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The differences between concept artists and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a concept artist, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a concept artist has an average salary of $85,713, which is higher than the $66,347 average annual salary of a designer.
The top three skills for a concept artist include storyboards, maya and animation. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.
| Concept Artist | Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $85,713 | $66,347 |
| Hourly rate | $41.21 | $31.90 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 3,596 | 52,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
The job of a concept artist is to make visual representations of creatures, characters, environments, vehicles, and other artistic assets. You should know about the design and how to create one that needs to blend well with any creative project. Your typical job includes drawing or painting these creative assets and providing references for any ideas you need to illustrate. The general qualifications needed to become a successful concept artist include illustration skills, design understanding, and knowledge of Photoshop.
A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.
Concept artists and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Concept Artist | Designer | |
| Average salary | $85,713 | $66,347 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $130,000 | Between $45,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | Novato, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a concept artist and a designer in terms of educational background:
| Concept Artist | Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between concept artists' and designers' demographics:
| Concept Artist | Designer | |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.3% Female, 25.7% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 7.7% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 11% | 13% |