{"id":7615,"date":"2022-11-23T11:41:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/?p=7615"},"modified":"2024-05-09T14:28:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T14:28:28","slug":"visual-design-vs-ui-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/visual-design-vs-ui-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Visual Design vs. UI Design: What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual design and UI design<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are both concerned with aesthetics and visual branding. They\u2019re both collaborative and creative, and they even have some tools in common.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, visual design and UI design are not the same thing. There are some important distinctions to be made between the two\u2014especially if you\u2019re considering a career in design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>So what exactly is the difference between visual and UI design, and what\u2019s it like to work in each field?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look no further than this guide. We\u2019ve outlined both the differences and similarities in clear, uncomplicated terms\u2014giving you the user-friendly explanation you\u2019ve been searching for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what we\u2019ll cover:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#difference-between-visual-design-and-ui-design\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the difference between visual design and UI design? An overview<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-is-visual-design\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is visual design?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-does-a-visual-designer-do\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does a visual designer do?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-is-ui-design\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is UI design?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-does-a-ui-designer-do\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does a UI designer do?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#who-earns-more\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who earns more, visual designers or UI designers?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#visual-design-vs-ui-design\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual design vs. UI design: A summary of the main differences<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#overlap\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do visual design and UI design overlap?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#the-takeaway\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The takeaway<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ready to demystify the visual design vs. UI design puzzle? Let\u2019s go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-certificate-in-ui-designp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/ui-design?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=blog_panel_text&utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN UI DESIGN]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Certificate in UI Design course<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2 id=\"difference-between-visual-design-and-ui-design\"><strong>What is the difference between visual design and UI design? An overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual design and UI design are both concerned with how things look, and they both use aesthetics to create a certain brand image and feel. Both disciplines involve careful consideration of things like colour, imagery, typography, and spacing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these similarities, <\/span><b>visual design and UI design are not the same thing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Let\u2019s take a first look at how they differ.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Visual design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a broad discipline which can apply to many different design contexts and tasks. It may include the design of a product itself, such as a website or app, but can also extend to any visual materials relating to the product or brand. For example, designing the visuals for a social media campaign or creating a branded email marketing template. Generally speaking, visual design focuses on digital assets, distinguishing it from graphic design which has traditionally focused on print.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>UI design<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a much narrower discipline which focuses on designing digital product interfaces. A product interface is the surface layer of a website or app which the user sees and interacts with. It\u2019s made up of all the different screens, buttons, and interactive elements you need in order to navigate and use the product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>In short: Visual design encompasses all the aesthetics associated with a product or brand, while UI design relates exclusively and specifically to the design of the product interface itself<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s just a high-level distinction between the two\u2014we\u2019ll outline all their key differences in more detail later on. But first, let\u2019s learn more about what visual design and UI design each entail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-visual-design\"><strong>What is visual design?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><b>Visual design is all about the aesthetics associated with a particular product or brand<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It can include designing the look of the product itself, as well as any other assets that are used to represent the product\/brand in some way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond individual design deliverables, visual design also encompasses the development of an overall visual brand. This ensures consistency across the board, creating a brand that\u2019s instantly recognisable and evokes a certain emotion or sentiment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about the Nike swoosh logo, the famous yellow \u2018M\u2019 on a red background that you instantly recognise as McDonald\u2019s, or the iconic Starbucks logo often featured on a backdrop of deep green. Even the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/digital.nhs.uk\/about-nhs-digital\/corporate-information-and-documents\/nhs-digital-style-guidelines\/how-we-look\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NHS has meticulous guidelines around its visual identity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These are all examples of visual design and its role in creating a strong, memorable brand. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7616 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-09.56.24.png\" alt=\"starbucks, mcdonals and nike logos\" width=\"660\" height=\"267\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, visual design covers all the different aspects that shape how a product looks and feels. This includes imagery, logos, colour, typography, layout, texture, lines, shapes, and space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The art and skill of visual design is steeped in certain principles, which we\u2019ll outline now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Visual design principles<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the most important visual design principles include:<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Contrast: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contrast is created through colour, size, and\/or shape, helping to distinguish between different elements and ensure legibility.