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Graphic arts technician vs freelance designer

The differences between graphic arts technicians 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 graphic arts technician and a freelance designer. Additionally, a freelance designer has an average salary of $57,260, which is higher than the $53,758 average annual salary of a graphic arts technician.

The top three skills for a graphic arts technician include graphic design, adobe indesign and fine arts. The most important skills for a freelance designer are sketch, CSS, and HTML.

Graphic arts technician vs freelance designer overview

Graphic Arts TechnicianFreelance Designer
Yearly salary$53,758$57,260
Hourly rate$25.85$27.53
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs9,38245,914
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

Graphic arts technician vs freelance designer salary

Graphic arts technicians and freelance designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Graphic Arts TechnicianFreelance Designer
Average salary$53,758$57,260
Salary rangeBetween $35,000 And $81,000Between $39,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between graphic arts technician and freelance designer education

There are a few differences between a graphic arts technician and a freelance designer in terms of educational background:

Graphic Arts TechnicianFreelance Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Graphic arts technician vs freelance designer demographics

Here are the differences between graphic arts technicians' and freelance designers' demographics:

Graphic Arts TechnicianFreelance Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 65.9% Female, 34.1%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 graphic arts technician and freelance designer duties and responsibilities

Graphic arts technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage external communications such as brochures and other sales collateral for direct mail from inception to circulation.
  • Plan and conduct professional development workshops on PowerPoint presentations.
  • Utilize a variety of creative media including illustration, photography and digital design to convey ideas beautifully and intelligently.
  • Create printed service menus in QuarkXPress for auto dealership service departments following the recommended maintenance schedules for each auto manufacturer.

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

Graphic arts technician vs freelance designer skills

Common graphic arts technician skills
  • Graphic Design, 33%
  • Adobe Indesign, 28%
  • Fine Arts, 21%
  • Typesetting, 10%
  • Protectors, 8%
Common freelance designer skills
  • Sketch, 11%
  • CSS, 7%
  • HTML, 6%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 6%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 6%
  • Photography, 5%

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