Are You Ready for One of the Fastest-Growing Design Disciplines in the World Today?

Communication Design is among the fastest-growing design disciplines today, involving creating engaging language-based solutions, visuals and digital experiences. It is fast emerging as an essential aspect of environmental, commercial, socio-cultural and political practices. This discipline develops focussed skills in its scholars. The students in this course are groomed to be proficient in skills pertinent to print and publishing, graphic design, product design, 3D modelling, audio editing, digital media animation, photography, videography, colour grading, and video editing fields. Specializing in these can help build credibility, marketable career. In addition, skills in time management, creativity, research and analytical skills are covered in this field. 

The specialization process is all about identifying one’s niche segment suitable for a person. Here are some of the niche areas of this field:

UI/UX Design

UI or user interface is the layout of an application, concerned with the aesthetics which make the application’s interface attractive, visually stimulating, and themed appropriately to match the application’s purpose and personality. User Experience regulates the structure of the interface and functionality, i.e., interface elements, ease of usage, etc. UI/UX designers collaborate with other designers, product managers, engineers, customer support, operations, sales and marketing. This arena contains multiple other opportunities. For example, UX Researcher is a pivotal role to help engage with people, uncover their needs and get feedback for the development team to act upon.

Storytelling is a critical component in creating “memorable” user experiences. UX Writers help translate user value into reality, building products and experiences that consumers relate to deeper.

Design without Interface

The rise of voice assistants: Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana shows that voice is becoming commonplace in our daily lives and is driving the design trend without interface. As technology evolves, touchscreens are slowly replacing the mouse and voice, eliminating the need to type or use hands. As a result, the focus on “interfaceless” design is geared towards creating seamless interactions and user experiences.

Game Design

According to the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming report, the gaming industry is expected to reach INR 118.8 billion by 2023. This clearly shows that the game design sector is slated to be a tempting career option because of the numerous opportunities within this space. Game Artists create elements like characters, scenery, objects, vehicles, clothing and interactive architecture for a game segment. Creators also design core elements for the game like sound effects, voice for the character and spoken instructions. Finally, the Game Developer creates the basic game plan, and Game Testers analyze the competition and provide quality checks.

Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality

Virtual reality technologies are gaining momentum every minute, providing life-like experiences. Virtual reality has started educational modules, making it more engaging and immersive for the students. In other essential sectors like travel, virtual tours have helped increase efficiency and reduce human errors. According to Gartner, by 2020, an estimated 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality.

3D Illustrator/Isometric Illustration

3D illustrations help communicate ideas, plan projects, and make designs relatable to real-life physical objects, increasing their visual appeal. Isometric graphics help remove perspective distortions further so that irrespective of whether the object is closer or far from the viewer, it’s represented in the same size. Illustrations can be created for magazines, design agencies, product launches, advertising campaigns, websites, billboards, flyers, animations and even interactive content. 

Photo Restoration/Retouching

Photo-Restoration or Pictorial restoration involves restoring old photos, fixing damaged photographs using photo-editing software and image-manipulation techniques, and converting original photos to digital images. Photo Retouching refers to the process of pictorial manipulation to slightly alter the looks of a subject, like erasing pimples or making their complexion smoother and morphing subjects.

Communication design is a multifaceted field of study that can help individuals explore different facets of their personality, personal likes and dislikes, and skillsets to create a unique career.