The design industry provides a magnificent backdrop and inspiration for those looking to understand and study modern design, says Sanjeevani Ayachit
According to a report by the British Council, over the years, the Indian design industry has grown exponentially. It’s estimated that by 2020, the design market is expected to be at Rs188.32 billion. Yet, only a fifth of the market has been tapped into at this time. However, slowly but surely the country is starting to embrace design outside of tradition. Today, designers are backed by a strong educational background. This makes Indian designers a mix of talent, insight, and experience.
Since the growth in the industry, many organisations have also started realising the importance of good design. According to Brand Recruitment, a marketing recruitment solutions company, the design industry is categorised into three different sections: In-house design; design businesses and freelancers
Today, a large number of businesses have in-house design teams. These organisations are the ones that soak up most of the talent from the talent pool of designers. Design businesses have also managed to scale up, and a lot of designers choose to work alongside them to help the business scale even higher. Yet another set of designers decide to work as freelancers. These freelancers could work with anybody from an in-house design team to designers working with design businesses. At the end of the day, a freelance designer is essentially a single person organisation.
However, every designer working in big in-house teams, small design business, or as a freelancer needs to possess a certain set of skills. Let’s take a look at a few that monster.com recommends for designers:
Communication: designers express ideas with the help of text and image. Consequently, communication skills are crucial to the job. However, communication is essential in design in other ways too. Designers have to connect their ideas to organisations, clients and employers. It commands effective public speaking skills for presentations and writing skills for proposals. Designers must also be able to communicate with clients and employers via phone, email, and sometimes through a video call.
Creativity: Designers need to be creative masterminds. They have to communicate ideas through text and image creatively. They have to create solutions for their clients with creative means; for instance, they may have to promote an organisations mission within a website or design an illustration that encourages the sale of a product. All of this requires creativity, as well as creative problem-solving skills.
Time management: Digital Arts online, UK says that most designers are continually balancing various projects at once. Because this is such a standard part of the job, it's essential that they possess strong time management skills. Designers should be able to multitask, juggle multiple tasks over long periods, and meet all set deadlines.
According to a report published by Confederation of Indian Industry, India is embracing design like never before. With the increase in design education, it has brought about a radical transformation in the industry. The youth also is willing to develop their skills and translate them into a successful career since their talent can now be backed up by prestigious educational institutes.