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Senior artist vs production artist

The differences between senior artists and production artists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a senior artist, becoming a production artist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a senior artist has an average salary of $83,394, which is higher than the $61,870 average annual salary of a production artist.

The top three skills for a senior artist include maya, animation and AAA. The most important skills for a production artist are graphic design, adobe photoshop, and adobe creative suite.

Senior artist vs production artist overview

Senior ArtistProduction Artist
Yearly salary$83,394$61,870
Hourly rate$40.09$29.75
Growth rate5%3%
Number of jobs3,66559,103
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4038
Years of experience212

What does a senior artist do?

A senior artist has a variety of duties and responsibilities. These include designing all the concept art, online advertising assets, and graphics, designing and creating marketing brochures, invitations, greeting cards, and other materials, and creating the process for different artwork. Additionally, you will be responsible for identifying client objectives and translating them into an efficient multimedia solution. As a senior artist, you are also expected to create original graphics and user interfaces for multimedia projects.

What does a production artist do?

A production artist is responsible for managing digital content, meeting clients' standard specifications and requests for successful project completion. Production artists must have computer proficiency, especially on utilizing various software tools and applications to create illustrations and layouts. They also work closely with the creative team, cooperating in brainstorming sessions to ensure the consistency for each assigned task. A production artist should be keen on details, adjusting outputs as needed to maintain the highest quality for the actual presentation.

Senior artist vs production artist salary

Senior artists and production artists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior ArtistProduction Artist
Average salary$83,394$61,870
Salary rangeBetween $54,000 And $128,000Between $40,000 And $94,000
Highest paying CityReno, NVSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaWashington
Best paying companyMetaApple
Best paying industryTechnology-

Differences between senior artist and production artist education

There are a few differences between a senior artist and a production artist in terms of educational background:

Senior ArtistProduction Artist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Senior artist vs production artist demographics

Here are the differences between senior artists' and production artists' demographics:

Senior ArtistProduction Artist
Average age4038
Gender ratioMale, 71.8% Female, 28.2%Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%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 Percentage11%13%

Differences between senior artist and production artist duties and responsibilities

Senior artist example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of artists to create a series of space adventure games for the PC.
  • Edit video, write copy for television, radio, and web-base commercials while managing the scheduling of all studio employees.
  • Maintain servers, install software packages for Apple/Mac base computers and maintain editing suites for video and audio production.
  • Design and programme pop-ups using HTML.
  • Mentore team members and conduct Zbrush training.
  • Edit footage, and photography base on authentic styles.
  • Show more

Production artist example responsibilities.

  • Manage print jobs, design, copywriting.
  • Produce and code HTML emails that are browser/email client-friendly, as well code landing pages in CSS.
  • Code web pages with HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and WordPress.
  • Update and maintain CMS website.
  • Work almost daily in the mac studio.
  • Submit sketch approvals to USDA for their review.
  • Show more

Senior artist vs production artist skills

Common senior artist skills
  • Maya, 12%
  • Animation, 7%
  • AAA, 7%
  • ZBrush, 6%
  • In-Game, 6%
  • VFX, 5%
Common production artist skills
  • Graphic Design, 12%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 9%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 7%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 7%
  • Adobe Indesign, 5%
  • Production Art, 5%

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