Typical activities
Each designer’s role varies from employer to employer, but common activities include:
- Staying up to date with industry trends to keep ahead of competitors
- Producing consistently excellent visual work
- Producing a host of ideas, selecting the best ones and selling them to the other members of the team and to clients
- Encouraging others to share their ideas and nurturing creativity
- Communicating productively with management and clients to keep them up-to-date with project milestones
- Creating direction for projects and guiding team members
Skills required
A designer needs a wide range of design and creative capabilities. These include:
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- A full and fluent knowledge of current design tools and software
- Confidence to be bold with their work
- Industry experience in the design field
- The ability to meet deadlines
- A background of working well as part of a design team
- The ability to think creatively and deliver impressive concepts
From time-to-time, designers may be required to work irregular hours, so there’s a need to be flexible to get the very best out of their job. When deciding to embark on a career as a designer, developing a strong knowledge of all aspects of the design industry is imperative.