What are the branches of design? Designers Message about the profession of a designer

He is the creator of the world around us. This is due to the fact that design is present in all spheres of modern life. There are several areas in this area, which also have their own specializations. Design professions are very diverse.

The activities of an industrial designer are divided into the following categories: the design of household appliances, furniture, vehicles, tools, mechanisms, tools, machines and much more.

Depending on the chosen direction, a person is engaged in the selection of visual characteristics and the development of the appearance and configuration of the product.

An interior designer is engaged in the decoration of buildings and premises. It creates a unique style that fills a house, apartment or office with a certain energy and aura.

The use of various accessories and design elements add individuality to any room. An interior designer has a creative mind. It harmoniously combines a variety of decor items and maintains the color and semantic style while working on the project.

Design elements are used in their profession by marketers, PR managers and employees of advertising agencies. Business plans, ceremonies, programs require design. Their appearance plays a huge role during the implementation and often the success of the event directly depends on it. Therefore, design elements are often used in this area for the implementation of various projects.

Graphic designers have a wide field of activity. Artists and designers work in the printing industry, art and periodical publishing houses, and are engaged in the design of trademarks.

They develop and draw up projects using graphic programs on a computer. In addition, using graphics, they create layouts of various objects, select the best option for their design, taking into account the wishes of the customer.

Computer design has become a separate area of ​​graphic design. Specialists of this profile are working on the creation of a three-dimensional computer image, 3D animation and presentations. Their services are used during the shooting and design of films, animation and computer games.

A landscape designer is engaged in the design, reconstruction and creation of artificial and living plantings, sites, parks and gardens. He uses his knowledge and puts it into practice in landscaping.

Creates various compositions from plants and is engaged in floristry. He selects plants, taking into account their compatibility and the conditions in which they will grow. Also, a specialist in this profile is also engaged in landscaping.

Architectural design is a major part of the work of an architectural engineer. This is a creative profession that requires an artistic approach and abstract thinking. It takes a lot of work and knowledge to develop architecture projects. Any work begins with a sketch, but in order to realize all his plans and ideas, an engineer-architect needs to attract many more different specialists.

The main difference between design and what non-professionals understand by it is this: design does not end with appearance. Find out all the features of the profession: where to get training, how and where to get a job, features of the work process, demand in the labor market and much more.

Demand

Payability

Competition

entry barrier

prospects

Designer is a serious, complex and endlessly interesting profession.

Designs for the consumer

The main difference between design and what non-professionals understand by it is this: design does not end with appearance. Let us take the form of a man: behind him is hidden a complex organism with thoughts and feelings. So looking at the result of design work, the layman sees only a picture, the designer sees a ton of work behind it.

What does a designer do?

The designer designs. It constructs a world for the user - comfortable and pretty. He knows what is well designed and what is bad. Someone needs to decide this. Imagine that this someone looks at the blueprints of the spacecraft, touches the wiring, sits in chairs, puts on spacesuits, breathes oxygen - and puts his signature: “Checked. Approved. Everything is good, convenient and safe.” This person thinks like a designer. The main task of a professional is to transform into the one to whom the design is addressed, and decide what is good for him and what is bad.

Everyone expects beauty, style, lightness, energy from a designer - meaning by this the picture drawn to the consumer on the TV package. But what does a packaging designer actually do? He makes a tool for storing goods. In fact, any design object is a tool. If the tool is useless, then the design has not even been run through here. A box for storing goods should be beautiful and attract attention; be convenient for storage in a warehouse, in a store, at home; comfortable to carry; it should have readable and convenient designations for quick search in the warehouse and catalog. Will the packaging be light? Will it take up a lot of space for transportation in a container from the other side of the world? Can you save money on this? Will it get wet if you carry it in the rain? How does it feel to put goods in it, take it out, put it back in? How much material will it take to make it? How expensive, environmentally friendly and technologically advanced is this material? How attractive is he? Maybe it will be an innovative polymer or cardboard, without images and inscriptions? Is it labor-intensive to manufacture packaging from such a material? How much time and money will it take? Is this packaging recyclable?

