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Junior art director vs senior designer

The differences between junior art directors and senior designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a junior art director, becoming a senior designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a senior designer has an average salary of $102,058, which is higher than the $86,890 average annual salary of a junior art director.

The top three skills for a junior art director include graphic design, adobe creative suite and creative concepts. The most important skills for a senior designer are sketch, graphic design, and human centered design.

Junior art director vs senior designer overview

Junior Art DirectorSenior Designer
Yearly salary$86,890$102,058
Hourly rate$41.77$49.07
Growth rate4%3%
Number of jobs20,10547,503
Job satisfaction-1
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4038
Years of experience612

What does a junior art director do?

The job of a junior art director is to plan, assist, and execute the design and creative projects, including websites, emails, magazines, and ad campaigns. Duties may vary but typically include creating presentations and layouts, working closely with other departments on current projects, and organizing and conducting training on branding and design concepts. Additionally, you will be responsible for creating logos, brand standards, and corporate marketing. You are also responsible for creating graphic standards and communication guidelines.

What does a senior designer do?

Senior designers are typically in charge of realizing design solutions that adhere to the business goals and marketing strategies of an organization. They should be comfortable managing graphics designers and making decisions. They must have extensive knowledge of styles, layout techniques, and graphic design while also managing projects and people effectively. Senior designers have a variety of duties, which include delegating tasks to junior designers, maintaining high-quality standards, and collaborating to improve digital creativity standards.

Junior art director vs senior designer salary

Junior art directors and senior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Junior Art DirectorSenior Designer
Average salary$86,890$102,058
Salary rangeBetween $50,000 And $148,000Between $72,000 And $143,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASeattle, WA
Highest paying stateOregonWashington
Best paying companyThe Walt Disney CompanyLyft
Best paying industryProfessionalMedia

Differences between junior art director and senior designer education

There are a few differences between a junior art director and a senior designer in terms of educational background:

Junior Art DirectorSenior Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeHarvard UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Junior art director vs senior designer demographics

Here are the differences between junior art directors' and senior designers' demographics:

Junior Art DirectorSenior Designer
Average age4038
Gender ratioMale, 54.9% Female, 45.1%Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%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 Percentage11%13%

Differences between junior art director and senior designer duties and responsibilities

Junior art director example responsibilities.

  • Direct and manage all photography including composition, talent acquisition and photo manipulation.
  • Lead the interactive team from concept, UX and design to implementation.
  • Key player responsible for the creation and maintenance of SEO ready web pages.
  • Develop portions of the corporate website relative to design, layout and HTML content.
  • Assist in planning and merchandising photographic shoots for large catalog projects and POS displays.
  • Provide clients with top SEO rankings and help them succeed with top-notch designs and online marketing campaigns.
  • Show more

Senior designer example responsibilities.

  • Identify, plan and lead brainstorming sessions for new blue-sky product opportunities across all boys' lines.
  • Design all marketing collateral within those standards including flyers, ads, conference materials, brochures, and design mailed pieces.
  • Implement HTML and CSS tags.
  • Format designs and media for use in print and web applications; deliver production-ready graphics in HTML and CSS.
  • Design and production of marketing materials, PowerPoint templates for pitch decks, event graphics, various collateral and HTML e-mails.
  • Lead the team in brainstorming sessions and assist with market research and testing.
  • Show more

Junior art director vs senior designer skills

Common junior art director skills
  • Graphic Design, 16%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 12%
  • Creative Concepts, 11%
  • Visual Design, 8%
  • Art Direction, 5%
  • Mac, 4%
Common senior designer skills
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Graphic Design, 5%
  • Human Centered Design, 4%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • UI, 4%
  • CAD, 4%

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