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Scale: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This refers to how large or small different elements appear in relation to one another. Scale can be used to communicate hierarchy (more important elements may be bigger in order to draw attention), or to create balance or depth within the design.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Unity: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is about establishing a sense of harmony between different elements on the page, conveying that they belong together as part of a cohesive design.<\/span><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Hierarchy: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hierarchy is used to convey the importance of each element. Size, position, and colour can all be used to establish visual hierarchy within a design.<\/span><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Dominance: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual designers might want to make a certain element stand out, so they use things like size and colour to convey dominance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s visual design in a nutshell. Now let\u2019s explore what a visual designer does in terms of tasks and responsibilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-a-visual-designer-do\"><strong>What does a visual designer do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual designers create designs and visual assets for a broad variety of channels, platforms, and products. Anything that contributes to the user\u2019s visual experience of a brand is likely designed by a visual designer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typical tasks and responsibilities of a visual designer include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing the overall look and feel of a digital product\u2014be it a website, app, game, or software<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing, and making decisions about, individual elements that shape the brand\u2019s visual identity\u2014such as typography, logos, icons, and colours<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating wireframes and prototypes to convey concepts and designs in their various stages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sourcing brand-consistent imagery and video footage for various uses and channels\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing infographics to be used in marketing campaigns and\/or brand-related content<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing email marketing templates, branded presentations, product brochures, and imagery for social media<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organising and maintaining brand design systems and libraries to ensure visual design consistency<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducting research, gathering inspiration, and creating mood boards<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overseeing quality assurance of all visual assets<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking part in creative ideation sessions and helping to optimise processes relating to visual design<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, we\u2019ll look at some visual designer job ads to see how different companies interpret the role.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The visual designer job description according to Tesla and Google<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h4><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job ad #1: Visual Designer at Tesla<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7617 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.01.53.png\" alt=\"tesla visual design job ad\" width=\"633\" height=\"192\" title=\"\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a recent job posting, Tesla describes the visual designer role as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7618 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.09.45.png\" alt=\"tesla job ad 2nd part\" width=\"636\" height=\"273\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs a visual designer at Tesla, you will be responsible for the design development of all visual brand communications. You will be part of the team that creates and executes world-class graphic design, branding, and more.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this role, the visual designer would be responsible for designing assets for events, communications, web, marketing, sales, products, and anything else requiring graphic design work to communicate Tesla\u2019s visual style.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The job description emphasises cross-functional collaboration with designers of other disciplines, as well as engineers, digital modellers, and architects, and participating in cross-functional strategy, timing, and process discussion as it pertains to the Tesla brand and visual design principles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job ad #2: Senior Visual Designer, Search at Google<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In their advert for a senior visual designer, Google offers the following job description:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7619 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.12.48.png\" alt=\"google visual designer job ad\" width=\"637\" height=\"315\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGoogle\u2019s visual designers weave space, typography, colour, iconography, and texture together to help people successfully navigate our products. We believe that all of our products should be beautiful and accessible.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note that, at Google, visual designers are embedded in the UX team and have a strong focus on creating a positive, valuable, and accessible experience for the end user. As the job ad explains:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs a visual designer, you\u2019ll rely on user-centred design methods to craft industry-leading user experiences\u2014from concept to execution. Like all of our UX jobs, you\u2019ll collaborate with your design partners to leverage and evolve the Google design language to build beautiful, innovative, inspired products that people love to use.