Get a job in demand

UI designer

Master the design profession included in top 10 most popular in Russia. Interface formation: from the search for ideas to implementation. Hierarchy of a design project: from creating a composition, building typography and modular grid to a single visual style.

more >

UX designer

Study of the user audience and its needs. Creating an interface that improves the user experience. Design and prototyping of interface solutions based on research. Formation of a holistic understanding of the product.

more >

Interface design

Basic elements of the user interface, psychophysiology of perception, data collection and analysis, UX and UI design, Customer Journey Mapping, design tools, user interface quality assessment, group work at workshops.

more >

Web Designer

Web designer tools, modular grids, design and prototyping, responsive design and layout preparation, composition, color, typography and visual hierarchy in web design, project management systems, work presentation and portfolio preparation.

more >

The designer answers himself a million questions, makes a lot of decisions, provides for everything. If he thinks only about beauty, he will not do a good thing - and that's what he does: the designer creates good things. Many things. Every day. He makes a decision: how will people get to work tomorrow? Will the patient be saved? Will Apple sell its new laptop in a billion copies? Will everyone know in the morning that the clock has changed? Isn't it time to modify traffic lights to save dozens of lives at a treacherous intersection? Or maybe tomorrow your toaster will tell you the news and remind you to take an umbrella?

I will repeat myself and I am ready to repeat myself a hundred times: design is not art, not a picture, not appearance. The designer creates a solid structure, a frame. Each next job is a new task, interesting and difficult.

Solving this problem is your responsibility. You can invite an illustrator, photographer, programmer or psychologist to help, or you can do everything yourself. You can make a book cover incredibly attractive or revolutionary comfortable, you can invent a dollar-priced bicycle or make it an unexpected shape - but you have to make the cover and you have to make the bicycle. Which tool you use - mathematical mind or feelings and taste - is up to you.

Industrial and graphic design

Industrial, or industrial design (industrial design) is one of the most interesting areas in the profession. Create a new thing - your own - and release it around the world; to make it cheap, durable, economical, environmentally friendly, beautiful and as convenient as possible - these are the tasks of an industrial designer. A car, a vacuum cleaner and even a paper clip, that is, industrial products - this is the industrial designer's life's work.

The work of a graphic designer is sometimes boring, but varied. And in it, in contrast to industrial design, an animated person can more easily express himself - observing simple technical rules, he will receive complete freedom of action in his hands. A graphic designer creates a ton of everything: packaging, print and online advertising, logos and corporate identities, websites, magazines and books, CD and DVD covers, navigation systems (pointers) and infographics (diagrams and graphs), presentations and flyers , newspapers, even computer game interfaces. What a graphic designer does not do: he does not draw (there are illustrators for this), he does not write slogans and press releases (this is the task of a copywriter), he does not deal with business plans and sales (this is the prerogative of a manager), he does not repair or maintain computers ( system administrators reign here), does not make films (cameramen and directors do this), does not program sites (webmakers are responsible for this), does not place ads (there are advertising managers for this). All these skills are useful and sometimes applicable at the will of the designer, if it is beneficial to him in a particular case. However, they have no right to impose them on him.

A designer doesn't draw - should a designer be able to draw at all? I will answer the question with a question: does a doctor need to know anatomy? Design exists in visual categories, the ability to draw is the only way to understand from the inside the processes of creating a visual space. We are not talking about high artistic skill: a designer is only partly an artist. The draftsman's skills are precisely this very part. The smartness of a self-taught person is not enough here, but an art school will not help much either. University education or private lessons will give a much higher quality drawing, thereby bringing you closer to understanding your future work. The practice of drawing will develop a sense of form, light, color, proportion, composition - as well as instill skills in working with materials and will contribute to the development of artistic taste. The ability to draw will come in handy to varying degrees in different areas of graphic design; as for industrial and technical, clothing and interior design, illustration, photography, three-dimensional graphics and visualization - the skills of a draftsman are directly required. Design is not a drawing, there are academies of arts for artists, but handicraft skills should not be written off as scrap: the Japanese, Poles, Iranians are all handmade designers and everyone is held in high esteem. The drawing itself is only a tool among others; You can choose it, or you can not choose. The main thing is not to put it ahead of the essence of the design task.

orders and money

The superficial attitude to the specialty and the Russian “designer for himself”, common among customers, knocks down prices. That's why companies often hire self-taught bums to create $100 "masterpieces." The same ones that we see on signs, in magazines, in packaging, in advertising - everywhere. After all, someone did it. Someone who considers himself a designer. Low qualifications are not uncommon. To become a designer, it is not enough just to study at a university or just have work experience. You need to work, study at a university, study outside the university on your own (there are plenty of websites and books around) and along the way love design, and not everyone accomplishes such feats. So this work in Russia is estimated in proportion to the general level of professionalism - not high.

