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Furniture designer: Salary and conditions

• Pay rates vary, depending on where you work, the size of the company/organisation and the demand for the job. Furniture designers might work for a large manufacturing firm, a small family firm or a design company doing work for several manufacturing firms.
• Range of typical starting salaries: £18,000 - £21,500, rising to around £25,000 - £31,000 a year (salary data collected Jan 09).
• Range of typical salaries at senior level/with experience (e.g. after 10-15 years in the role): £45,000 and above (salary data collected Jan 09).
• Earning potential can rise to around £100,000 for well-known, independent designers.
• Self-employed designers are likely to earn at the lower end of the range when they start out.
• Some designers negotiate royalties for their designs with manufacturers.
• Working hours average 39 hours a week.
• Working hours for self-employed designers may be irregular.
• Late finishes and weekend work may be required when deadlines approach.
• Part-time work is possible for established designers.
• A lot of time is spent in the studio/workshop but designers are required to travel to visit clients and suppliers, and to attend meetings and trade shows.
• The proportion of women in the profession is rising as more women take furniture and industrial design based courses.
• Manufacturers and design consultancies are found throughout the UK but are more common in London and the South East. Continental Europe also has a thriving industry.
• Travel within a working day, overnight absence from home and overseas work or travel may occasionally be needed, but this depends on your choice of market and scale of work. For a reasonably progressive designer, after five or more years' experience, a significant amount of business might be conducted in Europe, and possibly the USA.

AGCAS

Written by Rita Kapadia, AGCAS

Last updated:

January 2009

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