How to earn a designer’s salary

The best advice you can give to designers in their first year is to pay attention to the details, says Sydney design student Tanya.

It’s all about how you use your time.

Tanya, a design student from the University of Sydney, says it’s important to know how much you can expect to earn as a designer, because the number of hours you can spend designing can be crucial.

“You don’t need to go into it thinking it’s going to be super-easy, because it will be, but you can look at it and say ‘I know this is a bit hard, I’m not sure what I should be doing next’,” she said.

For the best advice, Tanya recommends looking at the hours you’ll spend working on the project, as well as how much time you’ll be working in a given period.

“For example, I think that a designer who spends three to five hours a week is going to work at their best, but I also think that the amount of time you spend working in that space is going be much more important,” she said, adding that it’s also important to be realistic.

“It’s going in a certain time period, and it’s a given that you’re going to spend a lot of time working in it, and that’s all fine and good, but if you want to be a good designer, you have to make sure that you are not spending too much time in those kinds of things,” she added.

“If you’re spending five hours in one particular part of the project and then you’re not getting much done because you’re on the train or in a café, that’s not a good thing.”

If you want more tips on how to earn designer’s salaries, we have a full guide.