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Ceramics designer : Salary and conditions

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Case studies

  • Salaries vary widely according to whether you are employed or self-employed, how experienced, successful and well-established you are and how actively and skillfully you promote your work.
  • Starting salaries for those in an employed position can be around £15,000.
  • Experienced ceramics designers can earn £30,000 plus.
  • Earnings for self-employed ceramics designers/ceramicists can be very low, particularly in the early stages of setting up a career, and fluctuate from year to year. The Craft Scotland  website includes a business advice section that provides information on pricing your work.
  • Most ceramicists develop a portfolio style of working, generating income in a number of different jobs, particularly teaching.
  • If employed, working hours are usually regular, although you may need to do extra hours to meet deadlines. Self-employed designers/ceramicists can find that their hours fluctuate to meet demand.
  • You may work from a studio workshop at home, on an industrial estate, as part of a unit in a managed workspace complex, in a design studio or on the factory floor.
  • As a freelance or self-employed ceramics designer/ceramicist, location can be rural or urban. Most employed designers are based in areas linked with the traditional West Midlands potteries.
  • Fashion, culture and rapidly changing consumer tastes influence ceramic design. Self-employed designers/ceramicists need to be prepared to adapt their original designs to what the client wants. They may develop a niche market appealing to specialist interests, promoting their work as unique, handmade, high quality and contemporary.
  • Working as a self-employed ceramics designer/ceramicist can be lonely. Many become part of a creative community by sharing space in a creative workspace complex or joining a studio group sharing resources. Search for affordable studio space providers on the National Federation of Artists' Studio Providers (NFASP)  website.
  • Lack of job security and fluctuating income can be stressful for some self-employed designers. However, the advantages of being your own boss and the flexibility to organise work to suit personal circumstances can be appealing.
  • Working as a ceramics designer for a larger company can give more job security, although the ceramics industry has suffered significant decline in recent years. Despite current challenging trading conditions, employers see good design skills as essential to the future success of the sector. Some companies have their own design teams, others use design agencies and an increasing number do both. As an in-house designer you are more likely to work in a team, liaising with external suppliers and clients.
  • Travel to meet clients and manufacturers or to research, exhibit and sell work at exhibitions, trade and craft fairs is likely from time to time.
 
AGCAS
Written by AGCAS editors
Date: 
October 2010
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