Despite the fact that pseudo-specialists are content with hundred-dollar orders, and customers with hundred-dollar work received, there are also prices of the European level, and they are accepted among real design specialists. Prices in a good studio start, for example, from 1500 euros for a logo. Some work is easier, some is harder; corporate identity for a medium-sized company can cost both 10 and 20 thousand euros; a site for several tens of thousands of conventional units will not surprise anyone. The amount of an order from well-known freelance designers can greatly exceed these values. However, one must be aware that this money is not allocated for “beautiful something” or even “nothing”: good design requires a lot of work, equally mental and manual, a lot of time and the work of a certain number of specialists. Professional marketers, copywriters, photographers, illustrators, technical designers, programmers, flashers, technologists, three-dimensional and visualizers, psychologists are involved in serious work... "All in one" does not happen here: the designer quickly finds his own narrow specialization, sticks to it; because of his specialization, he is valued.

However, there is no unsuitable work either - there is an unprofessional approach to business.

For a professional, every order arouses interest and excitement, the solution of a new unusual task spurs on, long-term monotonous work trains the will and consolidates skills.

For everyone, of course, there are topics that he will never take up, but I can’t imagine a designer who, as luck would have it, only religious sects, political parties and pirates turn to (religion, politics, crime are a standard set of taboos for a designer).

The professional environment is ambiguous. Quite often, people in design think more about themselves than about their work - and produce mediocre design, thereby leaving Russia on the outskirts of the world. But not everything is so hopeless. You just need to keep in mind that there will be another obstacle that needs to be overcome; there will be resistance, there will be windmills - and there will be Everest to climb. We are strong and brave. We are young. Finding a large order is a very real task. Serious business customers are well aware of the importance of a professional solution to a design problem, since it is design that directly affects the quality of the product, its demand, the cost-effectiveness of production and transportation, and, in general, profit.

Who suits the profession

Only a strong and purposeful person will become a designer, a passive and whiner will be overwhelmed. Do not believe in cheap education; Do not think that the ability to draw is everything. There will be a lot of boring disciplines. It is also not necessary to believe that you will be taught everything: the professionalism of a designer is, first of all, artistic taste, visual experience, erudition, the ability to think in an original, sober and fast way. Nothing can be taught - you can only learn. But the university will provide you with quite fertile soil for independent growth.

Where to study

Design education requires diligence. Design does not tolerate lazy people. Do not confuse design with illustration or photography, advertising or website development. Do not choose design if you have not entered another specialty: you will quickly get tired.

A number of universities, not necessarily well-known, offer a high level of design education. It's easy to tell them apart. It is enough to come to exhibitions (they are always in the halls of universities) - and ask yourself: is what I see applicable in life? There are always works made in the spirit of this educational institution and from this point of view, considered the best in the university. They are applicable in life - fine. But if, apart from beauty and outrageousness, you didn’t notice anything, no matter how much you looked, then in this university they teach beauty and outrageousness, and not design at all.

As a rule, people with a modest character, narrow-minded specialists who, in addition to teaching, have a design practice (I met such people only three times) teach design well.

Alas, teachers sometimes misunderstand the essence of design, and as a result, in the catalogs "Best Packaging Design" or "Best Industrial Design" we see a lot of works, although they are pretty - but, alas, not adapted in the best way for the consumer, and therefore unprofessional. An accurate diagnosis of them is a product of the university. Creative, famous, charismatic people harm the process of design education. They don't always know how to teach. Even having taste and having his own point of view, the star will consider it below his dignity to argue in her favor - and will simply try to impose it on you by constantly evaluating your work. Grades will guide the student on the wrong path - and after graduation from the university, the skills acquired there will turn out to be inapplicable, and such a graduate will not be able to work at all.

How training is built

Preparatory courses begin a year before admission. Even if you can't draw, a year-long class with a teacher can get you hooked. It is also worth looking at the preparatory courses of this university in composition. Firstly, they will get used to you, and secondly, often during this period of study time the fundamental course of so-called propaedeutics is shifted. In general, composition (which will be called propaedeutics, and introduction to the specialty, and design, and construction, and design) is the main subject. It is in these classes that you will receive 60% of all useful information - if you are lucky with the teacher.

After the preparatory courses, you have to pass the exams. Traditionally, this is a creative competition (average mark from exams in drawing, painting and composition), Russian languages ​​​​(USE) and foreign - orally. Exams in creative disciplines are held as follows: a simple setting is put on drawing and painting and is given to create a masterpiece for two days, 4 hours for each subject. (Other options - 6 hours, the exam is taken on 1 day, etc.) The composition is submitted on the same day. It is impossible to carry away the work: everything is sealed together with the audience.

