How To Become A Design Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a design editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Bradley Shreve

The average design editor salary is $55,142. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an graphic design major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a design editor. Design editors with a Master Certified Web Professional - Designer (CWP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a design editor?

Bradley Shreve

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.

ScoreDesign EditorUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,142

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.27%

Black or African American 3.59%

Hispanic or Latino 8.15%

Unknown 4.59%

White 76.13%

Gender

female 50.65%

male 49.35%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a design editor

Explore design editor education requirements

Most common design editor degrees

Bachelor's

78.7 %

Associate

9.6 %

Master's

7.3 %

Start to develop specific design editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Layout Design	13.65%
Adobe Photoshop	9.91%
Adobe Indesign	8.95%
Editorial Content	7.68%
Video Production	6.36%

Complete relevant design editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New design editors 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 design editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real design editor resumes.

Research design editor duties and responsibilities

Manage international man-made fiber market research/publishing company and supervise editorial content and sales of industry statistical journal.
Develop the web page by using HTML, CSS.
Produce viral video campaigns to boost SEO.
Design and create all graphics and animation.

Prepare your design editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your design editor 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 design editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable design editor resume templates

Build a professional design editor 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 design editor resume.