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Interior design director vs design specialist

The differences between interior design directors and design specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an interior design director and a design specialist. Additionally, an interior design director has an average salary of $88,458, which is higher than the $56,917 average annual salary of a design specialist.

The top three skills for an interior design director include design concepts, photoshop and business development. The most important skills for a design specialist are customer service, sketch, and CAD.

Interior design director vs design specialist overview

Interior Design DirectorDesign Specialist
Yearly salary$88,458$56,917
Hourly rate$42.53$27.36
Growth rate1%1%
Number of jobs43,10368,347
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

Interior design director vs design specialist salary

Interior design directors and design specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Interior Design DirectorDesign Specialist
Average salary$88,458$56,917
Salary rangeBetween $54,000 And $143,000Between $35,000 And $91,000
Highest paying City-Menlo Park, CA
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-BP America Inc
Best paying industry--

Differences between interior design director and design specialist education

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

Interior Design DirectorDesign Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorInterior DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityCornell University

Interior design director vs design specialist demographics

Here are the differences between interior design directors' and design specialists' demographics:

Interior Design DirectorDesign Specialist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 30.2% Female, 69.8%Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9%
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, 1.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 4.6% White, 82.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage23%23%

Differences between interior design director and design specialist duties and responsibilities

Interior design director example responsibilities.

  • Manage the schematic phase and generate all the necessary documents to be submit to the structural and MEP consultants.
  • Work include a broad portfolio of corporate, healthcare, institutional and educational projects.
  • Establish architecture process allowing architecture evolution through contributions
  • Design and draft compression and transfer rubber molds and steel rule dies in SolidWorks.
  • Establish innovative and collaborative mechanical designs and component parts of equipment while using AutoCAD and SolidWorks simultaneously.
  • Establish architecture process allowing architecture evolution through contributions

Design specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage a program of training for designers without cad to get this training.
  • Develop construction drawings using AutoCAD; coordinate bid process and vendor selection; and manage construction process through final punch list.
  • Provide HTML support to the marketing department.
  • Update and maintain corporate website with Dreamweaver.
  • Create and maintain business's customer database in QuickBooks.
  • Implement front end GUI with JavaScript for client side validations.
  • Show more

Interior design director vs design specialist skills

Common interior design director skills
  • Design Concepts, 20%
  • Photoshop, 17%
  • Business Development, 10%
  • Design Process, 9%
  • Leed, 8%
  • Space Planning, 7%
Common design specialist skills
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • Sketch, 7%
  • CAD, 6%
  • Product Knowledge, 6%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
  • Graphic Design, 5%

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