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7620\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.23.34-1.png\" alt=\"google visual designer job ad part 2\" width=\"637\" height=\"268\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As this is a senior visual designer role, the focus is on optimising and advancing the overall visual brand, systems, and processes rather than on hands-on design work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under \u201cResponsibilities\u201d, the job ad emphasises collaboration with other leads to form a cohesive offering across Google products; working to define, maintain, and evolve the tools, processes and communication around asset management; and partnering with visual programs within the organisation to evolve and apply new design styles and aesthetics for the entire suite of products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, the visual designer role can be extremely varied. Visual designers may take on a broad variety of hands-on design tasks and projects, or they might have a more strategic part to play in developing the overall visual brand. Either way, the role is collaborative, user-focused, and highly creative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now we know all about visual design, let\u2019s move on to UI design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-ui-design\"><strong>What is UI design?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"embed-yt ratio ratio-16x9\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is UI Design?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YWzY_ZH0JyE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><b>UI design stands for user interface design, and it\u2019s all about the design of digital product interfaces.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A user interface is the point of interaction between humans and computers, containing everything you see, hear, click, tap, or swipe on when using a website, app, or piece of software. UI design is the process of designing not only how these interfaces look, but also how they act and react when a user performs an action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we learned in the previous sections, visual design is a rather broad design discipline. UI design, on the other hand, is a specific term which relates solely to the design of those digital user interfaces we just described above.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI design is closely linked to UX design (you can learn about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/ux-and-ui-designers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how UX and UI design work together here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or explore <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/ux-vs-ui-design\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the differences between UX and UI here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Where UX design maps out the underlying structure of a product, UI design focuses on the visual and interactive design of the product\u2019s surface.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The goal of UI design is to ensure that digital products are aesthetically pleasing <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">provide all the visual, interactive elements and touchpoints the user needs in order to access and navigate the product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider this website homepage for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nativedenims.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Native Denims<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a sustainable fashion company. It features text in a particular font and colour; a \u201cShop now\u201d button which, when you click it, takes you to their product range; various menu items to help you navigate the site; and a background image. The space, contrast, and hierarchy between the different elements has also been carefully designed to create a user-friendly aesthetic. These are all important aspects of UI design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7621 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.27.51.png\" alt=\"native&#039;s website homepage\" width=\"633\" height=\"348\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just like visual design, UI design also follows certain principles. We\u2019ll outline those next.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>UI design principles<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the most important UI design principles include:<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Consistency: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is about creating visual consistency throughout the product, ensuring that the same fonts, colour schemes, icon designs, etc, are used across the board. This is similar to how visual designers create a cohesive visual brand.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Familiarity: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI design is as much about usability as it is about aesthetics, so the principle of familiarity considers how the end user will expect the interface to behave based on their experience with similar products\u2014and designing accordingly.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Feedback: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual and text-related feedback built into the product interface helps the user to successfully complete their tasks. For example, if you\u2019re shopping online and click to add an item to your cart, you\u2019ll want some kind of confirmation that it\u2019s been successfully added.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Efficiency: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s users want speed and convenience. The efficiency principle says that the user interface should cater to different types of users, providing shortcuts and accelerators for experienced users who are already well-versed in how the interface works.<\/span><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can learn more in our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/what-is-ui-design\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">complete introductory guide to UI design<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Next, let\u2019s take a look at what UI designers do on a day-to-day basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-a-ui-designer-do\"><strong>What does a UI designer do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI designers take the wireframes (i.e. the bare-bones product blueprints) which are typically created by UX designers and bring them to life with visuals and interactivity. They design all the different screens that belong to a website or app, taking care of things like layout, spacing, colour, imagery, and typography. They also design individual UI elements such as buttons and icons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI designers then add interactivity to their designs, determining what happens when a user clicks on different elements. For example, what does the user see or hear when they click the \u201cLoad more\u201d button on an e-commerce website, or when they swipe left on someone\u2019s profile on a dating app?