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Publications designer vs freelance designer

The differences between publications designers and freelance 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 publications designer and a freelance designer. Additionally, a freelance designer has an average salary of $57,260, which is higher than the $56,121 average annual salary of a publications designer.

The top three skills for a publications designer include graphic design, adobe indesign and adobe creative suite. The most important skills for a freelance designer are sketch, CSS, and HTML.

Publications designer vs freelance designer overview

Publications DesignerFreelance Designer
Yearly salary$56,121$57,260
Hourly rate$26.98$27.53
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs46,01045,914
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

Publications designer vs freelance designer salary

Publications designers and freelance designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Publications DesignerFreelance Designer
Average salary$56,121$57,260
Salary rangeBetween $38,000 And $82,000Between $39,000 And $83,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CA-
Highest paying stateVirginia-
Best paying companyRowland Publishing-
Best paying industryRetail-

Differences between publications designer and freelance designer education

There are a few differences between a publications designer and a freelance designer in terms of educational background:

Publications DesignerFreelance Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Publications designer vs freelance designer demographics

Here are the differences between publications designers' and freelance designers' demographics:

Publications DesignerFreelance Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 39.8% Female, 60.2%Male, 48.0% Female, 52.0%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage13%13%

Differences between publications designer and freelance designer duties and responsibilities

Publications designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage website redesign including copywriting and updating all website content.
  • Assist with all in-house product photography, setting up and styling shots for catalog and advertising use.
  • Design the inner spreads of both books, and complete the typesetting.
  • Revamp the photo studio for better lighting and overall quality of the photography.
  • Provide extensive digital photography for various projects.
  • Maintain and update current manuals for all equipment produce in-house and identify areas for improvement in existing literature.
  • Show more

Freelance designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead the transition from paste-up, typesetting, pasting up page layout to digital ad/page building and web printing.
  • Hand-Code HTML, CSS, JS and PHP for custom design solutions and form processing, validation, and animations.
  • Provide identity and stationery design, web design, HTML / CSS development and WordPress integration (content management system).
  • Image manipulation in platforms such as Photoshop and illustrator as per assign.
  • Develop high-qualityshop drawings for all casework to be build by in-house woodshop.
  • Design websites, landing pages, banner ads, pop-ups, and HTML emails.
  • Show more

Publications designer vs freelance designer skills

Common publications designer skills
  • Graphic Design, 20%
  • Adobe Indesign, 14%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 13%
  • Publication Design, 9%
  • Art Direction, 9%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 8%
Common freelance designer skills
  • Sketch, 11%
  • CSS, 7%
  • HTML, 6%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 6%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 6%
  • Photography, 5%

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