Guide to Art & Design Careers
Thinking about an education or career in design? Browse our guide to help you decide which specialty(ies) you are most interested in pursuing.
3D Design
3D Design is the designing of three-dimensional space. People visualize mentally in 3D, which can be demonstrated by thinking of any object: You think of it as a single object, not in three projection views. 3D design works much the same way, with the designer creating a model on screen as if it were in his mind. Having changed and added elements to complete the design, the model can be oriented to in plan, side or front views which become 2D projection drawings – exactly the same drawings that would be created with traditional 2D methods. 3D Designs are often used to simulate objects or situations prior to production in order to reduce the overall cost.
Education in the field has significant overlap with the fields of Animation, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Computer Art and Holography. Skilled 3D Design professionals are important to science and engineering, the entertainment industry, product design and packaging, training and testing.
Advertising
Advertising is a means of communicating to deliver a message to a specific audience, most often associated with business. Creating the desired appearance and value for the advertiser and/or its products usually makes the difference between success and failure.
Educational programs for Advertising aren’t usually found within an art department, but more often are stand-alone departments or within a Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or Marketing Department. Overlap with art departments is necessary for those who actually aim to design advertisements and visual campaigns, not necessarily for those who coordinate all aspects of advertising campaigns. In the industry, this is usually in the Creative Department, and requires knowledge of advertising trends and strong visual communication skills, overseeing progression of campaign from rough sketches through final production.
Apparel Design
Apparel Design students study the visualization, design, and pre-production of products for apparel-related industries, learning to turn creative ideas into reality. Education in the field may include significant overlap with Fashion Design, Fibers/Textiles/Weaving and Footwear Design. Career possibilities include apparel designer, design development coordinators, and computer-aided design (CAD) system managers. Using both computer technology (including CAD) and traditional methods, apparel design professionals develop everything from marketing themes, color direction, fabrics, graphics and packaging to sketches and specifications.
Architecture
Architecture is an art, a technology and a business. Architects guide clients through the entire design and construction process; they must consider materials, technology, cost, structural stability, as well as aesthetic, artistic, and practical qualities; they provide an environment of space, light and climate, changing its context by its location and form and conveying artistic meaning.
All states in the US require architects to be licensed (registered) by the state in which they practice, and education typically requires five or more years of professional studies followed by several years of internships and passage of the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers a great description of the profession, including necessary training, job outlook, and expected earnings in its 2001 Occupational Outlook Handbook, under Architects, Except Landscape and Naval.
Computer-Aided Design
Computer-aided design (CAD) programs are used by architects, engineers, graphic artists, and many others to create anything from artwork to fashion design patterns to technical blueprints and maps to genetic modeling. It is most often used to create images in two and three dimensions. Students of CAD can expect to gain experience in a wide array of computer programs and applications related to their own specialized field of interest. CAD’s many applications have made it an integral part of a great many industries, particularly technical and precision-oriented fields of work, such as drafting and engineering – its widespread use makes skilled graduates very marketable.
Computer Art/Design
Computer art combines traditional art and technology to create any type of artwork using computer programs. In practice, computer art is used in infinite ways in every industry, from the simplest of graphics to the retouching of photographs to three-dimensional animations for the movie screen to genetic modeling in scientific research. The artistic potential that computers have is ever-expanding.
Students will find no shortage of computer art courses, degrees, certificates, workshops, and self-tutorials at almost any visual arts school, and computer art professionals will find their skills in demand throughout the art community.
Design
Design is the art of representing or communicating an idea. It is a broad term which encompasses many fields of study and occupation, combining art, engineering, and conceptualization. The principles of design have been applied to all man-made things, from the cars we drive to the clothes we wear to the furniture we sit on to the books we read. Academically, the study of design often requires a specialty, which could be Apparel Design, Architectural Design, Environmental Design, Exhibit Design, Fashion Design, Floral Design, Footwear Design, Furniture Design, Game Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Product Design, Transportation Design, etc. In any case, a design-related education should balance artistic talent and with a sense of consumer preferences. Professionally, designers are both artists and engineers, working in every sector of the economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offers an excellent write-up for Designers and individuals interested in this field should be sure to check out this information.(LINK)
Desktop Publishing
Desktop Publishing is the creating of documents with computers and printers, rather than through traditional mechanical methods, such as the printing press. The popularity of desktop publishing has revolutionized the printing industry in recent decades, as many businesses now rely on their own in-house expertise to produce simple documents such as flyers, reports, and newsletters. In the past, these projects went to a print shop.
