How To Become A Head Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a head designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Abby Guido

The Head Designer is the overall command over the creative team's design and the entire company. The heads of the organization look toward the head designer to provide insights into the artistic path the company will take to achieve a unique brand in the market. The head designer is highly-creative, good in management, and can articulate abstract ideas clearly and relay them to company administrators, customers, and clients. A head designer's responsibilities are to handle the creative team, train each member, and provide guidance in every part of the designing process.

What general advice would you give to a Head Designer?

Abby Guido

Assistant Professor, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University

We've all heard the buzz about networking, and there is so much buzz because it works. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is both up to date and active. Connect with all of your past professors, classmates, and anyone and everyone you meet in a professional setting. I often tell students to get into the habit of searching for any classroom guests, or guest lecturers, to connect, thank them for their time, and build their network. Share content. Write articles, or reshare those you find interesting.

Every job I have ever received in my career has been through someone else I know. I share this with students to help them see the value in relationships. I always remember the students that took the time to write a handwritten thank-you note. And I think of them when I get an email asking if I know any students are looking for work.

ScoreHead DesignerUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $116,986

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.2

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 10.42%

Black or African American 3.42%

Hispanic or Latino 10.63%

Unknown 4.99%

White 70.17%

Gender

female 49.89%

male 50.11%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress Level

4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.5

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.9

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a head designer

Explore head designer education requirements

Most common head designer degrees

Bachelor's

66.1 %

Associate

17.1 %

Master's

8.9 %

Start to develop specific head designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Design	12.11%
UI	9.24%
Sketch	8.79%
User Experience	8.15%
Product Development	5.84%

Complete relevant head designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New head designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a head designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real head designer resumes.

Research head designer duties and responsibilities

Help manage e-commerce website with adding new product to the site and uploading of website banners, and photography.
Create HTML files and CSS style sheets for integration with JavaScript.
Create interface mock-ups out of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for integration into the broader, web-base application.
Sketch, design artwork, develop tech packs and communicate overseas to assure the understanding of the details of garment.

Prepare your head designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your head designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a head designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Head Designer Resume templates

Build a professional Head Designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Head Designer resume.

Apply for head designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a head designer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do head designers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Head Designer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

What I like most about a designer is doing work with Fonts designing projects designing

Cons

Let there be thousands of graphic designers

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

Making people look sweet and smart

Cons

Not satisfying the need of my client.... And not able delivering my work as discussed with the client

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

It is something I enjoy! Something I’m good at! Something I could do as hobby and get paid for

Cons

That I don’t get to do it more often

What is a head designer and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Head Designer?

Head Designer career paths

Key steps to become a head designer

Explore head designer education requirements

Most common head designer degrees

Start to develop specific head designer skills

Complete relevant head designer training and internships

Research head designer duties and responsibilities

Prepare your head designer resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Head Designer Resume templates

Apply for head designer jobs

How Did You Land Your First Head Designer Job

Average head designer salary

How do head designers rate their job?

Head Designer reviews