Communication design is the process of using visuals to spread information.

‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Across cultures, it is the one question that makes every child sit up and wonder - what would I be doing for the rest of my life? As the times change, the answers change too - from doctors and lawyers to software professionals and startup founders.

In the new decade, and presumably beyond, design is set to become an increasingly popular career choice. It has been quite a journey for a field that was once perceived as a passion to be taken up as a hobby, not as a career. Since then, the value of good design is more widely understood and appreciated across the country, opening up financially viable career opportunities, especially communication design.

What is communication design?

To the layman and laywoman, the term designer usually brings to mind a fashion designer, blending aesthetics and functionality into the clothes we wear. Design is a lot more than that though, covering fields like industrial design, interior design, graphic design and communication design.

Communication design, in a nutshell, is the process of using visuals to spread information. It focuses on the message as well as the product/service. What can this product do for me and Who is this service for are typically the two types of types of questions communication design answers.

What is the difference between a graphic designer and a communication designer?

Graphic designers usually create visually appealing images, and for the message to reach its intended audience, communication designers come into play. To provide a branding solution and further create an impact on the audience, a creative team needs to put forward the message of the brand in an interesting manner, ensuring that it is memorable, appealing to the emotional side of the viewer and effective in positioning the goal of the brand in a clear and distinct manner.

Steps towards adopting communication design as a career option

Communication design is a field that relies on innate creative ability. Here's what you will need to start a career in communication design:

- Visualization ability

- Artistic thought process

- Observational skills

- Eye for detail

- Technical proficiency

- Communication skills

It can be learned through communication and design courses or self-taught through tutorials, videos and continuous practice. Communication design can be taken up as a career at any time in one's life, including through mid-career shifts from other fields.

YouTube has served as a guide to tools like Photoshop, Illustrator (for graphic designing) and After Effects (for animation). Aspiring communication designers can hone their skills using drawing tablets to bring out the artist within. To get started, it can take just a pencil and paper to sketch out your ideas and bring it to life on your computer.

Opportunities that communication designers can explore

The field of design has diverse career options and is considered as one of the best-paying professions currently. As a communications designer, you can explore careers in television, print media, advertising & branding, UX design, animation and more. Among these, animation film design, video programming and graphic designing are considered as the three most popular career options.

Interestingly, SMEs (small and medium scale enterprises) have faced the challenges brought on by the pandemic and explored new directions, which include the need for branding and advertising to help them stand out from their competitors. The pandemic which appeared to be a disaster causing job losses worldwide, turned out to be a new beginning, inspiring people to turn into entrepreneurs and start their own companies.

With the demand for communication design set to grow in the coming years, you can even explore the option of starting your own branding and communications design firm as an entrepreneur.

As someone once said, it's never too late to begin.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house