Education in Desktop Publishing will often include study of the major software programs used in the field (PhotoShop, Illustrator, and Quark Xpress) on both Macintosh and PC platforms. Certificate programs are common, but advanced degrees are not – however, courses are often included within other art-related majors, such as Advertising, Graphic Design, Commercial Art, Media Arts and Visual Communication. Professionals can expect to write and edit text, create graphics, work with hard copy and digital photographs and drawings, develop advertising campaigns, typeset, and a host of other tasks associated with document design and production. The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers an excellent write-up, which those interested in the field should be sure to read (link below).
Environmental Design
Environmental Design is a broad field that includes landscape architecture, environmental planning, architecture, city and regional planning, industrial design, interior design and construction management. Environmental Design applies environmental science to the efficient and healthy design and operation of buildings and cities. From feng shui to golf course design to large-scale city planning, these are the people working toward conservation and safety in our environment.
An Environmental Design degree provides the skills and knowledge required to participate in a wide range of existing employment sectors, and to pioneer in new fields. Cities and towns are always growing and changing, so there are many avenues to explore which usually require four years of undergraduate work leading to a bachelor of arts degree, masters degree, and doctoral work. Some academic overlap can be expected with fields such as Architecture, CAD, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design. – description, career and educational links, books, etc.
Exhibit Design
Exhibit Designers design and build exhibits for museums, trade shows, theater sets, visual merchandising, and interior design. From table-top designs to large scale show rooms, they translate ideas into 3-D marketing and/or educational structures. The field combines a knowledge of three-dimensional and graphic design with computer and marketing skills. The Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) states that communicating a product, service or corporate message through an interactive environment is the goal of exhibition design. Close to $4.8 billion is spent annually on trade-show exhibits in North America alone, so it is a sizable professional field.
Classes in exhibit design are only beginning to be taught in design schools today, so Exhibit Designers typically have backgrounds which include a wide variety of design disciplines, such as Industrial Design, Architecture, Interior Design, Graphic Design and Theater Design. Strong creative skills and the ability to work independently – and as part of a team – are essential.
Fashion Design
Fashion designers design clothing and accessories, creating original clothes according to market demands. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. People in the fashion industry work for magazines, television shows, public relations firms and salons; as stylists, wardrobe consultants, or photographers; for textile, apparel, and pattern manufacturers; for distributors of clothing, furnishings, and accessories; and for department stores and other business that market clothing and accessories. Because style and fashion trends change quickly, fashion designers must work hard to stay in tune and change with the market. Long hours and extensive travel to production sites are considered par for the profession.
Education in the field often requires a two- or four-year degree, including some training in textiles, fabrics, and ornamentation, as well as fashion. Fashion Design students should expect to study creative design and drawing, pattern-making and sewing, management, and commercial realism, to name just a few.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that median annual earnings for fashion designers were $48,530 in 2000. The middle 50 percent earned between $34,800 and $73,780. Also, BLS reports that “the demand for fashion designers should remain strong, because many consumers continue to demand new fashions and apparel styles.”
Floral Design
Floral designers work with live, dried, or artificial flowers and combinations of foliage and accessories, creating arrangements and designs for all occasions. The duties of a floral designer largely depends on the size of the business and the number of designers working there. For small businesses, the designer may do everything from growing and purchasing flowers to keeping financial records.
The educational requirements for a floral designer is generally less than for most other design fields, most floral designers learn their skills on the job. However, professionals who want to advance more easily in the field will usually complete a Floral Design certificate program at vocational and technical schools. Two- and four-year programs in floriculture, horticulture, floral design, or ornamental horticulture are also offered at colleges and universities. The emphasis is for students to understand the principles of floral design and to master the techniques needed to create arrangements for any occasion. Topics studied include basic floral design, wedding, sympathy and church flowers, special occasions and decorations, and Christmas arrangements, to name a few.
The job market for floral designers includes availability in all areas of retail flower shop operations; wholesale sales of flowers, supplies, plants and interior plantscaping. With a two-year degree in floral design one can expect to earn 25-50 percent more than the entry level pay (of about $6 per hour). The employment potential is very good. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that floral design “should be the least competitive of all design fields because of the relatively low pay and limited opportunities for advancement, as well as the relatively high job turnover of floral designers in retail flower shops.”
