How To Become a Lead Designer

Summary. We reviewed real candidate profiles to learn the best path to become a lead designer. We'll guide you through the education, experiences, and skills hiring managers look for in a lead designer.

  • Most companies require a lead designer to have a bachelor's degree degree in a related field, such as graphic design or drafting and design.

  • It's important to have relevant work experience, with typical job requirements ranging from 2-4 years in related fields.

  • Common job titles before becoming a lead designer include designer, graphic designer, and senior designer.

  • Hiring managers expect a lead designer to have soft skills such as analytical skills, artistic ability, and communication skills.

  • Once you have all the required skills and experience, it doesn't take any job training to become a lead designer.

  • Getting a certification as a Certified Interior Designer (NCIDQ) will help you to earn more as a lead designer.

Before becoming a lead designer, 64.2% earned their bachelor's degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master's degree, 9.3% lead designers went for the extra education. If you're wanting to pursue this career, it may be possible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most lead designers have a college degree. But about one out of every seven lead designers didn't attend college at all.

Those lead designers who do attend college, typically earn either graphic design degrees or drafting and design degrees. Less commonly earned degrees for lead designers include mechanical engineering degrees or fine arts degrees.

How to become a Lead Designer in 6 steps:

  • Step 1: Explore lead designer education
  • Step 2: Develop lead designer skills
  • Step 3: Complete relevent training/internship
  • Step 4: Research lead designer duties
  • Step 5: Prepare your resume
  • Step 6: Get lead designer experience

Key Steps To Become a Lead Designer

  1. Explore Lead Designer Education

    If you're interested in becoming a lead designer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 64.2% of lead designers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.3% of lead designers have master's degrees. Even though most lead designers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

    Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a lead designer. When we researched the most common majors for a lead designer, we found that they most commonly have graphic design, drafting and design and mechanical engineering.

    Lead Designer Degrees

    Bachelors

    64.2 %

    Associate

    19.5 %

    Masters

    9.3 %

    Lead Designer MajorPercentages
    Graphic Design27.70%
    Drafting And Design9.30%
    Mechanical Engineering8.20%
    Fine Arts7.60%
    Other Degrees47.20%

  2. Develop Lead Designer Skills

    It'll be a good idea to develop lead designer skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in lead designer job descriptions:

    SkillsPercentages
    Sketch13.63%
    User Experience5.95%
    Architecture5.26%
    UI4.96%
    Design Solutions4.69%
    Show More

  3. Complete Relevent Training/Internship

    Lead designers spend an average of None on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new lead designers learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time it takes to gain competency as a lead designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead designer resumes.

    Average Amount Of Time At Training

    None

    Less than 1 month

    1-3 months

    3-6 months

    6-12 months

    1-2 years

  4. Research Lead Designer Duties

    When you decide to become a lead designer, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most lead designer jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:

    • Lead development of HTML5, CSS3 and mobile platform prototypes.
    • Lead team in fit meetings and collaborate with TD on sketch updates.
    • Lead & design all creative content stemming from apparel design to web identity.
    • Prepare HTML, CSS and JavaScript coding guides and best practices, and implement, enforce through peer code reviews.
    • Provide expertise skills in CSS, dynamic HTML, java script, and Java development languages.
    • Develop interactive UI features, database schema design, security module design and development.

  5. Get Lead Designer Experience

    Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a lead designer. The most common roles before becoming a lead designer include designer, graphic designer team lead and senior designer.

    Lead Designer
    Sales/Marketing
    Marketing Coordinator
    Freelance Designer
    Sales/Marketing
    Instructor
    Designer
    General Contractor
    Project Engineer
    Senior Designer
    General Contractor
    Consultant
    Developer
    Industrial Design Internship
    Industrial Designer
    Design Engineer
    Junior Graphic Designer
    Graphic Designer
    Senior Designer

  6. Prepare Your Resume

    Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Lead Designer Resume templates

    Build a professional Lead Designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Lead Designer resume.

    Lead Designer Resume
    Lead Designer Resume
    Lead Designer Resume
    Lead Designer Resume
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    Lead Designer Resume
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    Lead Designer Resume

  7. Apply For a Lead Designer Job

    With your ready resume, it's time to start searching for a new job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

    Lead Designer Jobs

    8. How To Become a Lead Designer
    How To Become a Lead Designer Career Overview
Top Lead Designer Jobs Near You

How To Become a Lead Designer Without A Degree

Becoming a lead designer without a degree is possible with the right approach. One way is to start as a designer or freelance designer, where you can learn the ropes and gain practical experience. You can also seek out mentorship from experienced lead designers, participate in online courses, or earn lead designer certifications. Building a strong network, staying up-to-date with industry trends, and having a positive attitude can also increase your chances of success in this career path.

