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Interior design assistant vs designer

The differences between interior design assistants and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an interior design assistant, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a designer has an average salary of $66,347, which is higher than the $47,621 average annual salary of an interior design assistant.

The top three skills for an interior design assistant include space planning, in-home and revit. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.

Interior design assistant vs designer overview

Interior Design AssistantDesigner
Yearly salary$47,621$66,347
Hourly rate$22.89$31.90
Growth rate1%3%
Number of jobs46,70152,433
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4238
Years of experience412

What does an interior design assistant do?

Interior design assistants are professionals who are responsible for providing direct administrative support while assisting interior designers with various tasks. These assistants are required to run errands and contact clients through phones to obtain important information. They are required to visit stores or shop online to obtain a multitude of materials when working on a project. They must assist interior designers in moving furniture and taking photographs of spaces while measuring rooms and items. Interior design assistants must also manage important projects and ensure they are completed on time.

What does a designer do?

A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.

Interior design assistant vs designer salary

Interior design assistants and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Interior Design AssistantDesigner
Average salary$47,621$66,347
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $66,000Between $45,000 And $97,000
Highest paying City-Seattle, WA
Highest paying state-Washington
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between interior design assistant and designer education

There are a few differences between an interior design assistant and a designer in terms of educational background:

Interior Design AssistantDesigner
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorInterior DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Interior design assistant vs designer demographics

Here are the differences between interior design assistants' and designers' demographics:

Interior Design AssistantDesigner
Average age4238
Gender ratioMale, 17.9% Female, 82.1%Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratioBlack 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%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 Percentage23%13%

Differences between interior design assistant and designer duties and responsibilities

Interior design assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage the website and twitter page, write the blog posts and attend numerous fashion shows and sample sale rooms.
  • Create a presentation or sketch mapping out the space.
  • Work extensively on AutoCad, powerpoint, Microsoft suite.
  • Organize and make weekly PowerPoint presentations to local realtors.
  • Review and reply to RFI resulting in delivering successful projects.
  • Create digital 3D render spaces of client projects using Google SketchUp.
  • Show more

Designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead & design all creative content stemming from apparel design to web identity.
  • Manage various PCB designs utilizing state of the art DFM techniques and comply with company standards.
  • Utilize CSS, DHTML, HTML, and JavaScript for cross browser, cross platform compatibility and consistency.
  • Develop different kinds of functions globally, locally for the development of forms using JavaScript, CSS.
  • Transform customer specifications into usable SolidWorks 3D models and assemblies from which all manufacturing are derived.
  • Process ECR's and ECO's using Windchill.
  • Show more

Interior design assistant vs designer skills

Common interior design assistant skills
  • Space Planning, 9%
  • In-Home, 8%
  • Revit, 8%
  • Auto CAD, 8%
  • Administrative Tasks, 7%
  • Design Concepts, 6%
Common designer skills
  • Sketch, 10%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Graphic Design, 6%
  • CSS, 5%
  • HTML, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%

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