In the first two courses, interesting subjects and tasks will involve you in the specialty, and the teachers will try to instill in you their taste and dispel the stereotypical thinking that has stagnated in us throughout our studies at school. Encouraging someone to think in an original way is quite a difficult task, and when you are asked to portray hatred or longing using only squares of black cardboard that cannot be torn or painted, you really think about what you thought flat until now. Throughout the course, you will be taught computer technology - you will have to master a completely new set of programs - as well as drawing, painting and, of course, composition.

In the third year, you will study special subjects in more depth. Things will get more interesting and more fun: contests, exhibitions, the first work will begin ... True, you should not forget that all art specialties require a six-year education, and design is no exception. You can limit yourself to a bachelor's degree, but then you will waste four years of your life ineptly: it is simply impossible to fit a voluminous program in such a short time.

The diploma is defended in the sixth year. The task is to reproduce a large project - for example, to design a glossy magazine. According to the general opinion of all graduate students, only if you start work in advance, you can do everything on time. Start it in the fifth year - and you will be rewarded: your classmates will fall behind simply because they started when it was supposed to - in the sixth year - and did not have time to give their projects a final shine.

If you successfully defend your degree, you will probably receive a recommendation to continue your education in this or other educational institutions - and this will allow you to study even, perhaps, for free. Some universities send students for internships abroad, others give job referrals... However, remember that not a diploma, but the acquired knowledge will work for you, and only willpower and hard work will help you save the world.

To understand the essence of the profession of a designer, you need to think about the meaning of its name. The word "design" means "drawing", "project". Accordingly, the field of knowledge involves artistic and design activities, the search for original and at the same time rational decorative solutions.

What can be the object of such developments?

Specialization Options

It is impossible to be a universal designer in the modern world. If you are attracted to this profession, think in advance what kind of subject (or intangible) environment you want to deal with.

We list the main design directions:

• industrial - participation in the manufacture of samples of furniture, household appliances, transport, production mechanisms;
• process - design of events, promotional materials, presentations, etc.;
• landscape - gardening, floristry, dendrology;
• architectural - work on the appearance of small or large architectural forms;
• graphic - drawing images using computer programs (for example, 3d interior plans for a specific apartment, animated characters for cartoons or computer games);
• creating collections of shoes and clothes, jewelry.

Where can a designer work and what salary should he expect? You will find answers to these questions if you look specific on our website.

Required knowledge and skills

Having decided on the nature of the chosen profession, think about how the choice made corresponds to your abilities. Many applicants make the mistake of believing that a designer is a purely humanitarian profession.

Alas, in order to master it, it is not enough to draw well and have a developed imagination. Each specialization requires a serious study of purely applied sciences.

It is unrealistic to engage in gardening without knowledge of botany, to think over models of dresses without the ability to sew. Only a person who knows engineering well is capable of drawing suitable building schemes. Without special preparation, you can’t even draw advertising banners - the artist needs to know at least the very basics of PR technologies.

Ask yourself if you have the traits that are valuable for a designer, which are listed below:

• ability in both creative and technical disciplines
• propensity for hard work;
• accuracy;
• expressed visual-figurative thinking;
• excellent taste;
• sense of style;
• the ability to defend their ideas.

If the answer is yes, we wish you good luck.

The profession of a designer is really interesting, and also attractive in terms of an average income level. It gives good chances for rapid career growth and - if desired - to create your own business.

Interior design, interfaces, virtual reality, interiors, clothes. Industrial, graphic, industrial design - this profession has dozens of specializations, which means dozens of categories of specialists. Professional specialization affects the capabilities of an employee: a web interface designer will not be able to visualize a residential building project in 3D and create a concept for a future car unless he acquires additional skills. This profession is covered with many rumors, myths and stereotypes. Let's find out the truth about her.

Designer - who is it? Description of the profession

A designer is a specialist in creating layouts of the surrounding reality. It can be real or virtual, it can be implemented or remain a concept.

The designer does not draw - the artists draw. At the same time, he uses drawing as a tool, visualizing ideas and projects.

The main difference between a specialist and an artist lies in the practical application of his work. The painter can depict any surreal interior and he does not care what furniture and how it will be located there. The designer, on the other hand, pursues other goals - people will live in the interiors designed by him.

