Creative director vs design director

The differences between creative directors and design directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a creative director, becoming a design director takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a creative director has an average salary of $137,779, which is higher than the $132,823 average annual salary of a design director.

The top three skills for a creative director include graphic design, creative concepts and creative direction. The most important skills for a design director are sketch, human centered design, and product design.

Creative director vs design director overview

	Creative Director	Design Director
Yearly salary	$137,779	$132,823
Hourly rate	$66.24	$63.86
Growth rate	4%	3%
Number of jobs	11,610	48,337
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	40	38
Years of experience	6	12

What does a creative director do?

A creative director is an individual who creates and maintains a vision for a company's products and branding through digital, print, and film installations. Creative directors supervise and innovative staff team such as graphic designers and artists to discuss and plan the vision's layout and visuals. They also meet with clients or marketing and advertising departments to create designs and make the necessary changes to the systems. Most creative directors must have a bachelor's degree in fine arts and should build work portfolios while starting their careers as graphic designers or photographers.

What does a design director do?

A design director spearheads and oversees design projects in a company or organization. They typically have the authority to lead the creative and design teams, make significant decisions, delegate responsibilities, set goals and schedules, manage budgets and resources, and direct the project's cycle from planning to execution. They also coordinate with clients and solve issues when any arise. Additionally, a design director leads and encourages teams to reach goals, all while implementing standards and policies, developing new ones when necessary.

Creative director vs design director salary

Creative directors and design directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Creative Director	Design Director
Average salary	$137,779	$132,823
Salary range	Between $82,000 And $228,000	Between $82,000 And $212,000
Highest paying City	Menlo Park, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Apple	Proenza Schouler
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between creative director and design director education

There are a few differences between a creative director and a design director in terms of educational background:

	Creative Director	Design Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Graphic Design
Most common college	Harvard University	University of Pennsylvania

Creative director vs design director demographics

Here are the differences between creative directors' and design directors' demographics:

	Creative Director	Design Director
Average age	40	38
Gender ratio	Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3%	Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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	11%	13%

Differences between creative director and design director duties and responsibilities

Creative director example responsibilities.

Manage designers and lead entire in-house healthcare creative department.
Manage all social media outlets and create Youtube channel.
Create, direct, and produce engaging videos and manage Instagram page.
Manage staff including designers, producers, HTML designers, creative writers, and developers; interview and select candidates.
Manage multiple social media profiles (corporate twitter accounts and blogs) to strategically increase readership and draw website traffic.
Develop and manage business-to-business PowerPoint presentation service that create new business opportunities and increase revenue for the company.

Design director example responsibilities.

Delegate and manage technical and cad team; fittings; and associate designers.
Manage and grow brand s social media outlets; Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
Manage product backlog and lead agile team in shipping SaaS products from ideation to delivery.
Design, manage, and execute development of all products, from concept sketch through production.
Manage the creation and implementation of new design tools, and modifications to the RF design specifications.
Manage REVIT models for various BIM projects including updating, cleaning, and linking arch models for MEP design.

Creative director vs design director skills

Common creative director skills

Graphic Design, 6%
Creative Concepts, 6%
Creative Direction, 6%
Video Production, 5%
Photography, 5%
Digital Marketing, 4%

Common design director skills

Sketch, 12%
Human Centered Design, 8%
Product Design, 6%
User Experience, 5%
Architecture, 5%
UI, 4%

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Creative Director
Creative Director vs Design Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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