Footwear Design
The fashion industry in general is going through a boom time, and footwear is considered one of the most important fashion accessories. Footwear Designers keep in mind market trends and styles. Manufacturing footwear has become a highly specialized affair and requires sophisticated machinery and technically skilled manpower. Thorough knowledge of science and machines is essential for managers in order to handle advance technology. Designers should have a good visual imagination and be creative and innovative.
There are only a few institutes that offer undergraduate degrees in footwear design, and designers are typically graduates with a diploma in footwear design. At the post-graduate level, footwear science and engineering can be taken as a specialization, which will enhance the designers ability to create quality, marketable footwear. Knowledge of computer-aided design (CAD) is essential for having a successful career as a footwear designer. Quality footwear manufacturers primarily employ designers. One can also set up their own design consultancy organization and fabrication units of special footwear use. Starting salaries that we’ve seen start at $5,500 per month.
Furniture Design
Furniture Designers design furniture for manufacture based on design trends, production costs and capabilities, and characteristics of the market. Furniture designers may design and prepare detailed drawings of fixtures, forms, or tools required to be used in production. Professionals may also be required to design custom pieces or styles and must be strongly involved with the fashion industry in order to stay aware of current trends.
Education in the field is available at two- or three-year professional schools which award certificates or associate degrees in design, and some four-year colleges grant degrees in fine arts with specialties in furniture design. Students can expect to study CAD, Drafting, Model-making, Product Development, Upholstery, and Design.
About one-third of furniture designers are self-employed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and those interested in this field should expect keen competition. The average salary for furniture designers is about $585 a week. Top earnings can be as much as $1,120 a week.
Game Design
The convergence of education and the entertainment industry has resulted in the field of “Game Design,” which can include everything from computer programming, graphic art and illustration to user interface, marketing, and packaging design. Game Design professionals may handle it all, or specialize in different pieces of the final product.
Educational studies for this field can be found at technologically-based colleges where some detailed programs may be 80 weeks long. Using sophisticated graphics and specialized design tools, students learn how to design, script, and develop various categories of electronic games. Because of the mathematical nature of the programming, statistics and probability also is usually required for those striving to design their own games from top to bottom. Beyond the technical skills, good writing and communications skills are critical.
The main career paths within the game industry are Programmer, Artist, and Producer. Because so many who enter the field wish to design their own games, professionals often operate their own business in software game design and production or in training departments of business, industry and educational institutions. Employment opportunities also exist in the software production industry, but the market is extremely competitive.
Graphic Design
Graphic designers prepare visual designs for print, electronic, and film media. This includes everything from the layout of magazines, newspapers and web pages, to brochures and newsletters, to company logos, book and CD covers, billboards, movie credits and labels. Their visual designs and images are often used to inform, persuade, and/or move specific audiences to act, and their work is seen in every kind of visual communication imaginable.
In education, graphic design is often a required course of study within any visual artistic discipline. As a subject unto itself, graphic design students can still expect significant overlap with other art disciplines such as advertising design, CAD, commercial art, desktop publishing, drawing, design, illustration, layout and production, multimedia, product design, and visual communication. Professionally, graphic designers can be found in any business that has anything to sell or promote – which means just about any business. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a write-up on Designers that includes a lot of information that applies to graphic design.
Illustration
Illustration is the art of creating images for the sake of visual communication. It is the process of being able to get across an idea, concept or emotion through an illustration, and it has been a part of human existence since the drawings on cave walls of the first nomadic people. Illustration has evolved with every passing era of belief, and is now even incorporated into the new computer age, with the advent of technical illustration. This aspect of illustration used various forms of computer software, such as CAD, Photoshop, and Illustrator to make illustration less time consuming. Illustrators are often trying to solve a visual problems for their clients.
Illustrators of all kinds are encouraged to have a firm foundation in two-dimensional design. Instruction in computer-related software is also recommended, especially for those hoping to get into careers in technical illustration. Printmaking may also be an asset, as many careers involve publication illustration. There are even career opportunities that involve restoration of ancient manuscripts, which would require a knowledge base in history.
Industrial Design
Most people probably don’t give much thought to the impact of industrial design on their everyday life – but hundreds of new and innovative products are being released into the marketplace every day and, when seen on the morning news, people do take notice of that. Industrial Design involves the design of these consumer and capital products, from telephones and cars to toothbrushes and computers. What drives the work for professionals is often the concept or “big idea” that elevates a project into something unexpected. Industrial designers often work as part of a team, combining art with research on product use, customer needs, and production capabilities.
