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The differences between creative designers and visual 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 visual designer. Additionally, a visual designer has an average salary of $86,495, 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 visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.
| Creative Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $69,771 | $86,495 |
| Hourly rate | $33.54 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,394 | 46,815 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| 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 visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
Creative designers and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average salary | $69,771 | $86,495 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $101,000 | Between $51,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a creative designer and a visual designer in terms of educational background:
| Creative Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between creative designers' and visual designers' demographics:
| Creative Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.2% Female, 48.8% | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% |
| 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% |