Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between game artists and visual designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a game artist, becoming a visual designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a game artist has an average salary of $86,932, which is higher than the $86,495 average annual salary of a visual designer.
The top three skills for a game artist include animation, maya and sketch. The most important skills for a visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.
| Game Artist | Visual Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $86,932 | $86,495 |
| Hourly rate | $41.79 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 5,040 | 46,815 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
This individual is tasked with just one thing, and that is to create 2D or 3D art for visual elements in video games. Their task is crucial in the process of creating games. They visualize how a game will look and ensure it comes out exactly that way. They design a few preliminary sketches and develop them according to the general style of the video game. They are required to work on components like characters, textures, vehicles, colors, lighting, objects, and environment.
A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
Game artists and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Game Artist | Visual Designer | |
| Average salary | $86,932 | $86,495 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $133,000 | Between $51,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | Las Vegas, NV | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a game artist and a visual designer in terms of educational background:
| Game Artist | Visual Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between game artists' and visual designers' demographics:
| Game Artist | Visual Designer | |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.0% Female, 30.0% | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | 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 Percentage | 11% | 13% |