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Curriculum designer vs designer

The differences between curriculum designers and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a curriculum designer, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a designer has an average salary of $66,347, which is higher than the $54,176 average annual salary of a curriculum designer.

The top three skills for a curriculum designer include subject matter experts, course content and project management. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.

Curriculum designer vs designer overview

Curriculum DesignerDesigner
Yearly salary$54,176$66,347
Hourly rate$26.05$31.90
Growth rate7%3%
Number of jobs44,75152,433
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4438
Years of experience412

What does a curriculum designer do?

A curriculum designer creates and implements educational programs in schools, colleges, and other organizations that offer training and educational services. They usually work with teachers and academic administrators in establishing guidelines, academic roadmaps, and policies. A curriculum designer is also responsible for creating lesson plans and learning materials, conducting research and assessments, establishing curriculum timelines, and analyzing feedback from students, teachers, and administrators. They also monitor the students' academic progress to be able to make curriculum adjustments or changes when necessary.

What does a designer do?

A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.

Curriculum designer vs designer salary

Curriculum designers and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Curriculum DesignerDesigner
Average salary$54,176$66,347
Salary rangeBetween $38,000 And $76,000Between $45,000 And $97,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSeattle, WA
Highest paying stateConnecticutWashington
Best paying companyEdelman Financial EnginesMeta
Best paying industryInsuranceTechnology

Differences between curriculum designer and designer education

There are a few differences between a curriculum designer and a designer in terms of educational background:

Curriculum DesignerDesigner
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorElementary EducationGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Curriculum designer vs designer demographics

Here are the differences between curriculum designers' and designers' demographics:

Curriculum DesignerDesigner
Average age4438
Gender ratioMale, 36.9% Female, 63.1%Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 5.5% White, 62.9% 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 Percentage16%13%

Differences between curriculum designer and designer duties and responsibilities

Curriculum designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead the virtualization of military training exercises and provide periods of instruction using virtual simulations.
  • Coach SMEs on content development, delivery techniques and facilitation skills.
  • Create storyboards for elearning solutions, including activities and knowledge checks.
  • Develop practical working solutions to address performance gaps using ADDIE model.
  • Develop animations, audio, video, scenarios, and graphics into engaging eLearning courses.
  • Conduct training session with peers, contractors and customer SMEs on training development systems and tools.
  • Show more

Designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead & design all creative content stemming from apparel design to web identity.
  • Manage various PCB designs utilizing state of the art DFM techniques and comply with company standards.
  • Utilize CSS, DHTML, HTML, and JavaScript for cross browser, cross platform compatibility and consistency.
  • Develop different kinds of functions globally, locally for the development of forms using JavaScript, CSS.
  • Transform customer specifications into usable SolidWorks 3D models and assemblies from which all manufacturing are derived.
  • Process ECR's and ECO's using Windchill.
  • Show more

Curriculum designer vs designer skills

Common curriculum designer skills
  • Subject Matter Experts, 9%
  • Course Content, 7%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Curriculum Design, 6%
  • Curriculum Development, 6%
  • Training Programs, 6%
Common designer skills
  • Sketch, 10%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Graphic Design, 6%
  • CSS, 5%
  • HTML, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%

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