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The differences between creative designers and graphic artists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a creative designer and a graphic artist. Additionally, a creative designer has an average salary of $69,771, which is higher than the $54,900 average annual salary of a graphic artist.
The top three skills for a creative designer include sketch, graphic design and adobe creative suite. The most important skills for a graphic artist are graphic design, adobe photoshop, and adobe illustrator.
| Creative Designer | Graphic Artist | |
| Yearly salary | $69,771 | $54,900 |
| Hourly rate | $33.54 | $26.39 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,394 | 8,752 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A creative designer's duties depend on their place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around meeting with clients to learn their needs and preferences, understanding the message and purpose of the subject, developing concepts and ideas, drafting preliminary designs and prototypes for approval, and updating clients on the progress of procedures. In a company setting, a creative designer must coordinate with different teams and personnel for the production processes, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
A graphic artist is either an illustrator or an animator who creates art work that will be used in graphic projects such as advertisements, posters, or even book covers. Although a graphic artist has his/her own style of artwork, he/she may be often commissioned to create art specifically for a particular project. A graphic artist may work with a graphic designer in order to convey the overall message of a project. The portfolio of a graphic artist includes cartoons, illustrations, and graphic novels.
Creative designers and graphic artists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Designer | Graphic Artist | |
| Average salary | $69,771 | $54,900 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $101,000 | Between $35,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Bellevue, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Parsons |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Non Profits |
There are a few differences between a creative designer and a graphic artist in terms of educational background:
| Creative Designer | Graphic Artist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | 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 creative designers' and graphic artists' demographics:
| Creative Designer | Graphic Artist | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.2% Female, 48.8% | Male, 54.6% Female, 45.4% |
| 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% |