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The differences between marketing designers and lead designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a marketing designer and a lead designer. Additionally, a lead designer has an average salary of $110,001, which is higher than the $56,958 average annual salary of a marketing designer.
The top three skills for a marketing designer include sketch, graphic design and digital marketing. The most important skills for a lead designer are sketch, user experience, and architecture.
| Marketing Designer | Lead Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $56,958 | $110,001 |
| Hourly rate | $27.38 | $52.89 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 115,910 | 45,423 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Marketing Designers are marketing employees who specialize in graphic design. They bring the marketing vision to life by creating the actual publicity material. Marketing Designers may be hired directly by a company as an employee or maybe outsourced. They get the primer on the marketing vision and interpret this by illustrating. They consider the company's brand to ensure that their output would still be in line with the image that the company has been projecting in previous marketing campaigns - unless the company is actually rebranding. Marketing Designers also create design packs and presentation materials to ensure that all of the marketing collateral for that particular piece is on-brand.
A lead designer is responsible for addressing the clients' needs of digital content and coordinating with the design team for the planning and innovation of the visual design and concept. Lead designers conduct the initial layout of frameworks and collaborate with the art staff for the specifications and outputs using various software applications and digital boards. They regularly update the client of the project's status, including adjustment and design recommendations, ensuring that the plan meets the client's budget goals. A lead designer must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on running diagnostic tests to improve optimal performance.
Marketing designers and lead designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Marketing Designer | Lead Designer | |
| Average salary | $56,958 | $110,001 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $88,000 | Between $78,000 And $154,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Morgan Stanley | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a marketing designer and a lead designer in terms of educational background:
| Marketing Designer | Lead Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between marketing designers' and lead designers' demographics:
| Marketing Designer | Lead Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0% | Male, 73.2% Female, 26.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 Percentage | 13% | 13% |