With the right courses, you can start a successful career as a lead designer.

1. User Experience Design Immersive (Full-time)

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40 hours; 12 weeks, Full-time

Launch a future-proof career designing digital experiences that power revenue, user loyalty, and product success. Distinguish yourself as a designer by compiling a portfolio to showcase solo, group, and client projects to employers based on UI design and Agile methodologies...

2. User Experience Design (Part Time)

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Online

20 hours; 10 weeks, Part-time

Translate user wants and needs into intuitive digital experiences that power revenue, loyalty, and product success. Build confidence and credibility to tackle complex design problems on the job. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...

3. Design of Everyday Things

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This course provides a summary of key concepts from the first two chapters of The Design of Everyday Things (Revised and Expanded Edition, November 2013) by Don Norman. It's intended to be enjoyable and informative...

4. Product Design

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There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. This course is designed to help you materialize your game-changing idea and transform it into a product that you can build a business...

5. Graphic Design Masterclass - Learn GREAT Design

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As you can see, this course is updated frequently with new lessons, projects and resources! November 2022 -Coming soon! The History of GraphicDesignStyles! August 2022 -NEW Section! Learn to Create a CustomBrand PresentationMockup inAdobe PhotoshopJanuary...

6. Graphic Design Mastery: The FULL Branding & Design Process

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Follows the FULL Graphic Design Process for A Company: Logo, Ad, Social Media, T-Shirt, Package, Website Design & More! This ambitious class aims to tackle the entire branding and design process. We will dive deep...

7. Visual Design (Part Time)

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Gain the vocabulary and tools to tackle diverse design challenges on the job. Kickstart your portfolio and create beautiful, responsive designs for the web. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...

8. Intro to UX Design

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2 hours; 1 week, 2 hours live

Are you interested in UX Design, but have no prior experience or an idea of where to start? You’ve come to the right place! In this two-hour livestream, we’ll explore the decision-making process that separates a good user experience from a great one, and learn some tools that you can implement in your own UX process today. All in real time, taught by an industry professional. Come learn the basics and gain the skills you need to begin your UX Design journey!...

9. Graphic Design MasterClass- Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign

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Graphic design & Advertising Masterclass: Do you want to learn graphic design & advertising from scratch? well, Ive tried to squeeze my academic studying of advertising in the faculty of applied arts & experience in...

10. User Experience Design & User Interface Design Fundamentals

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This course covers the basics of User Experience Design and the fundamentals of User Interface Design since it helps tremendously to have a basic understanding of how graphical user interfaces work when designing a UserExperience...

11. Digital Design Masterclass For Graphic Designers

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JUSTADDED! The 35 Page Pdf Resource -TheGuide to Digital Design! The Social Media Edition! The future of design is digital. This course was designed to get graphic designers up to speed on the latest and...

12. Learn Figma: User Interface Design Essentials - UI/UX Design

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Do you want to become a UI/UX designer but you don't know where to start? This course will allow you to develop your user interface design skills and you can add UI designer to your...

13. Master Graphic Design & Software with Practical Projects

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Master Graphic Design and Adobe Design Software By Doing Popular Design Projects Do you like to learn by doing practical real-world projects? This project-based course is extensive, starting at beginner level projects and moving all...

14. Logo Design Masterclass: Learn Logo Design and Illustrator

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15. User Experience Design Essentials - Adobe XD UI UX Design

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Are you excited to get into the world of UI/UXbut you don't know where to start?This course will allow you to add UXdesigner to your CV & start getting paid for your new skills. Hi...

16. Logo Design Mastery In Adobe Illustrator

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NEW! September 2022 - A 100+ page downloadable PDF Guide toLogoDesign Theory! NEW! May 2021 - A Client Presentation Template inAdobe IllustratorThis powerful extensive class trains you in all aspects of the logo design process...

17. Graphic Design Bootcamp: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

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UPDATED! Now featuring over 15 hours of on-demand content, including getting your design portfolio up and running online using Adobe Portfolio and Behance! Welcome to the Graphic Design Bootcamp! This course has over 6,000 5-star...

18. Become A Logo Designer

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Every business, every brand, and every product in the world need a logo. A logo designer has a huge and lucrative clientele. But there's more! Providing logo design services is a great gateway to forging...

19. Graphic Design Masterclass Intermediate: The NEXT Level

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NEWCONTENTADDED FREQUENTLY! Oct 2021 - New - Creating effective Highlights & Shadows on mockupsJune 2021 - New - Create aDynamic Seamless InstagramCarousel Post! April 2021 - New - TheGuide toPrintDesign 22 page pdf resource April...

20. Adobe XD Mega Course - User Experience Design

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Updated May 19, 2023