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Senior graphic designer vs junior graphic designer

The differences between senior graphic designers and junior graphic 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 graphic designer and a junior graphic designer. Additionally, a senior graphic designer has an average salary of $73,921, which is higher than the $44,518 average annual salary of a junior graphic designer.

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

Senior graphic designer vs junior graphic designer overview

Senior Graphic DesignerJunior Graphic Designer
Yearly salary$73,921$44,518
Hourly rate$35.54$21.40
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs46,31055,460
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age3838
Years of experience1212

What does a senior graphic designer do?

A senior graphic designer oversees all of the designing operations in a company, from conceptualization to production. One of their primary responsibilities is to ensure that all designs produced are according to a client's preference and brand. They also encourage fresh ideas from the team, communicate with clients or representatives, and manage the schedules to meet all deadlines. Furthermore, as a senior graphic designer, they are responsible for leading and mentoring a team of graphic designers, all in the joint effort to reach project goals.

What does a junior graphic designer do?

A junior graphic designer is an entry-level professional who creates imaginative and impressive designs that promote the vision of an organization. Under the supervision of a senior graphic designer, junior graphic designers must help design digital marketing materials by using graphic design applications such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. They must collaborate with the team to launch projects and improve their skills by using feedback from other designers. Junior graphic designers should also be able to create logos, banners, and interfaces.

Senior graphic designer vs junior graphic designer salary

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

Senior Graphic DesignerJunior Graphic Designer
Average salary$73,921$44,518
Salary rangeBetween $51,000 And $105,000Between $31,000 And $62,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAWashington, DC
Highest paying stateWashingtonNew York
Best paying companyPractice FusionMcKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industryTechnologyProfessional

Differences between senior graphic designer and junior graphic designer education

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

Senior Graphic DesignerJunior Graphic Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Senior graphic designer vs junior graphic designer demographics

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

Senior Graphic DesignerJunior Graphic Designer
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 53.2% Female, 46.8%Male, 45.7% Female, 54.3%
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 graphic designer and junior graphic designer duties and responsibilities

Senior graphic designer example responsibilities.

  • Create and manage license product lines from concept sketch to production sample.
  • Manage front-end development of company website, ordering system, and JavaScript presentations.
  • Create ads, manage copywriting, respond to customer inquiries, generate brand unity, establish clear company identity.
  • Perform front-end development, navigation, IA, UI, analysis, visual design, and SEO.
  • Produce and maintain sales literature, posters, trade show materials, print ads and marketing promotional materials for print media.
  • Design and execute production of marketing collateral; including annual catalogs, brochures, and a special contest information package
  • Show more

Junior graphic designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage website redesign including copywriting and updating all website content.
  • Assist in creation and launch of Google banners, newspaper advertisements, and the design of client PowerPoint presentations.
  • Help in the development of their marketing and advertising collateral, mainly coupons, flyers, posters, etc.
  • Design advertisement campaign for newspapers, magazines, grocery shoppers, flyers, banners and a wide range of print media.
  • Code HTML email templates to be send out to a mailing list weekly.
  • Implement a model for advertising to online real estate search engines using HTML language.
  • Show more

Senior graphic designer vs junior graphic designer skills

Common senior graphic designer skills
  • Sketch, 7%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 7%
  • Creative Concepts, 5%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
  • Art Direction, 4%
  • HTML, 4%
Common junior graphic designer skills
  • Graphic Design, 16%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 8%
  • PowerPoint, 5%
  • HTML, 4%
  • Digital Marketing, 4%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 3%

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