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Graphics specialist vs interactive designer

The differences between graphics specialists and interactive 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 graphics specialist and an interactive designer. Additionally, an interactive designer has an average salary of $97,929, which is higher than the $56,007 average annual salary of a graphics specialist.

The top three skills for a graphics specialist include graphic design, adobe illustrator and adobe photoshop. The most important skills for an interactive designer are sketch, user experience, and UI.

Graphics specialist vs interactive designer overview

Graphics SpecialistInteractive Designer
Yearly salary$56,007$97,929
Hourly rate$26.93$47.08
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs12,26748,136
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

What does a graphics specialist do?

A graphics specialist is an expert at conceptualizing and developing visual art for businesses or individuals, typically for marketing or information purposes. Moreover, there are also opportunities for employment in the web and media industry. As a graphics specialist, their responsibilities include liaising with clients to identify their needs, understanding the purpose and message of the project, developing proposals, coordinating with team members, and conducting revisions as needed, all while adhering to the goals and deadlines set by the client or management.

What does an interactive designer do?

An Interactive Designer takes the business product and transforms it into a product that the user interacts with perfectly. They support engineering efforts to develop designs and get the details right.

Graphics specialist vs interactive designer salary

Graphics specialists and interactive designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Graphics SpecialistInteractive Designer
Average salary$56,007$97,929
Salary rangeBetween $38,000 And $81,000Between $67,000 And $141,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Bruno, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonCalifornia
Best paying companyZeniMax MediaMeta
Best paying industryFinanceTechnology

Differences between graphics specialist and interactive designer education

There are a few differences between a graphics specialist and an interactive designer in terms of educational background:

Graphics SpecialistInteractive Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Graphics specialist vs interactive designer demographics

Here are the differences between graphics specialists' and interactive designers' demographics:

Graphics SpecialistInteractive Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 53.4% Female, 46.6%Male, 66.8% Female, 33.2%
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 graphics specialist and interactive designer duties and responsibilities

Graphics specialist example responsibilities.

  • Lead the development and execution of several overhead presentations, advertising design, brochure marketing, and desktop publishing initiatives.
  • Create graphics / artwork for screen print, dye-sublimation, embroidery, apparel, fliers, and web graphics.
  • Prepare page layouts for posters, signage, handouts, brochures, business cards, stationery, and direct mail pieces.
  • Edit HTML for menu systems in CBT courses.
  • Work with large format digital printers, plotters, and lamination machines.
  • Create an HTML template defining the look and feel for UNITEC's intranet.
  • Show more

Interactive designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage website properties including design, content and marketing using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
  • Create, implement, and manage web content projects (HTML emails, web sites, digitizing audio/video).
  • Use ASP.NET and XML to automate common workflow tasks due to extremely high volume of designs to be create.
  • Develop a custom object-orient prototyping model in the design of a highly dynamic user interface.
  • Work primarily with JQuery to design/develop full screen overlays and dynamic forms.
  • Develop clean, table-less web sites using valid XHTML and CSS according to standards.
  • Show more

Graphics specialist vs interactive designer skills

Common graphics specialist skills
  • Graphic Design, 12%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 9%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 7%
  • Adobe Indesign, 5%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
  • Visualization, 5%
Common interactive designer skills
  • Sketch, 13%
  • User Experience, 7%
  • UI, 6%
  • Interaction Design, 6%
  • Invision, 4%
  • Visual Design, 4%

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