Translation guide
A person who designs things, especially professionally. In Japanese, the English loanword デザイナー is most common, but native terms like 設計者 and 意匠家 exist for specific fields.
designer (professional)
Referring to someone whose job is to design, especially in fashion, graphics, or industrial design.
The most common and versatile term for a professional designer. Used across many fields.
She is a famous fashion designer.
I work as a graphic designer.
Used for designers in engineering, architecture, or systems. Emphasizes the planning/designing aspect.
A formal or literary term for a designer, especially in decorative arts or industrial design. Rare in everyday speech.
Referring to designer goods, especially in fashion (e.g., designer bags, designer clothes).
Used as a prefix to mean 'designer' in the sense of high-end or branded items. Often used in compounds like デザイナーズブランド.
I want a designer bag.
She likes designer brands.
Colloquial term for designer items. もの means 'thing'.
This wallet is a designer item, apparently.
Referring to someone who designs something, not necessarily as a job title.
デザイナー is used for artistic/creative fields (fashion, graphics, etc.), while 設計者 is for technical/engineering fields (architecture, machinery, systems). Using デザイナー for an engineer may sound odd.
He is a fashion designer.
He is a software designer.
In Japanese, デザイナー strongly implies a creative profession. For roles like 'instructional designer' or 'database designer', 設計者 or a more specific term is often better.
彼は橋の設計者です。
He is the designer of the bridge.
He is known as an outstanding designer.
このシステムの考案者は彼です。
He is the designer of this system.