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to visual designers, UI designers may also be in charge of developing a UI style guide. This helps to ensure consistency and reinforce the brand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generally, UI designers are responsible for:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking part in user research to understand end-user goals, and conducting competitor research to inform their own designs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing, and making decisions about, individual elements that shape the look and feel of the interface\u2014such as typography, logos, icons, and colour palettes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing the interactive properties of each screen and individual UI elements\u2014for example, adding animations, screen transitions, and pop-up messages\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating wireframes and prototypes to simulate how the product will look, feel, and function once it\u2019s developed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Handing designs over to developers\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Developing and managing a UI style guide<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve written a separate guide explaining <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/what-does-a-ui-designer-do\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what a UI designer does<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014check it out if you\u2019d like to learn more about the role. For now, we\u2019ll take a look at some job ads to get an idea of what\u2019s typically included in the UI designer job description.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UI designer job description according to Solsten and WarnerMedia<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h4><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job ad #1: UI Designer at Solsten<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7622\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.34.12.png\" alt=\"Solsten ui designer job ad\" width=\"635\" height=\"154\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solsten is an AI company which helps its users understand customer behaviour to improve the customer experience. In their job ad for a UI designer, they describe the role as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs a UI designer, you will bring one of Solsten\u2019s core products to life with a stunning, responsive UI. Collaborating with UX, PM, and Engineering, your focus will be developing original, elegant, and consistent designs that make psychological data intuitive and actionable.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7623\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.38.57.png\" alt=\"Solsten job ad part 2\" width=\"636\" height=\"232\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The role is collaborative, cross-functional, and data-driven. Key tasks and responsibilities include executing projects through all design stages, from discovery to completion; presenting and defending design solutions; and working with other designers and engineers to expand, improve, and support a user-friendly design system and component library.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job ad #2: UI Designer at WarnerMedia<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.41.13.png\" alt=\"WarnerMeida ui designer job ad\" width=\"632\" height=\"295\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, we have a UI designer job ad posted by WarnerMedia. As per the job description:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe UI designer is responsible for visual and interaction design that adheres to a cohesive style guide and maintains consistency throughout visual elements and behaviours. The candidate will work with a variety of team members to design, create, implement, and optimise UI assets.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working with other UI designers, as well as UX designers, art directors, programmers, game designers, and producers, the UI designer will help design and shape the visual and interactive aspects of the game\u2019s interface needs. This may also include UI workflow optimisations and developing new techniques for visual display and information presentation.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7626\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-23-at-10.56.06.png\" alt=\"warnermedia job ad part 2\" width=\"634\" height=\"170\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tasks and responsibilities emphasise how UI design is a user-focused discipline, closely intertwined with UX and as concerned with functionality as it is with aesthetics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this role, daily tasks would include collaborating with UX designers to determine functionality and usability requirements; designing and creating UI components such as menus, inventory screens, and icons; testing functionality and bug fixing to ensure deliverables are ready for the end user and contributing to the design of UI tools and processes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of the UI designer role<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and are beginning to see how it both differs from and overlaps with, the role of the visual designer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-certificate-in-content-designp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/content-design?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_panel_text&amp;utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN CONTENT DESIGN]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Certificate in Content Design course<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2 id=\"who-earns-more\"><strong>Who earns more, visual designers or UI designers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re reading this guide with your own career in mind, you might be interested to know how visual design and UI design compare in terms of salary. So who earns more\u2014visual designers or UI designers?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That all depends on where you are. Here\u2019s how the salaries compare in a handful of locations, based on average salary data from Indeed:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Ireland, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ie.indeed.com\/career\/user-interface-designer\/salaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">average salary for a UI designer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20ac58,056 compared to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ie.indeed.com\/career\/visual-designer\/salaries?from=top_sb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">average salary for a visual designer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of \u20ac74,225. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the UK, there\u2019s not much in it. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.indeed.com\/career\/user-interface-designer\/salaries?from=whatwhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI designers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> earn an average yearly salary of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a344,928, while <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.indeed.com\/career\/visual-designer\/salaries?from=top_sb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visual designers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> earn an average salary of \u00a341,384. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the US, the average UI designer salary is considerably higher than that of a visual designer. