01
Compensation
Salary bands by country, level, and discipline.
Edition 01 — 2026Independent research · MENA
The questions every designer asks — but nobody measures.
The State of Design MENA is an independent study of how designers across the region are paid, valued, supported, hired, and prepared for an AI-shaped future. Built from the community, published for everyone.
8
research themes, from pay to AI
19
countries in scope for edition 01
0
names or emails required
100%
independent — no sponsor, no agenda
Fieldwork · 2026
19 countries. One shared question: what’s really going on?
- Studios & in-house teams
- Freelance & agency
- Junior → Head of Design
Why now
The region's design industry grew faster than anyone documented it. This is the record.
01 — What is TSOD
Our industry runs on opinions. We’re bringing evidence.
Ask a designer in the region what a fair salary looks like, whether a title means anything, or how hiring really works, and you'll get anecdotes — confident, contradictory, and impossible to plan a career around.
TSOD replaces the guesswork with evidence. One survey, one methodology, one published report — so designers, leaders, and teams across MENA can argue from the same numbers instead of the same rumours.
Independent
No client, no sponsor shaping the findings.
Anonymous
Nothing identifying is stored, ever. Aggregate only.
Open
The report is free to read, cite, and share.
02 — What we explore
Eight themes.
One picture.
Each theme is a section of the 2026 report, with regional cuts by country, seniority, and company type.
02
Careers
Titles, promotions, and what growth actually costs.
03
Workplace culture
Workload, remote norms, burnout, and support.
04
Recognition
Where design sits — and whether anyone listens.
05
Hiring
Portfolios, tests, referrals, and what gets you in.
06
Tools
The real stack, and the workflows around it.
07New in 2026
AI adoption
Who uses it, for what, who's hiding it — and how it's reshaping expectations.
08Five-year outlook
Future of design
Where the community thinks craft, teams, and value are heading next.
Every theme, one survey
Your answers become every chart in the 2026 edition.
Take the Survey03 — The region
One region, many design cultures.
A product designer in Amman, a brand lead in Casablanca, and a design manager in Dubai work in the same region and almost none of the same conditions. TSOD reports each on its own terms — then side by side.
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Palestine
- Syria
- Yemen
- Iran
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Libya
- Morocco
- Sudan
- Tunisia
04 — Why participate
What you
unlock.
Edition 01 · status
Live now — survey closes 30 October 2026
- 8–20 minutes
- Report launches 15 November 2026
Your responses are anonymous and results will only be published in aggregated form.
01
Benchmark your own experience
See where your pay, scope, and workload sit against designers at your level in your market.
02
Negotiate with evidence
Salary bands, progression patterns, and the trade-offs behind each jump in seniority.
03
Understand how AI is landing
What designers across MENA actually automate, and how it is changing what teams expect.
04
Add your line to the record
Every response makes the regional picture sharper — and harder to dismiss.
05 — The 2026 digital report
Example preview · not actual data
A report you'll
actually read.
Charts, regional cuts, and community voices — published free as a digital edition after the survey closes.
Chapter 01 · Compensation
Median pay by seniority
Juniorindex 42
Midindex 61
Seniorindex 84
Lead / Managerindex 100
[ illustrative preview — 2026 data pending ]
Inside the editionPlanned scope · edition 01
- Charts & regional cuts40+
- Community quotes60+
- Downloadable datasetCSV
Edition 01 · Free
Report launches 15 November 2026. Be first to read it.
Explore the themes06 — Country champions
Every country needs someone who speaks for it.
Nineteen markets, and a champion — or two — in each. They take the survey into rooms no ad reaches, read their country's chapter before anyone else, and have their name printed beside it.
The role
You hold your market's seat. The survey goes where you take it, and your country's chapter is not published until you have read it.
- 19
- markets in edition 01
- 1+
- per market — co-seats welcome
- ~2h
- a month, one season
What the seat carries
- Your market's full dataset
- CSV
- Named credit in the report
- Digital edition
- Right of review on your chapter
- Pre-publication
- Every other champion in the region
- Monthly call
Become a TSOD champion
Anonymous survey, aggregate reporting, volunteer-run, no sponsor with editorial input. Read the methodology →
Anonymous · Edition 01 · 2026
If you want better data, be in it
The report is only as good as the designers in it. Take the survey — and get the 2026 edition first.