Designing - As a career option

“Design won’t save the world, but it sure makes it look good!” - Anon
Today, a career in design is a very lucrative option for those who are creative and do not want a corporate job but also want to make good money.

You can either work in a company as an employee or also run a business of your own. This is a field that is very versatile and in-demand.

Technology has changed the way you do it (a computer instead of a sketch pad), but it hasn’t rendered it obsolete.

To be a successful designer, you need creativity in bundles, and also need to be very tech-savvy. Today most designers use CAD (Computer-Aided Design) to increase efficiency and explore newer possibilities thanks to permutations.

Leveraging technology is useful because they permit greater creativity and reduce costs.

This career is a great combination for people with creativity who feel that conventional choices (lawyer, accountant, engineer) do not appeal to them.

This is a great way to work in a position that lets you experiment and play, and still pay you well.

7 Types of Design Career

1. Product Design
2. Fashion and Jewelry Design
3. Interior Design
4. Web and Graphic design
5. Events Design
6. Set Design
7. Floral Design

Each niche in itself is a very broad field, with several sub-niches for expertise. For example, some fashion designers are experts in the fashion of certain eras or locations: say the British Victorian era. They then work with museums, curators, film directors to identify and recreate it.

Eligibility Criteria to Become a Designer

• Based on the area you work in – interior, fashion, web, etc – you would need at least an undergraduate degree to begin work in that field.
• A masters is usually preferred by employers and clients, but not mandated.

A Day in the Life of a Designer

8:00 AM: *shrill alarm sound* What, 8 am already?! Argh, hate these early morning meetings. I don’t know why people don’t understand that creativity peaks after midnight.

9:30 AM: I have finally managed to drag myself out of bed, don a t-shirt that does not have any creative graffiti, and head to work. I am a senior UI/UX designer at a startup in Bangalore.

UI means User Interface, and I’m responsible for all our tech interfaces to look good, from our website to an app. They should scream “class”. UX, on the other hand, is User-Experience design. When someone opens our website or starts using our app, they should intuitively know where to go, and how to use it.

Still confused? You know how sometimes an annoying popup opens up and you immediately go to the top right to hit close. How do you automatically know that’s where the small “x” would be? And what about the times it’s not there? Doesn’t it drive you insane? That’s UX design.

It is the process of increasing customer satisfaction by improving the usability and ease of use of a product. UI is the colours and textures and fonts – they should come together in an aesthetically pleasing, legible manner.

10:15 AM: Enter office. Everyone’s surprised to see me so early, I generally don’t saunter in until lunch. Luckily, my boss knows that’s generally because I was up till sunrise, and he doesn’t mind my erratic hours as long as the work’s good.

Perks of not being the accountant! Your creativity is understood and given due respect.

10:30 AM: We had hired a market research company to find beta users for our iOS app, and some early feedback has come in.

The CEO, Product Manager, and I put our brains together and discuss the thoughts that have come in, and the actions we should appropriately take.

The key in UX design is understanding the use of the cognitive psychology and implement logical solutions to solve the user problems. The best way to do is by Testing, Testing and Testing.

11:00 AM: I have my Mac open and I go to Balsamic Mock ups, my preferred wire framing tool to re look at some of the screens. We sit down and finalize a few tweaks on the app, and I write down on my to-do. I promise the boss he’ll have it before tomorrow morning.

12:00 PM: Drained from the meeting, I open Behance.net and notice a few notifications. It’s important to stay inspired, and I try to spend at least half an hour every day going through new posts that will push me a little bit further each day.

Next, I check my Twitter list, UI/UX Design Posts where I’ve added my favorite design accounts. It keeps me grounded!

1:00 PM: I take a break for lunch, and blessing our office’s relaxed setup, settle down for a nap.

4:00 PM: The nap was refreshing! I grab a cup of coffee and boot up my system. I consult my to-do list and mentally chart out how I’m going to cut my way through it. My typical design process is planning, inspiration, research, and then visual design.

Then there’s feedback and sometimes endless tweaks on the visual design. I hate that phase. I am currently in that phase.

So now it’s time to dive into Photoshop.

I start making changes to the design.  Move this, change that, hmm, that doesn't work.  Oh, wait! What about this?

I regularly share my designs with my teammates on Slack to get their opinions. This gives me different opinions and helps me modify my design in a way that’s as universally appealing as possible.

7:00 PM: Wow, didn’t realize where the time flew by. I take another coffee break and catch up with a colleague as she packs up her stuff to go back home.

I’m feeling really pumped up after the three-hour productive session.

I return to my desk and remember to check emails. There are a few calendar notifications for some meetings next week – oh, it’s my girlfriend’s birthday as well, shit! – and a few questions from a graphic design intern. He’s handling our social media for now (my company is young) and while his designs are promising, they need a touch-up.

I ask him to send me the PSD files for the creatives scheduled to be published next week, and then start redoing a few of them.

9:00 PM: I wrap those up, email them to the intern along with a few tips, and head home. I’m hungry and I’d rather have home-cooked food before putting in a few more hours.

11:30 PM: I sit down to work again, and refreshed after food, make quick progress with the iterations requested.

3:00 AM: Share the files with the CEO, watch a bit of Futurama and go to sleep.

I set the alarm for 11:00 AM.

I am a designer. They can’t expect me at work like regular people. Do you think that you have a required skill set to pursue a career as a designer? Are you creative enough? Do you want to share your views? Have your say in the comment box below! Enjoy Reading!