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indeed.com\/career\/user-interface-designer\/salaries?salaryType=YEARLY&amp;from=careers_serp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI designers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> earn $85,738 per year, while <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indeed.com\/career\/visual-designer\/salaries?salaryType=YEARLY&amp;from=top_sb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visual designers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> earn $66,147 per year on average. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Australia, the average <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/au.indeed.com\/career\/user-interface-designer\/salaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI designer salary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of $104,985 per year is slightly higher than the average <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/au.indeed.com\/career\/visual-designer\/salaries?from=top_sb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visual designer salary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of $93,771 per year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, there\u2019s no definitive winner when comparing UI and visual designer salaries. It\u2019s also important to take these averages as a benchmark rather than an exact guide; besides location, salaries also vary depending on seniority level, individual skillsets, and the type of company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"visual-design-vs-ui-design\"><strong>Visual design vs. UI design: A summary of the main differences<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The main differences between visual design and UI design are:<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Visual design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a broad, all-encompassing discipline which can include the design of any and all materials associated with a product or brand, as well as the visual design of the product itself. <\/span><b>UI design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a much narrower discipline relating to the design of the product itself and, more specifically, the product interface.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Visual design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is primarily focused on aesthetics and brand identity, considering how the product and related materials look. <\/span><b>UI design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">combines aesthetics and functionality, considering not only how the product looks, but also how it functions when the user interacts with it.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, <\/span><b>visual design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is more closely related to graphic design, while <\/span><b>UI design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is more closely related to UX design.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They do differ in terms of salary in some locations, but there\u2019s no clear winner or definitive answer as to which career path pays more. It all depends on where you\u2019re based, the type of company hiring, and your skills and experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you read through these differences, bear in mind that the line between visual design and UI design is not always clear-cut. Many employers will create a hybrid role which encompasses both (this is especially common in smaller companies), or simply use the job titles interchangeably.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, there are also several ways in which visual design and UI design overlap. Let\u2019s explore some similarities between the two now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"overlap\"><strong>How do visual design and UI design overlap?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We know how visual design and UI design differ, but what have they got in common? Here are some areas of overlap between the two:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both are highly collaborative, requiring cross-functional teamwork and exceptional communication skills.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both visual design and UI design are creative, visual disciplines which encompass colour, typography, layout, spacing, imagery, and more.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual designers and UI designers use many of the same tools, such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe XD, Photoshop, Figma, and InDesign.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, both visual designers and UI designers care about the end user. While they follow different processes and principles, they each design with a specific target audience in mind.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both visual design and UI design involve a mixture of hands-on design work and a strategic approach, and they both strive to create a cohesive visual identity through style guides and design systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"the-takeaway\"><strong>The takeaway<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Technically speaking, visual design and UI design represent two separate disciplines. Visual design is a broad and far-reaching field which encompasses all different aspects of a brand\u2019s visual identity. It can include the visual design of the product itself (for example, a website), but also extends to the design of any assets and materials that are associated with the product. Think branded presentations, visuals for social media campaigns, infographics, and email newsletter templates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UI design, on the other hand, is much narrower in focus. It relates exclusively to the design of digital product interfaces. And, as a subset of UX design, it\u2019s concerned with both the look and functionality of the interface.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As is often the case, the on-paper distinction doesn\u2019t always translate to the real world. Browse UI designer and visual designer jobs on sites like Indeed and you\u2019ll see how often these job titles are used interchangeably\u2014or combined into a hybrid UI\/visual designer role.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, understanding how the roles both differ and overlap will help you when it comes to choosing your own career path. And, whether you choose to focus on UI design or visual design, you\u2019ll find that many of the skills, principles, and tools you learn can easily be transferred between the two.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keen to get started? Here\u2019s our selection of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/best-ui-design-courses\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the best UI design courses worth considering<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visual design and UI design have lots in common, but they\u2019re not the same thing. Learn about the key differences between visual design vs UI design here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":7627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[278,279],"tags":[300,329],"class_list":["post-7615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-ux-explained","tag-ui-design","tag-visual-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7615"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10338,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7615\/revisions\/10338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}