Traditionally, design was something that happened on a paper. As technology took over the design world, the way ideas are shared has changed drastically. Today, a career in design is a perfect blend of art and technology.
This profession is very challenging as it requires a lot of skills. Apart from artistic ability, a designer should also possess good analytical skills and communication skills. They should have a good grasp of what customers need and leverage this knowledge in the designs they develop. They also need good computer skills as they probably will have to work with different software according to the client demand and also great time-management skills as they might have to juggle a number of projects at the same time.
Here is a list of popular flavors in the design career:
Graphic Design
This is by far the best-known among all design profession. Graphic designers are involved with the design layout of advertisements, logos, and websites. Graphic designers are often wrongly clubbed with artists. While artists try to inspire, designers look to communicate. In essence, Graphic designers are visual-thinking problem solvers.
People with limited drawing skills can become great graphic designers as long as they have good visual-thinking skills. There are various technologies available to graphic designers to assist them in the creative process. Some of the widely used programs are:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- PowerPoint
A graphic design career is multi-dimensional because graphic design skills can be applied to a number of fields. Graphic designers also need communication and people skills as they need to collaborate closely with writers, art directors etc. depending on the line of their work. They also need to advise their clients on strategies to reach a specific audience.
A graphic designer can become a creative director, art director, package designer, brand identity developer, visual image developer, visual journalist, broadcast designer, logo designer, interface designer, illustrator, multimedia developer, or a content developer.
Information Design
In simple terms, information design as the name suggests is the design of information. While a graphic designer, develop designs that are meant to attract customers, an information designer’s task is much more complex. He is responsible for displaying information efficiently and effectively so that people can consume it effortlessly. Information design can bring meaning to complex and unstructured data.
An information design project channels the creativity of the designer. Irrespective of the medium, a well-designed information set, should satisfy aesthetic, economic, ergonomic, and subject matter requirements. It is not possible to set rigid design rules to guide an information designer. Some guidelines adopted universally by information designers are:
- The designer should always keep the intended receiver in mind
- The designer should develop a clear structure for content that enables perception, interpretation, understanding, learning, and memory
- The legibility of a graphical message should be as clear, simple, unambiguous and transparent as possible. Because dissatisfaction with the presentation of a message may lead to dissatisfaction with the content of the message.
Interaction Design
Interaction design is a major element of user-experience (UX) design. It is the structure and behavior of interactive systems. The primary objective of interaction design is to create the design of interaction between consumers and products, in such a way that the consumers are able to get the best possible experience. The products mostly tend to be websites and applications.
Interaction design involves components that are beyond the look and feel of the products. An interaction designer needs to take into account the sound, space, motion, and much more. Apart from the creative aspect, interaction designers also have to do a lot of user research, develop design strategies and make interaction prototypes.
There are several principles involved in the interaction design process that makes the interface creation process fairly simple.
- Matching people’s expectations: The design should match the user expectations and experience. Which means, the design should reduce the discomfort of learning a new system.
- Keeping elements consistent: The layout and interactions throughout the process must be consistent. This helps users to learn quickly and know instinctively what works and what do not.
- Simple and Minimal: The design should avoid unnecessary functions and features. It should also break down a complex task into simpler sub-tasks.
- Engagement: The design should provide a meaningful experience to its users. It should be easy, enjoyable, and productive. In short, the interface should facilitate and not detriment the user’s work.
Web design
Web design is about displaying information on web pages. The aesthetics is as important as the functionality. It is a creatively taxing job that involves the design of visual elements like Layout, Color, Graphics, Font, and Content. Successful web designs need to be user-friendly, easily navigable, and interactive.
Some programming languages used by web designers are:
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Python
- PHP
It is very advantageous to learn some frameworks. Frameworks make working with programming languages easier. Some of the popular frameworks are:
- Meteor
- js
- Ruby on Rails
A finely built website can make all the difference to an online business. A good web design can help grow a business, create brand image, improve sales growth and conversion rates, and help to outshine the competition. With more and more businesses moving to the digital landscape, competent web designers are in high demand.
Conclusion
Design industry is very vast and is open to diverse backgrounds. If you have an aptitude for design and a strong desire to learn you can shift to design industry from almost any field.
It is very advantageous to earn an education in the design field to kick-start a design career. Many designers have a degree in B.Des course with a specialization in Graphic Design. Those who are interested in web design and web development can pursue a degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). It is the perfect platform to learn the programming languages, tools, software, and frameworks required to design and build successful websites. If you are interested in web design, check out these Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu that offer comprehensive courses in CSE. Truly enthusiastic designers who doesn’t care for a mainstream degree can sign-up for any of the multitude of design courses available online.
Talha Ali is your tech generalist, covering a wide spectrum of topics within the ever-evolving world of technology. With a curiosity for the latest innovations, industry trends, and breakthroughs. Whether it’s hardware, software, emerging technologies, or the intersection of tech with daily life, Talha’s articles provide readers with a well-rounded perspective on the dynamic landscape of the tech industry.
