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Storyboard artist vs visual designer

The differences between storyboard artists and visual designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a storyboard artist, becoming a visual designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a storyboard artist has an average salary of $90,053, which is higher than the $86,495 average annual salary of a visual designer.

The top three skills for a storyboard artist include animation, adobe photoshop and fine arts. The most important skills for a visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.

Storyboard artist vs visual designer overview

Storyboard ArtistVisual Designer
Yearly salary$90,053$86,495
Hourly rate$43.29$41.58
Growth rate5%3%
Number of jobs3,75746,815
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age4038
Years of experience212

What does a storyboard artist do?

A storyboard artist specializes in creating and designing storyboards to visualize scripts for film, TV, advertising, and animation production. They utilize their talents in sketching and storytelling to help the production process run smoothly and accurately. A storyboard artist's responsibilities revolve around coordinating with the production team, collaborating with directors and writers, conceptualizing imagery, and conducting revisions and edits as needed. Furthermore, as a storyboard artist, it is essential to adhere to the production's deadlines and goals.

What does a visual designer do?

A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.

Storyboard artist vs visual designer salary

Storyboard artists and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Storyboard ArtistVisual Designer
Average salary$90,053$86,495
Salary rangeBetween $56,000 And $144,000Between $51,000 And $143,000
Highest paying CityGreenwich, CTSan Bruno, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyThe Walt Disney CompanyByteDance
Best paying industryFinanceStart-up

Differences between storyboard artist and visual designer education

There are a few differences between a storyboard artist and a visual designer in terms of educational background:

Storyboard ArtistVisual Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorAnimationGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Storyboard artist vs visual designer demographics

Here are the differences between storyboard artists' and visual designers' demographics:

Storyboard ArtistVisual Designer
Average age4038
Gender ratioMale, 69.9% Female, 30.1%Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.8% 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 storyboard artist and visual designer duties and responsibilities

Storyboard artist example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of artists to create the art and animation for motion comics aspects of the show.
  • Introduce electronic publishing in order to bring print production in-house.
  • Proofread and approve completed pages and convert to PDF files for uploading to the printing company FTP site.
  • Page layout for scientific journals using QuarkXPress.
  • Print InDesign ad to PDF for proofing to client.
  • Accumulate knowledge for the deadline filing system and typesetting computers.
  • Show more

Visual designer example responsibilities.

  • Design, project manage, and build retail stores from sketch to completion.
  • Manage website redesign including copywriting and updating all website content.
  • Produce and deliver HTML5, CSS3 and graphical items.
  • Design team brand and logo for organization.
  • Provide approved design in HTML5 to web developer for publishing.
  • Utilize expertise in Photoshop CS6, HTML5/CSS, Squarespace, and JavaScript.
  • Show more

Storyboard artist vs visual designer skills

Common storyboard artist skills
  • Animation, 45%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 7%
  • Fine Arts, 7%
  • Feature Film, 5%
  • Storyboard Pro, 4%
  • Sketch, 3%
Common visual designer skills
  • Sketch, 19%
  • Visual Design, 8%
  • Graphic Design, 5%
  • UI, 5%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • Visualization, 4%

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