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Design maker vs freelance designer

The differences between design makers and freelance designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a design maker and a freelance designer. Additionally, a design maker has an average salary of $60,607, which is higher than the $57,260 average annual salary of a freelance designer.

The top three skills for a design maker include R, prototyping and CNC. The most important skills for a freelance designer are sketch, CSS, and HTML.

Design maker vs freelance designer overview

Design MakerFreelance Designer
Yearly salary$60,607$57,260
Hourly rate$29.14$27.53
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs48,85245,914
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

Design maker vs freelance designer salary

Design makers and freelance designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Design MakerFreelance Designer
Average salary$60,607$57,260
Salary rangeBetween $47,000 And $77,000Between $39,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between design maker and freelance designer education

There are a few differences between a design maker and a freelance designer in terms of educational background:

Design MakerFreelance Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Design maker vs freelance designer demographics

Here are the differences between design makers' and freelance designers' demographics:

Design MakerFreelance Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 55.4% Female, 44.6%Male, 48.0% Female, 52.0%
Race ratioBlack 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%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 Percentage13%13%

Differences between design maker and freelance designer duties and responsibilities

Design maker example responsibilities.

  • Develop construction drawings using AutoCAD; coordinate bid process and vendor selection; and manage construction process through final punch list.
  • Tailor slacks, shirts, blazers/sports coats.
  • Develop strategies to deliver a complete well-coordinate project among not only MEP subcontractors but also architectural and structural subcontractors.
  • Recognize for ability to understand, define and troubleshoot problem areas and clearly communicate technical solutions to non-technical users

Freelance designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead the transition from paste-up, typesetting, pasting up page layout to digital ad/page building and web printing.
  • Hand-Code HTML, CSS, JS and PHP for custom design solutions and form processing, validation, and animations.
  • Provide identity and stationery design, web design, HTML / CSS development and WordPress integration (content management system).
  • Image manipulation in platforms such as Photoshop and illustrator as per assign.
  • Develop high-qualityshop drawings for all casework to be build by in-house woodshop.
  • Design websites, landing pages, banner ads, pop-ups, and HTML emails.
  • Show more

Design maker vs freelance designer skills

Common design maker skills
  • R, 51%
  • Prototyping, 29%
  • CNC, 20%
Common freelance designer skills
  • Sketch, 11%
  • CSS, 7%
  • HTML, 6%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 6%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 6%
  • Photography, 5%

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