What's the difference between a Graphic Designer and a Sr. Graphic Designer?

What is the difference between an illustration and a graphic designer or artist?

• What is the difference? Usually illustration have a separate job than a graphic designer or artist because illustration consider sometimes an "art".

• Answer:

  I do both -- the line blurs. For years I worked as a computer graphics artist in TV as a electronic graphics artist, animator, on air graphics designer. Most of those works were seen for a maximum of 2-5 seconds; other projects had more sustained graphics themes as a "package" such as information videos and Public Service Announcements. These required a consistent theme or look spread out over a given time frame -- nothing was set in stone until it hit the air but could sometimes change depending on the topicality of the information presented. At that time I was worried about losing my "hard art" skills but I found it actually improved them. When I began illustrating children's books those skills as summing up a single communicative concept into one image served me well, especially as a poster type of treatment for covers. Book layouts are different in that you are illustrating a more sustained narrative over 16-30 scenes akin to a miniature movie or a stage play and become even more of a visual storyteller in the process. In this respect however you are your own art director as well since anymore there are fewer AD's in the business. Also, my illustration work in books has been on the shelves for years and still is for most of the titles, nothing I really considered when doing the work but had to be careful to try and avoid dated references for longevity's sake. For design work, fads and tastes are constantly in flux.