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The differences between creative designers and head designers 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 head designer. Additionally, a head designer has an average salary of $116,986, which is higher than the $69,771 average annual salary of a creative designer.
The top three skills for a creative designer include sketch, graphic design and adobe creative suite. The most important skills for a head designer are product design, UI, and sketch.
| Creative Designer | Head Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $69,771 | $116,986 |
| Hourly rate | $33.54 | $56.24 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,394 | 53,876 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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.
The Head Designer is the overall command over the creative team's design and the entire company. The heads of the organization look toward the head designer to provide insights into the artistic path the company will take to achieve a unique brand in the market. The head designer is highly-creative, good in management, and can articulate abstract ideas clearly and relay them to company administrators, customers, and clients. A head designer's responsibilities are to handle the creative team, train each member, and provide guidance in every part of the designing process.
Creative designers and head designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Designer | Head Designer | |
| Average salary | $69,771 | $116,986 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $101,000 | Between $71,000 And $191,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a creative designer and a head designer in terms of educational background:
| Creative Designer | Head Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between creative designers' and head designers' demographics:
| Creative Designer | Head Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.2% Female, 48.8% | Male, 50.1% Female, 49.9% |
| 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% |