How To Become A Custom Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a custom designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Abby Guido

The roles of a custom designer depend on their job lines or business. They usually work together to create a product design and satisfy consumers' expectations and desires, compile and review data to decide the right procedures, draft plans, and generate tests or prototypes for consumer acceptance. In addition, as a custom designer, an active line of contact with the artistic and development staff is necessary to ensure the precision and efficiency of the finished product.

Creativity is one of the major skills for custom designers to have. So, they must be able to think of new approaches to communicating ideas to consumers and possess excellent analytical skills.

As a custom designer, they can make up to $34.1 an hour, which is roughly an annual salary of $70,937. Additionally, custom designers are known to earn anywhere from $47,000 to $105,000 a year.

What general advice would you give to a custom designer?

Abby Guido

Assistant Professor, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University

We've all heard the buzz about networking, and there is so much buzz because it works. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is both up to date and active. Connect with all of your past professors, classmates, and anyone and everyone you meet in a professional setting. I often tell students to get into the habit of searching for any classroom guests, or guest lecturers, to connect, thank them for their time, and build their network. Share content. Write articles, or reshare those you find interesting.

Every job I have ever received in my career has been through someone else I know. I share this with students to help them see the value in relationships. I always remember the students that took the time to write a handwritten thank-you note. And I think of them when I get an email asking if I know any students are looking for work.

ScoreCustom DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,230

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.2

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 10.42%

Black or African American 3.42%

Hispanic or Latino 10.63%

Unknown 4.99%

White 70.17%

Gender

female 55.61%

male 44.39%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress level

4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a custom designer

Explore custom designer education requirements

Most common custom designer degrees

Bachelor's

50.5 %

Associate

25.3 %

High School Diploma

12.1 %

Start to develop specific custom designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Sketch	13.02%
Customer Orders	13.01%
Customer Service	11.49%
Customer Specifications	7.67%
CAD	5.82%

Complete relevant custom designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New custom designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a custom designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real custom designer resumes.

Research custom designer duties and responsibilities

Accomplish a theme redesign using css edits and html edits for a not for profit children's social network helpline.
Design and code responsive email templates to current industry standards using CSS, HTML and some JSON.
Develop functional wireframes and GUI prototypes in HTML using Dreamweaver MX.
Perform QC test on the fabric to ensure it meet customer requirements.

Prepare your custom designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your custom designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a custom designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable custom designer resume templates

Build a professional custom designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your custom designer resume.