A designer is a specialist who is engaged in the visual embodiment of objects: from a website to city streets. This profession is multifaceted and has many specializations.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that designers are the creators of the world around them.
Who is designer?
To summarize, design (from the English word “design” – to conceive, design, draw, as well as a plan, drawing, project) is an art and design activity that is aimed at creating and designing an objective environment based on the principles of combining economy, convenience and beauty. .
On a personal level, any designer should be well aware of consumer psychology, the laws of information perception, have an analytical mindset, be sociable, stress-resistant, be able to win people over, master the art of persuasion, be able to multitask, have organizational skills, a broad outlook. In addition, the designer must be able to successfully promote himself. And these are only the most basic qualities, without which even a very talented person is unlikely to succeed in the field of design.
There is no such profession as a universal designer. There are macroworlds and microworlds here, because the concept of design today covers a wide range of areas: from business cards to web design, from cheap jewelry to haute couture clothes, from interior design to decoration of buildings and even open spaces.
Having decided to become a designer, a person most often chooses for himself one, maximum two specializations. Looking through the social networks of different designers, we will see that in those rare cases when someone is engaged in several areas, they are still closely connected. This can be, for example, graphic design and web design.
Specializations
Of the many types of design, it makes sense to consider the most popular.
UX/UI design
User Experience and User Interface is the design of user experience and user interfaces. These concepts are often equated with each other, but there is a significant difference between them.
The UX designer creates the system and structures the information, while the interface designer shapes the system by giving it shape and color. Generally speaking, a UX designer is responsible for how a product works, while a UI designer is responsible for the look and feel of a product.
Helga Moreno, in her article on the difference between UI and UX design, gives a very clear example: “If something looks great but is difficult to use, this is a sign of good UI and bad UX. If it’s easy to use but looks terrible, we’re dealing with good UX and underdeveloped UI.”
Web design
This branch of web development and type of design covers the design and decoration of websites and web applications, their layouts and prototypes. The way this or that page on the web, or any application looks, is the result of the work of a web designer.
To date, the work of such a designer includes the following stages: communication with the client, website design, graphic design and visualization of the prototype. A competent web designer also understands the principles of layout, SEO (Search Engine Optimization, or Search Engine Optimization) and SMM (Social Media Marketing, or Social Network Marketing).
Graphic design
Today, this is perhaps the most common design trend that surrounds us everywhere: posters, product packaging, labels, magazine and book covers, television screensavers – all this is created by graphic designers. Moreover, the scale of such a design project can vary from business cards to navigation design at the state level.
In most cases, it is a successful graphic design that makes the client buy this or that thing.
Game design
The game designer is in charge of creating the form and content of computer games, including inventing the rules of the game, its levels, characters, missions, and design.
Industrial Design
This is the design of absolutely any products – from mugs to aviation equipment. To design objects in such a way that they are as convenient as possible to use, look as advantageous as possible, and production costs are reduced as much as possible is the task of such a designer.
Interior Design
This, as you might guess, is the design of the premises. The designer must think over everything in such a way that a person would be as comfortable as possible in the interior and he would receive aesthetic pleasure from the situation.
Architectural design
Architects design buildings and direct the construction process. This is one of the most complex, large-scale and responsible areas of design.
This also includes the design of the architectural environment – an activity related to the creation of both private design and the design of complexes with object-spatial objects.
Light design
The mission of a lighting designer is to think over the lighting in such a way that it is not only pleasant, but also creates the necessary psycho-emotional effect, depending on the task: to increase the productivity of workers or, conversely, to create a relaxing atmosphere. With all this, you also need to save on electricity as much as possible.
Landscape design
Unlike ordinary gardening, this is the art of landscaping, located at the junction of three areas – architecture, botany and philosophy. The main task of landscape design is to create beauty and harmonious interaction between nature and infrastructure.
Eco-friendly design
This direction sets itself tasks similar to landscape design. The goal of ecological design is to bring people into contact with nature. This design is based on the principle of environmental friendliness. It uses natural materials, and resources are consumed as economically as possible.
Only the most popular design trends are listed here, but this is far from all. In addition, there are many more varieties, such as animation design, fashion design, ceremony design, sound design, parametric design, futuristic design and many others.
Pros of being a designer
Most design areas are attractive because they:
- in demand and therefore can provide a decent income
- allow you to enter the foreign market and at the same time to a higher level of payment
- give you the opportunity to express yourself in creativity
- with all this, they do not require sitting in the office from call to call and do not tie you to a place, allowing you to work remotely
Cons of being a designer
Naturally, as in any business, not everything is so smooth in this profession, and there are tangible disadvantages, some of which are the reverse side of the pros:
- a free schedule of remote work becomes the reason for an irregular working day, because the time for the project is limited
- there is no clear (and sometimes no) boundary between work and home
- The work of all creative people largely depends on inspiration. But the flow of fantasy is not endless, and at times designers suffer from burnout and creative crises (but they can rarely afford to take a breather, because otherwise they will lose money)
- constant communication with clients who from time to time are not just demanding, but also capricious, contradicting themselves, sometimes not understanding the most elementary things from the point of view of a designer
- unstable income
Where to study design
A lot of designers are self-taught. The need for a serious education in the first place depends on the direction of design that you choose. It is unlikely that you can become an architectural environment designer after completing a three-month course. But graphic design is quite possible to master without a fundamental art education.
Educational institutions
Design is taught by many schools these days, but now most digital designers are taking courses.
Courses
At the moment, many educational institutions and online platforms offer design courses. Depending on the task and the direction of training, the duration of training can be very different – from two weeks to several months and even a year or more.
Specializations such as web design, graphic design, game design, UX / UI design can be mastered in distance courses, the offers of which are full of many resources.
Demand for designers
Nowadays, the demand for the profession of designer (which was officially included in the list of university specialties only some 20 years ago) is constantly growing. Ten years ago, many designers were forced to travel to Europe and the United States to build a successful career.
Over the past few years, the situation has changed radically, and now the work of a designer is possible from anywhere in the world. The tendency to remot work is growing, so there is an opportunity to get a job in a foreign company, or work on freelance sites. The Internet is full of various design vacancies.
Successful employment depends on many factors: the chosen direction of design plays a role here (in some areas it is very important to have a fundamental art education), and potential, and the ability to communicate with people, and the presence of a winning portfolio, and, most importantly, the ability to sell yourself well.
It is also important to decide whether you want to work for a specific company or be a freelance artist.
In any case, before meeting with a potential employer, it is important to have a well-established portfolio that you can collect during your studies – this will be a “fat plus” in your resume.
Prospects for the future
Even in antediluvian times, when people primarily looked for practical use in everything that surrounded them, they valued functionality and beauty. Therefore, a person who is able to make even elementary things comfortable and pleasing to the eye, and then were worth their weight in gold. And what can we say about our time, when the winner is the one who is able to satisfy the entire spectrum of the client’s desires. And thoughtful design in this list is far from the last place. Often the first.
So in a competitive environment for goods and services, a good designer will always be in demand. The demand for such specialists is considerable. In addition, progress does not stand still, and there is a need for new design directions. These are new challenges and opportunities.