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Designer vs senior designer

The differences between designers and senior 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 designer and a senior designer. Additionally, a senior designer has an average salary of $102,058, which is higher than the $66,347 average annual salary of a designer.

The top three skills for a designer include sketch, customer service and graphic design. The most important skills for a senior designer are sketch, graphic design, and human centered design.

Designer vs senior designer overview

DesignerSenior Designer
Yearly salary$66,347$102,058
Hourly rate$31.90$49.07
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs52,43347,503
Job satisfaction51
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

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.

What does a senior designer do?

Senior designers are typically in charge of realizing design solutions that adhere to the business goals and marketing strategies of an organization. They should be comfortable managing graphics designers and making decisions. They must have extensive knowledge of styles, layout techniques, and graphic design while also managing projects and people effectively. Senior designers have a variety of duties, which include delegating tasks to junior designers, maintaining high-quality standards, and collaborating to improve digital creativity standards.

Designer vs senior designer salary

Designers and senior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

DesignerSenior Designer
Average salary$66,347$102,058
Salary rangeBetween $45,000 And $97,000Between $72,000 And $143,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASeattle, WA
Highest paying stateWashingtonWashington
Best paying companyMetaLyft
Best paying industryTechnologyMedia

Differences between designer and senior designer education

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

DesignerSenior Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Designer vs senior designer demographics

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

DesignerSenior Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 56.9% Female, 43.1%Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0%
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 designer and senior designer duties and responsibilities

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

Senior designer example responsibilities.

  • Identify, plan and lead brainstorming sessions for new blue-sky product opportunities across all boys' lines.
  • Design all marketing collateral within those standards including flyers, ads, conference materials, brochures, and design mailed pieces.
  • Implement HTML and CSS tags.
  • Format designs and media for use in print and web applications; deliver production-ready graphics in HTML and CSS.
  • Design and production of marketing materials, PowerPoint templates for pitch decks, event graphics, various collateral and HTML e-mails.
  • Lead the team in brainstorming sessions and assist with market research and testing.
  • Show more

Designer vs senior designer skills

Common designer skills
  • Sketch, 10%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Graphic Design, 6%
  • CSS, 5%
  • HTML, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
Common senior designer skills
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Graphic Design, 5%
  • Human Centered Design, 4%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • UI, 4%
  • CAD, 4%

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