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The differences between production designers and visual 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 production designer and a visual designer. Additionally, a visual designer has an average salary of $86,495, which is higher than the $54,760 average annual salary of a production designer.
The top three skills for a production designer include sketch, graphic design and adobe creative suite. The most important skills for a visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.
| Production Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $54,760 | $86,495 |
| Hourly rate | $26.33 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 96,682 | 46,815 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A production designer is responsible for monitoring the visual presentation of a media or theatre production, ensuring the set's adherence to the theme, and presenting visual elements according to the production requirements. Production designers research the current industry trends for creative ideas that would attract the audience, creating outstanding visual pictures throughout the production. In most cases, production designers also operate software systems and tools to suggest graphic effects and support the artistic team for deliverables. A production designer develops all visual plans within the budget goals and discusses adjustments to the production management team as needed.
A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
Production designers and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average salary | $54,760 | $86,495 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $82,000 | Between $51,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Internet | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a production designer and a visual designer in terms of educational background:
| Production Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between production designers' and visual designers' demographics:
| Production Designer | Visual Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.4% Female, 44.6% | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% |
| 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% |