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Magazine designer vs art director

The differences between magazine designers and art directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a magazine designer and an art director. Additionally, an art director has an average salary of $88,367, which is higher than the $52,372 average annual salary of a magazine designer.

The top three skills for a magazine designer include photo shoots, adobe indesign and adobe creative suite. The most important skills for an art director are graphic design, art direction, and creative concepts.

Magazine designer vs art director overview

Magazine DesignerArt Director
Yearly salary$52,372$88,367
Hourly rate$25.18$42.48
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs47,33911,472
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age4040
Years of experience66

Magazine designer vs art director salary

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

Magazine DesignerArt Director
Average salary$52,372$88,367
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $92,000Between $57,000 And $135,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Washington
Best paying company-The Walt Disney Company
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between magazine designer and art director education

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

Magazine DesignerArt Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaHarvard University

Magazine designer vs art director demographics

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

Magazine DesignerArt Director
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 50.6% Female, 49.4%Male, 57.4% Female, 42.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between magazine designer and art director duties and responsibilities

Magazine designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and develop a stream line Intranet site for better communication purposes and quicker access to documents and company information
  • Create a dynamically updating, database driven website for updating faculty publications and seminars with a custom content administration system.
  • Use architectural and structural-base external reference drawings files as backgrounds for communication, electrical, HVAC mechanical and structural revisions.

Art director example responsibilities.

  • Manage a small group of graphic artists for PC/Mac catalog.
  • Lead the conception, design and execution of cross channel initiatives for healthcare and pharmaceutical clients.
  • Monitor the day-to-day activities on projects working with editorial, design and technical teams to execute and achieve project goals.
  • Collaborate on marketing strategies and concept creation for sketch presentations, and photo shoots with talent.
  • Utilize working knowledge of HTML, CSS and PHP in the creation of web sites and social media campaigns.
  • Perform vast typesetting and paste-up duties.
  • Show more

Magazine designer vs art director skills

Common magazine designer skills
  • Photo Shoots, 32%
  • Adobe Indesign, 19%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 18%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 13%
  • Concept Development, 10%
  • Digital Materials, 9%
Common art director skills
  • Graphic Design, 11%
  • Art Direction, 7%
  • Creative Concepts, 7%
  • Sketch, 7%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 5%

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