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The differences between creative directors and executive creative directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a creative director and an executive creative director. Additionally, an executive creative director has an average salary of $162,850, which is higher than the $137,779 average annual salary of a creative director.
The top three skills for a creative director include graphic design, creative concepts and creative direction. The most important skills for an executive creative director are sketch, graphic design, and creative direction.
| Creative Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Yearly salary | $137,779 | $162,850 |
| Hourly rate | $66.24 | $78.29 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 11,610 | 72,952 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
An executive creative director is primarily in charge of directing and overseeing creative projects and campaigns. They manage a company's creative team that typically consist of writers, graphic designers, and content specialists. As an executive creative director, it is their duty to set goals and timelines, understand the client or company's needs, conceptualize plans and insights, control the budget, and develop strategies to optimize operations and outcomes. Moreover, they monitor the progress of all projects and campaigns, resolving issues and concerns should there be any.
Creative directors and executive creative directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Average salary | $137,779 | $162,850 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $228,000 | Between $88,000 And $300,000 |
| Highest paying City | Menlo Park, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Apple | Estée Lauder |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a creative director and an executive creative director in terms of educational background:
| Creative Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between creative directors' and executive creative directors' demographics:
| Creative Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3% | Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4% |
| 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, 4.4% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |