Our five-pronged approach focuses on your individual strengths to develop your unique qualities towards making you an exemplary pi- designer.
Omer Fayaz
03/12/2021
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Since time immemorial, communication has remained an indispensable aspect of human activity. It is regarded as the basis of human interactions, strategic decision making and interpersonal relationships. But over the past few years, with the advancement of technology and booming growth in businesses, communication design has garnered unprecedented popularity and grown manifold both as an industry and as a discipline. Not only that, it has branched out to give rise to some of the most trending careers. Communication design is one such field that is an outcome of the thriving industry. IBIS World 2020 statistics valued the global graphic designers market size at $45.8 billion with 2.2% growth in the year 2021 alone. Considering that graphic design is one aspect of communication design, the overall industry is valued substantially higher. Being one of the fastest-growing fields globally, aspirants are finding it to be a viable career of choice for them. The creative leeway and prospect for innovation that it offers makes it even more enticing to venture into it. Be it a small business or a multinational corporate setup, communication design has found its way into businesses of every size. Before we delve into its intricacies, let us first understand what communication design is.
While the primary function of communication is to convey a message to a receiver in the most effective manner, communication design does so using a combination of text and visuals. Leveraging the human’s tendency to recognise and remember visuals with ease than any other media form, communication design aspires to utilise it towards achieving brand goals such as awareness, brand building, creating recall value and finally retention of their customer base. As put by the Graphic Artists Guild (GAG), the ability to communicate visually to hurried and jaded audiences has become an important asset to businesses, marketers and communicators. The advent of digital marketing has revolutionised how brands reach out to their customers. Compared to traditional door-to-door marketing, brands have now found their way into the lifestyle of their customers giving them personalised ads based on their interests and online activity. In such a scenario, it is paramount that a brand presents itself in the most authentic way and for that, it needs to have a strong messaging and an eye-catching design. That’s where the role of a professional communication designer comes in.
Various surveys have suggested that customers tend to react and respond to messages involving some form of the visual element in them. It is evident through the fact that bigger brands such as Pepsico, Apple, Nike and of course cosmetic brands such as L’Oreal, Bobbi Brown, Chanel, etc. spend billions of dollars every year on marketing with Pepsi alone devoting around US$3 billion annually to its marketing campaigns.
Students often find themselves in a dilemma as to which course they should go for after pursuing their intermediate/high school education. Since an undergraduate education is a foundational step for anyone’s career, it needs to be well thought out. Giving in to peer pressure and lack of guidance, many end up choosing career paths they realise they don’t fit in years later. To avoid such a situation, a bit of research and guidance from a career expert comes in handy. While many are not aware of the fact that communication design is one of the fastest-growing industries and continues to offer lucrative career paths. If you are someone who has a knack for producing crisp and visually compelling designs or wants to gain a skill set that would enable you to join a cohort of such creative professionals, then communication design is the right career for you. You will find yourself working in a setup that guarantees continuous growth, unparalleled recognition and handsome remuneration.
Explore: Career Prospects in Communication Design
Some of the popular profiles that you can cater to after a degree in communication design include:
Perhaps the most popular and versatile job role for a communication design graduate, a graphic designer is one of the most sought-after professionals in any creative and advertising agency. The compelling brand copies that we see and appreciate on a regular basis from top brands globally are the outcome of a graphic designer's creative knack. Using different software, they design visual models intently to grab the customers' attention. Given that the internet has brought about the revolution regarding how we consume information, social media has only added to it. With platforms such as Instagram and Netflix, visual content is becoming the most consumed among all media forms. Besides securing lucrative salary packages as full-time employees, graphic designers are often seen earning a fortune as freelancers, which makes it an even more exciting career choice.
With the burgeoning growth of e-commerce, where almost every commodity and service can be availed online, the design and interface of an online platform are the primary factors that determine the success of such an enterprise. Not only that, the applicability of UI/UX have penetrated almost every industry and enterprise of every size that does business online. A company has to ensure that the interface is engaging, intuitive, interactive and highly user-friendly. And for that, UI/UX Designers’ help is sought. While UI Designer focuses on creating a seamless and fully functional layout for a portal or an application, the UX Designer’s task is to make it user friendly and easy to use. These professionals are responsible for bridging the gap between incomprehensible coding and user experience. The best part about choosing UI/UX design as a career is that the opportunities in this field outnumber the professionals in it.
Art directors are among the professionals having the most critical responsibilities in this field because these creative individuals take a lead role in any promotional activity of a business. They work in close tandem with designers to give tangible shape to a concept. Besides, they supervise the whole designing process and provide the necessary inputs if need be. Often referred to as creative directors, these professionals have the added responsibility of strategizing and executing the overall marketing activities of a brand while ensuring that the online brand management and budgeting are in alignment. It is the job of an art director to ensure that the design or messaging that goes out follows does not breach the law or go against the company’s policies. As the title suggests, an art director is held in high regard and has an unchallenged role in the film industry as well.
As the name suggests, a brand strategist is an organisation’s go-to person for all brand-related activities. In recent years, the job profile has seen tremendous growth in terms of the number of companies seeking out such professionals and the increment in their remuneration. A brand specialist is responsible for a company’s reputation, ensuring brand consistency and identifying brand-building opportunities. The role is synonymous with that of an analyst who studies the market for potential opportunities to increase brand visibility and reach by devising and implementing various marketing strategies. These professionals work closely with the management of an organisation to ensure that the marketing collateral is reflective of the organisation’s policies and vision.
As the gaming industry and 3D design are growing by leaps, the need for professional animators is on the rise. It is because of the work put in by animators that we see large construction projects being previsualized before being turned into engineering marvels. Apart from that, the thriving education industry which has become engaging owes its success largely to evocative sequences made by animators. Animation in itself has taken the shape of an industry. As per the study published by an online portal Statista, India's animation and VFX industry was valued at around INR 53 billion in 2020. It is also estimated that it is expected to grow up to INR 129 billion by 2023. One can only imagine what the size of the global VFX industry could be and the number of job opportunities it offers.
Besides all these popular careers among other equally rewarding ones, the communication design graduates have an option of venturing into academics where they have an opportunity to teach in design schools and be communication consultants to think tanks, NGOs, government bodies and establish themselves as thought leaders in the domain.
While there are ample opportunities to build a career, the competition is equally fierce. One needs to have an upper hand while applying for jobs. The best thing about pursuing communication design as a career is that geographical boundaries do not restrict you from exhibiting your creative prowess on a global podium. The only requirement is to stay ahead of your competition. The ideal way to achieve that is to obtain a quality education in communication design. There aren’t many colleges that offer specialised undergraduate programmes in the subject. In that case, pursuing an undergraduate degree in communication design validated by Kingston University is a perfect way to give your career a jumpstart.
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