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The differences between creative 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 a creative designer and a production designer. Additionally, a creative designer has an average salary of $69,771, which is higher than the $54,760 average annual salary of a production designer.
The top three skills for a creative designer include sketch, graphic design and adobe creative suite. The most important skills for a production designer are sketch, graphic design, and adobe creative suite.
| Creative Designer | Production Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $69,771 | $54,760 |
| Hourly rate | $33.54 | $26.33 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,394 | 96,682 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| 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 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.
Creative designers and production designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Designer | Production Designer | |
| Average salary | $69,771 | $54,760 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $101,000 | Between $36,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Internet |
There are a few differences between a creative designer and a production designer in terms of educational background:
| Creative Designer | Production Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | 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 creative designers' and production designers' demographics:
| Creative Designer | Production Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.2% Female, 48.8% | 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% |