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Senior designer vs junior designer

The differences between senior designers and junior 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 senior designer and a junior designer. Additionally, a senior designer has an average salary of $102,058, which is higher than the $53,349 average annual salary of a junior designer.

The top three skills for a senior designer include sketch, graphic design and human centered design. The most important skills for a junior designer are sketch, graphic design, and adobe creative suite.

Senior designer vs junior designer overview

Senior DesignerJunior Designer
Yearly salary$102,058$53,349
Hourly rate$49.07$25.65
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs47,50358,152
Job satisfaction1-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

What does a senior designer do?

Senior designers are typically in charge of realizing design solutions that adhere to the business goals and marketing strategies of an organization. They should be comfortable managing graphics designers and making decisions. They must have extensive knowledge of styles, layout techniques, and graphic design while also managing projects and people effectively. Senior designers have a variety of duties, which include delegating tasks to junior designers, maintaining high-quality standards, and collaborating to improve digital creativity standards.

What does a junior designer do?

A junior designer is an entry-level professional who is responsible for creating high-quality designs according to the requirements of clients. Under the supervision of senior designers, junior designers must understand project requirements and projects and use various techniques to create drafts, models, and prototypes. They collaborate with team members to pitch in creative ideas and produce final design solutions that can include banners or logos. Junior designers must also take on specially design tasks and use feedback from other designers to improve.

Senior designer vs junior designer salary

Senior designers and junior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior DesignerJunior Designer
Average salary$102,058$53,349
Salary rangeBetween $72,000 And $143,000Between $43,000 And $65,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASanta Rosa, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonAlaska
Best paying companyLyftNike
Best paying industryMediaTechnology

Differences between senior designer and junior designer education

There are a few differences between a senior designer and a junior designer in terms of educational background:

Senior DesignerJunior Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Senior designer vs junior designer demographics

Here are the differences between senior designers' and junior designers' demographics:

Senior DesignerJunior Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 71.0% Female, 29.0%Male, 50.4% Female, 49.6%
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 senior designer and junior designer duties and responsibilities

Senior designer example responsibilities.

  • Identify, plan and lead brainstorming sessions for new blue-sky product opportunities across all boys' lines.
  • Design all marketing collateral within those standards including flyers, ads, conference materials, brochures, and design mailed pieces.
  • Implement HTML and CSS tags.
  • Format designs and media for use in print and web applications; deliver production-ready graphics in HTML and CSS.
  • Design and production of marketing materials, PowerPoint templates for pitch decks, event graphics, various collateral and HTML e-mails.
  • Lead the team in brainstorming sessions and assist with market research and testing.
  • Show more

Junior designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage the website and twitter page, write the blog posts and attend numerous fashion shows and sample sale rooms.
  • Coordinate REVIT teaching for inner office/branches.
  • Utilize PowerPoint to create furniture, lighting and final material selection presentations for client meetings.
  • Create PowerPoint templates to be used by clients or other upper management in proposals or live shows.
  • Sketch new designs (by hand and computer aid) add colors and make updates to carry-over styles as necessary.
  • Develop residential designs using Revit.
  • Show more

Senior designer vs junior designer skills

Common senior designer skills
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Graphic Design, 5%
  • Human Centered Design, 4%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • UI, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
Common junior designer skills
  • Sketch, 10%
  • Graphic Design, 9%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 8%
  • Revit, 5%
  • Design Projects, 5%
  • PowerPoint, 4%

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