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The differences between head designers and visual 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 head designer and a visual designer. Additionally, a head designer has an average salary of $116,986, which is higher than the $86,495 average annual salary of a visual designer.
The top three skills for a head designer include product design, UI and sketch. The most important skills for a visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.
| Head Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $116,986 | $86,495 |
| Hourly rate | $56.24 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 53,876 | 46,815 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
The Head Designer is the overall command over the creative team's design and the entire company. The heads of the organization look toward the head designer to provide insights into the artistic path the company will take to achieve a unique brand in the market. The head designer is highly-creative, good in management, and can articulate abstract ideas clearly and relay them to company administrators, customers, and clients. A head designer's responsibilities are to handle the creative team, train each member, and provide guidance in every part of the designing process.
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.
Head designers and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Head Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average salary | $116,986 | $86,495 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $191,000 | Between $51,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a head designer and a visual designer in terms of educational background:
| Head Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | 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 head designers' and visual designers' demographics:
| Head Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.1% Female, 49.9% | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 | 13% | 13% |