Design as a Career Option — What, why and where?

by Raammnath A R

If you are creative, have an eye for detail, and you care about visual appeal even at a minute level, then Design is a career option you should seriously consider.

This is a field with large number of future possibilities, and it takes you beyond books. Design is an area where creativity meets technology, resulting in innovation. It is everywhere, from the clothes we wear to the apps we use, to the cars we drive to the furniture we use. As a designer, you bring shape to the world we live in. This field is very competitive and demanding, but it is also an excellent career path for anyone who truly loves art.

The term “design” covers a wide range of disciplines, each offering its own specialist skills and services. Some of the common design disciplines include, architecture engineering, exhibition and display, fashion & textiles, graphics/visual communication, interior decoration, multimedia, packaging, product/industrial.

Design and art fields offer a lot of job opportunities such as animator, ceramic designer, creative copywriter, fashion designer, fine artist, furniture designer, glassblower, UX/UI designer, graphic designer, photographer, interior designer, multimedia artist, art director, advertising manager, product designer, web designer, film and video editors, industrial designers and so on. The reality is that there is a wide range of design careers available and one should choose the path that aligns best with their skills and interests.

Some of the top institutes in India that offer specialized programs in Design are:

1. National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad & 5 more places
2. IIT, Bombay, Guwahati, Jabalpur
3. National institute of fashion technology (Various Places in India)
4. CEPT university, Ahmedabad
5. Footwear design and development institute (Various Places in India)
6. DOT School of Design, Chennai
7. DJ Academy of Design, Coimbatore
8. Symbiosis College of Design, Pune
9. Srishti institute of art & design, Bengaluru
10. School of fashion technology, Pune
11. Sasi school of design, Coimbatore
12. United world institute of design, Ahmedabad
13. ARCH college of design and business, Jaipur
14. Pearl academy of design (Various Places in India)
15. Indian institute of art and design, New Delhi
16. Northern India institute of fashion technology, Chandigarh
17. MIT institute of design, Pune
18. Triveni Devi Bhalotia college, West Bengal
19. Whistling woods international, Mumbai
20. Woxsen school of art and design, Telengana

And some international institutes offering Design programs are:

1. Royal college of Art, London
2. University of the Arts, London
3. Parsons school of Design at the new school, New York
4. Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island, United States
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
6. School of the art institute of Chicago [SAIC], United States
7. Aalto university, Finland
8. Politecnico di Milano, Italy
9. Pratt institute, New York
10. Glasgow school of art [GSA], Glasgow, United Kingdom

The Indian institutions conduct national entrance exams every year around January, April & May. Some of the major exams include NID-DAT, UCEED, CEED, NIFT and NATA.

Students interested in entering these design programs and clearing these tests should develop the skill set of Visualization, Sketching 2d & 3d, Logical Reasoning, Verbal and Non-verbal reasoning, Quantitative aptitude, Design thinking, General and Social Knowledge, model making and problem solving abilities.

In Chennai, Dschool (www.d-school.in) has programs for school and college students and for corporates, to discover their creative design instincts and prepare them for these entrance tests and design careers. Students can join, even when they are in school to enhance their design skills. In D School, there is a lot of emphasis on mediums, methods and processes to attain excellence.