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The differences between senior industrial designers and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior industrial designer, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a senior industrial designer has an average salary of $74,758, which is higher than the $66,347 average annual salary of a designer.
The top three skills for a senior industrial designer include industrial design, solidworks and CAD. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.
| Senior Industrial Designer | Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $74,758 | $66,347 |
| Hourly rate | $35.94 | $31.90 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 52,343 | 52,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
A senior industrial designer specializes in designing and developing ideas into manufactured products. Most of their responsibilities revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis to identify what the product will be and who will use it, conceptualize plans and designs, create sketches and blueprints, utilize software and other tools to come up with virtual models, and present prototypes to clients. They must also develop guidelines and specifications according to the project's requirements. Moreover, as a senior industrial engineer, they must lead and serve as a role model to junior designers, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.
Senior industrial designers and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Industrial Designer | Designer | |
| Average salary | $74,758 | $66,347 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $121,000 | Between $45,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | Berkeley, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior industrial designer and a designer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Industrial Designer | Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior industrial designers' and designers' demographics:
| Senior Industrial Designer | Designer | |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.5% Female, 8.5% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 10.1% White, 76.7% 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 Percentage | 8% | 13% |