Exterior designer vs project designer

The differences between exterior designers and project designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an exterior designer and a project designer. Additionally, an exterior designer has an average salary of $93,819, which is higher than the $64,943 average annual salary of a project designer.

The top three skills for an exterior designer include CAD, design concepts and photoshop. The most important skills for a project designer are revit, sketch, and design concepts.

Exterior designer vs project designer overview

	Exterior Designer	Project Designer
Yearly salary	$93,819	$64,943
Hourly rate	$45.11	$31.22
Growth rate	-	1%
Number of jobs	43,807	60,364
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	44	42
Years of experience	4	4

Exterior designer vs project designer salary

Exterior designers and project designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Exterior Designer	Project Designer
Average salary	$93,819	$64,943
Salary range	Between $58,000 And $150,000	Between $47,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	New Mexico
Best paying company	Tesla	Apple
Best paying industry	Automotive	Manufacturing

Differences between exterior designer and project designer education

There are a few differences between an exterior designer and a project designer in terms of educational background:

	Exterior Designer	Project Designer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Business	Architecture
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Exterior designer vs project designer demographics

Here are the differences between exterior designers' and project designers' demographics:

	Exterior Designer	Project Designer
Average age	44	42
Gender ratio	Male, 72.1% Female, 27.9%	Male, 66.5% Female, 33.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 0.4% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 5.8% Asian, 5.2% White, 85.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 1.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 4.6% White, 82.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	13%	23%

Differences between exterior designer and project designer duties and responsibilities

Exterior designer example responsibilities.

Develop customized user interaction models using object-orient prototyping.
Issue mass production drawings for various parts and vehicles.
Assist with cost and weight reports for the Acura MDX.
Create structural concepts, base on style data and underbody negotiation, and develop them into mass production parts.
Optimize production processes reducing unnecessary part cost without losing functionality and performance by designing new shapes or alterations for manufacturing.

Project designer example responsibilities.

Lead efforts to redesign and convert existing self-pace and instructor-le course materials into eLearning and web-base formats.
Provide 2D AutoCAD and 3D Sketchup drawings for client presentations.
Implement AIA layering standards and create file management standards for the office.
Calculate size of ductwork, hydronic piping, plumbing, and gas piping.
Time management, procedure, and field sketch expertise, must be absolute, and perfect.
Prepare and deliver construction documents using Revit and AutoCAD for each project on time and within budget.

Exterior designer vs project designer skills

Common exterior designer skills

CAD, 51%
Design Concepts, 28%
Photoshop, 17%
Design Presentations, 4%

Common project designer skills

Revit, 17%
Sketch, 8%
Design Concepts, 5%
Auto CAD, 5%
SketchUp, 5%
Design Development, 4%