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

What is a studio designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Sarah Satterfield Ph.D.

A studio designer is a creative professional that is responsible for creating a studio according to client specifications. They may create studios for commercial establishments or private studios for clients. Either way, they need to be able to capture the client's vision accurately.

The typical workflow of a studio designer involves determining client requirements, conceptualizing the design, finding contractors to bring that design to life, and overseeing the construction of the studio. Moreover, they are in charge of making any modifications throughout the process or even after the studio is done, which is a common occurrence for picky clients.

Generally, there is no strict educational requirement to become a studio designer. But if you want to expand your opportunities, obtaining a degree in design or fine arts can help. The same goes for the experience; the more experience you have, the more reputable you are in the eyes of clients. When it comes to compensation, a studio designer job can earn about $55,000 per year, depending on their clients and the number of jobs that they have every year.

What general advice would you give to a Studio Designer?

Dr. Sarah Satterfield Ph.D.

Department Chair Visual and Performing Arts, Professor of Music and Humanities, College of Central Florida

I was once told, if you do what you love, you will never "work" a day in your life. I have found this true in my own career and hope our VPA graduates will find it true in theirs as well. The arts offer such a unique means of engaging and we, as arts educators, have an ability to "reach" those we have contact with, in a unique way.

ScoreStudio DesignerUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $95,724

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 43.66%

male 56.34%

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 studio designer

Explore studio designer education requirements

Most common studio designer degrees

Bachelor's

80.8 %

Associate

9.2 %

Master's

5.8 %

Start to develop specific studio designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Sketch	31.17%
Photoshop	13.07%
Design Studio	12.83%
Adobe Creative Suite	12.80%
Design Solutions	8.56%

Complete relevant studio designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New studio 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 studio designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real studio designer resumes.

Research studio designer duties and responsibilities

Create & manage PPC advertising campaigns and perform basic SEO maintenance to improve web traffic.
Authore HTML & CSS coding standards.
Design wireframes, prototypes, and concept diagrams for product updates using HTML, CSS & Photoshop.
Create the UX vision in partnership with editors and writers.

Apply for studio designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a studio 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 studio designers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

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2 Stars

1 Star

Studio Designer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2022

Pros

There is so much to like about working as Graphic Designer ... the seeing how all the elements of words, space, colors, visuals (photos, graphics, charts,...) come together on a page...sharing info with others to learn and use

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

I generally like what I do because what I do is from my own effort and I like to do something that even others would mind to know how it's done and that's why I usually keep on having more designs

Cons

I usually don't like impatient people and those u quickly judge what I do having not seen the results

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019