Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between creative directors & designer and design managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a creative director & designer, becoming a design manager takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a creative director & designer has an average salary of $108,589, which is higher than the $102,637 average annual salary of a design manager.
The top three skills for a creative director & designer include graphic design, sketch and photography. The most important skills for a design manager are sketch, project management, and visualization.
| Creative Director & Designer | Design Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $108,589 | $102,637 |
| Hourly rate | $52.21 | $49.34 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 52,688 | 61,273 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 38 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
Creative Directors and Designers are responsible for leading the creative output and brand representation of a product, service, or organization's publication. Their duties include developing visual communication strategies across design, content, graphics, artworks, and media, implement industry benchmarks, leading creative marketing campaigns, and working with the design team to create product or service design. Besides that, they are involved in setting the creative direction and message of a brand and supervising the creative team in ensuring brand touchpoints consistency. Creative Directors and Designers also monitor project delivery and assist in creative project budgeting.
A design manager is responsible for creating graphic and digital designs, following clients' specifications, and managing project deliverables efficiently. Design managers work closely with the marketing and public relations department, developing strategies to promote the brand to the target audience. They coordinate with the creative team and present the design ideas to the management, ask for final approval, perform revisions as needed, and follow the budget goals. A design manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle the design team's concerns and needs.
Creative directors & designer and design managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Director & Designer | Design Manager | |
| Average salary | $108,589 | $102,637 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $163,000 | Between $69,000 And $150,000 |
| Highest paying City | Menlo Park, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Internet | Technology |
There are a few differences between a creative director & designer and a design manager in terms of educational background:
| Creative Director & Designer | Design Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between creative directors & designer' and design managers' demographics:
| Creative Director & Designer | Design Manager | |
| Average age | 38 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% | Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2% |
| 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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 11.8% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 9% |