A college degree with at least a bachelors degree usually is needed to break into this field, which ranks as one of the most popular majors for both BFAs and MFAs – about 4 percent of all BFA and MFA graduates specialize in Industrial Design, according to a member survey of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Familiarity with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is generally expected int he field. Curriculum in industrial design includes a foundation in the design and creative process and hands-on experience with using tools, materials, and software; students can expect overlap with sub-specialties such as 3D Design, CAD, Drafting, Furniture Design, Product Design, Toy Design and Transportation Design, depending on their own interest. Graduates will be prepared to apply for entry-level positions such as junior or staff designer, assistant, intern, or studio assistant.
Jobs in industrial design are hot right now as the field is experiencing major growth, as the demand has also been growing for new products to improve quality and safety, convenience and comfort. Pay rate increases as job status increases, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median annual earnings for commercial and industrial designers was $48,780 in 2000.
Interior Design
Interior Design refers to the decoration and functionality of any interior space. Interior Designers act as consultants to ensure that their clients get what they want and need. Interior Designers must be good with color, fabric, and furniture; they must have knowledge of materials and possess good communication skills; their work includes creating lay outs, and even purchasing, ordering, supervising contractors, and overseeing budgets. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that “most salaried interior designers work for furniture and home furnishings stores, interior designing services, and architectural firms. Others are self-employed and do freelance work—full time or part time—in addition to a salaried job in another occupation.”
Professionals in the field typically hold at least a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. Education in the field will strike a balance between mastering design skills and creativity that will lead to innovative thinking about the inner and outer environment. Prospective students searching for a school should take into consideration the amount of training a school has to offer (degrees are attainable from an AA to an MFA), whether it has any nationally-recognized graduates, reputation, and accreditation. The Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER) is the accrediting body and offers a guide to well-rounded interior design curriculums providing a thorough education in the field.
Landscape Design
Landscaping combines elements of art and science to create a functional, aesthetically pleasing extension of indoor living to the outdoors. To work toward a desirable landscape design, the Landscape Designer must have knowledge of art elements and design principles. Landscape Designers design an environmental landscape for their customers by using landscape software, some of which combines a design program along with plant encyclopedias to aid in your work.
Landscape Designing requires not only being able to make the environment aesthetically pleasing, but having the knowledge to use the correct materials, placement, and plants to provide not only a service to your customers, but to improve the environment in an ecologically friendly way. Students studying landscape design will receive a comprehensive training in ecology, aesthetics, and technical skills. A typical curriculum may focus on research, design techniques, products, services and the environment.
Career options in this field include landscape designer, landscape contractor, nursery operations worker, government agency employee, horticulture consultant, garden and landscape management, parks and reserves, residential landscape designer, and groundskeeper/maintenance worker. Some of these careers may require more than two years of college study. Because the career options are widespread there this is a very marketable field to be in.
Product Design
Product design incorporates fine art skills with technical understanding. Those who work in this field design just about any manufactured product that you see in any store, from the simplest household appliances and tools to the most complex computers and medical supplies. The profession provides the opportunity to take ideas from prototype to mass production, including attention to the way a product looks, feels and works.
Educationally, Product Design programs help students to develop skills in drawing, modelmaking and use of computers while also learning about ergonomics, materials and manufacturing processes. There is often some overlap with 3D Design, Computer-Aided Design, Drafting, Industrial Design and/or Visual Communication. It is sometimes recommended that product designers also have a background in engineering, so they better understand the mechanical applications of their design.
Toy Design
For those of us who refuse to grow up… there’s toy design. Those of us who grew up with toys realize that there is a simple, innocent quality to playing with an inanimate object. Toys provide children with a positive outlet to explore dreams, fantasies, and the imagination. Toys also help children to form social relationships. Toy designers incorporate product design, engineering, and computer capabilities to help an idea take form. Professionals should also have a basic understanding of marketing to have an idea of whether their toy concepts are sellable – but perhaps, most importantly the toy designer must have an understanding of the consumer: kids of all ages.
Academically, Toy Design is considered a subset of Industrial Design, and it is not commonly found as an independent major (although we have seen a few schools that offer a BFA in Toy Design). Those interested in this specific field should find out how much coursework a school has to offer, but in any case, the study will often involve significant overlap with the fields of CAD, Design, Industrial Design, Product Design and Visual Communications; some principles of engineering and computer programming skills may also be required. Graduates will find that careers are found within toys.