"Every great design begins with an even better story." - Lorinda Mamo, Designer.
Often, you come across the word Design and Designers. These words fascinate you to know more about design professionals and their glamorous life. You end up searching for, 'what is design'? 'What are the different design professions'? 'What do these designers do and how do they perceive ideas'?
What is Design?
Design is an organisation of creative thoughts and a vision. There is always a goal or an intent behind designing anything. Most of the creations are non-accidental and consciously designed.
The audiences are the soul of the design thinking methodology. The main emphasis is providing the solutions to address a need, a want or a desire. The process of design is entirely user-centric.
Is Design an Art or Science?
Designing is the amalgamation of art and science. Art is the expression of vision, ideas and feelings, and science is the creation of an object with experience, right tools and techniques. It determines the solutions to the problems and needs.
There are many misconceptions about the designing process. Often, people feel that designing something is to make an object aesthetically appealing, but actually, it encourages the audiences to interact with the surroundings effectively.
Invisible design is a great design.
"Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent." - Joe Sparano
An outstanding design is flawless. It is so natural and interactive that it does not interrupt the process. It is unnoticeable. This principle is particularly true in interactive designs. The rules and elements are well accepted and understood instantly and merged with the natural surroundings like an invisible hand is guiding the colours, shapes, contrast and repetitions.
The Design Process.
You should always consider the approach to solutions systematically and comprehensively. Excellent research and an informed format will help you organise the process of understanding the problem and will guide you to come up with the perfect solution. It also tells you why people face a specific problem and how the answers derived from a general hypothetical approach that represents the main features. Then experiment the different solutions that explain about the problem and its behaviour. Finally, decide the most reliable method and process for the best solution that satisfies the users' needs.
Who are the Design Professionals?
Designers are those who have ideas, emotions and experience of life. It is important to remember that all the designers use their necessary art skills to pursue a career in one or the other specialist area.
Industrial Designers - They are concerned with the appearance and function of consumer products. Their work is mainly three-dimensional, and the products they design can range from cars, electronics, mobile phones to perfume bottles and toothbrushes. They are familiar with manufacturing processes and the different types of materials to create an innovative product.
Graphic Designers - Visual communicators or commercial artists, who design different types of graphics required for print media like posters, stamps, magazines, books, packages and wrapping paper. Also create graphics for a digital medium like websites, social media, blogs and email marketing. They also describe signs and symbols. The aim is always to present information as clearly and attractively as possible. Graphic artists have to combine their artistic experience with technical knowledge. Some may specialise in illustration work and advertising.
Textile Designers - They design the fabrics for a variety of purposes from clothes to carpets and must understand the nature of their materials. They acquire technical experience in dyeing, weaving and printing and proficient in dealing with the critical elements in the textile design such as colour, shape, texture and pattern.
Interior Designers - They make interior spaces functional, safe and beautiful in homes, offices, restaurants, buildings etc. They determine space requirements and select essential and decorative items such as colours, lighting, materials and furnishings.
Fashion Designers - They anticipate the latest fashion trends and design clothes for particular needs. They have a good understanding of the use of fabrics, pattern making and manufacturing processes. They communicate their ideas through illustrations (sketches and drawings).
Other types of Designers -
Jewellery designers design jewellery.
Ceramic designers design and create stunning crockery pieces.
Craft Teachers teach different crafts like paper (origami), sand art etc.
Art designers for stage, film and television productions design sets and lighting for the production
Costume Designers design costumes for stage, films and television.
Designers from allied fields of study include architecture, gallery administration, museum administration, and photography.
Can designing be tricky?
Designs have many facets. Some are effortless and some complex, some succeed and some fail, some are casual, and some are high fashion. Whenever there is something purposely done, someone has designed it. Most often, things are designed with more than one purpose in mind. Altogether, it is a tricky proposition, but you can come up with a great design if you have understood the user's problem, done proper research and experimented with various solutions to settle on the most optimum result.
A positive attribute of this profession is that it throws challenges at you, gives you opportunities to create and feel content with the results. However, the design industry has exponential growth worldwide. Professionals who are highly experienced as well as young designers with fresh ideas are sought after.
Designers should be good at visual communication, technical, analytical, artistic skills and to some extent, understanding marketing requirements. Acquiring those skills are essential to create your niche and become successful. You must have the required qualifications and most importantly, necessary skills to obtain a good position.
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