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The differences between senior art directors and executive creative 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 senior art director and an executive creative director. Additionally, an executive creative director has an average salary of $162,850, which is higher than the $103,294 average annual salary of a senior art director.
The top three skills for a senior art director include graphic design, photography and creative concepts. The most important skills for an executive creative director are sketch, graphic design, and creative direction.
| Senior Art Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Yearly salary | $103,294 | $162,850 |
| Hourly rate | $49.66 | $78.29 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 9,098 | 72,952 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior art director is responsible for monitoring the creative art department's operations, ensuring the adequacy of resources and materials, as well as high-quality outputs based on clients' specifications and business requirements. Senior art directors implement strategic project management procedures to offer deliverables within the budget goals and set timeframe. They coordinate with the clients for progress updates and inform them of any adjustments as needed. A senior art director should have a keen eye for details and knowledge of various art software applications to assist the team, especially when doing revisions.
An executive creative director is primarily in charge of directing and overseeing creative projects and campaigns. They manage a company's creative team that typically consist of writers, graphic designers, and content specialists. As an executive creative director, it is their duty to set goals and timelines, understand the client or company's needs, conceptualize plans and insights, control the budget, and develop strategies to optimize operations and outcomes. Moreover, they monitor the progress of all projects and campaigns, resolving issues and concerns should there be any.
Senior art directors and executive creative directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Art Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Average salary | $103,294 | $162,850 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $167,000 | Between $88,000 And $300,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | DoorDash | Estée Lauder |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between a senior art director and an executive creative director in terms of educational background:
| Senior Art Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between senior art directors' and executive creative directors' demographics:
| Senior Art Director | Executive Creative Director | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6% | Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 68.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |