graphic design, and adobe creative suite.
| Associate Designer | Production Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $56,770 | $54,760 |
| Hourly rate | $27.29 | $26.33 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,571 | 96,682 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
An Associate Designer helps in developing sketches on paper and in graphic design software. They usually are supervised by the junior staff and interns.
A production designer is responsible for monitoring the visual presentation of a media or theatre production, ensuring the set's adherence to the theme, and presenting visual elements according to the production requirements. Production designers research the current industry trends for creative ideas that would attract the audience, creating outstanding visual pictures throughout the production. In most cases, production designers also operate software systems and tools to suggest graphic effects and support the artistic team for deliverables. A production designer develops all visual plans within the budget goals and discusses adjustments to the production management team as needed.
Associate designers and production designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Associate Designer | Production Designer | |
| Average salary | $56,770 | $54,760 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $80,000 | Between $36,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Internet |
There are a few differences between an associate designer and a production designer in terms of educational background:
| Associate Designer | Production Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between associate designers' and production designers' demographics:
| Associate Designer | Production Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.8% Female, 65.2% | Male, 55.4% Female, 44.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 | 13% | 13% |