Commercial artists have backgrounds rooted in fine art. However, the commercial artist creates art based on the sales-driven requirements of a client. The fine artist, on the other hand, often creates art for the personal enjoyment of a single commissioner, rather than a business.
A commercial artist may use traditional mediums, such as ink or paint, to create his work. The number of tools at a commercial artist's disposal has expanded to include the digital medium. A commercial artist may use software, like Adobe Illustrator, to create digital illustrations.
Whereas a commercial artist works alone, a designer may work as part of a design team. When working as part of a team, lower-level designers take direction from senior designers. The designer works on assigned tasks, and these tasks usually have rigid specifications.
A designer's responsibilities include less creative work than that of a commercial artist. A graphic designer may arrange text with regard to effective typography or lay out previously created art, graphics and photographs, among other tasks.
Both commercial artists and designers work to create art and design that is easily understood. The goals are always to convey the client's message as clearly as possible and to promote commerce with maximum effectiveness.