Therefore, to obtain a profession, it is not enough to graduate from an art school - professional training and specialization are necessary. At the same time, society is constantly trying to neutralize the value of a specialist’s skills, because every second one is “a designer for himself”. People take 2-week courses, master the basic functionality of the 3D max program and create interiors that are impossible to live in. Customers pay for their work, see the horror on the face of the builders and receive uncomfortable, non-functional, impractical premises, losing confidence in the profession. If you decide to get a specialty and show professionalism, then you may join the struggle for high-quality design, which is so lacking in all areas of human life.

Types of design and responsibilities of specialists

The designer's range of tasks is limited not only by his professional skills, but also by the chosen specialization. Of course, you can master 2, 3 or more directions, but it is extremely difficult to do this. Do you often meet surgeons who are also pediatricians? Most likely no. Although both specialists are doctors, the direction of activity determines the duties of a specialist. So it is in design. The most popular specializations are:

• Interior designer. The inhabitants understand the profession as the ability to pick up and beautifully arrange furniture in the room. Sometimes - choose a wallpaper. The same is seen in their tasks by “specialists” who have completed 10-day courses. In fact, the profession of an interior designer is much more difficult. The ideal direction for training is a designer-architect. The interior is everything inside. Not only furniture and decoration, but also lighting, communications, architectural groups. The specialist must create not only a beautiful, but also a functional interior. He must think over the decoration, furniture, the location of lighting fixtures, the passage of communications and the installation of equipment. He must develop a concept of a room in which it will be convenient to live or work, which will solve the tasks set.
• Web designer or interface designer. One of the most sought after jobs. Have you noticed how sites of the same subject with approximately the same structure can differ from each other? On some, everything is clear and accessible, on others it is impossible to find the necessary information, and even a phone number. Design is the first thing a user sees on a site, a visual reflection of the functionality and positioning of a web resource. It is not enough to create a beautiful picture here - it is important to consider how the site will be made up when transferring the layout to the frontend developer, how user-friendly it will be, how the functionality will be implemented, how the corporate identity of the company will be presented, how page conversion will be achieved. The profession of a web designer requires an understanding of the principles of the site and the implementation of options. Here you need not so much to be able to draw beautifully, but to know the basics of development. It is very important to be able to communicate not only with clients, but also with programmers.
• Graphic Designer. De facto, this is the specialist who creates the shell. Typography, corporate identity and logos, navigation systems, visual solutions for packaging and media are the most popular areas of activity. The key task of the shell is to fulfill its purpose. Attract, sell, promote the brand. At the same time, it is necessary to remember the practical significance of each subject. How convenient this packaging for a chocolate bar or box for sweets will be, how it will be implemented in the industry, whether the chosen colors and fonts will be pleasing to the eye of the beholder, whether the corporate identity will become recognizable - all this depends on the specialist, his talent and professionalism.
• landscape designer. In fact, he also performs the tasks of the designer, being responsible for the complex creation of the landscape. And at the same time, it is necessary to master the skills of an agronomist, engineer and artist. How convenient the landscape will be from a practical point of view, how communications will take place, whether the given aesthetics will be individual and harmonious, whether the flowers, trees and shrubs recommended for planting will eventually take root - a specialist must answer each of these questions.
• Industrial designer. This is an industrial design, which is responsible for the implementation of projects for large-scale production. A prime example is the automotive industry. Once developed, the design of the car will affect the fate of millions of people who buy it from the manufacturer. Here it is important to take into account not only aesthetics, but also engineering systems, ergonomics, practicality, compliance with functional features. Industrial design is inseparable from reality even when creating concepts for the implementation of which science has not yet found the right tools.

These are just the most popular and sought-after destinations. The design doesn't end there.

Moreover, many areas are just emerging and will be intensively developed. If a fashion designer (clothing designer) is the present, then the creator of a virtual habitat is the near future. Each of the areas of the profession is relevant and promising. According to experts, interest in specialties will only continue to grow in the coming years.

Where to get a job as a designer? TOP-5 universities

It would not be superfluous to graduate from art school, but if you didn’t do it in a timely manner, it’s okay. It will give significant advantages only before admission, where drawing and composition are usually present as an exam. However, many universities are moving away from this - it is necessary to clarify the list of entrance examinations in advance. To get a professional education, it is better to choose a reputable university that provides training in specific areas.

1. St. Petersburg State University.
2. Moscow State University Lomonosov.
3. St. Petersburg Institute of Design and Arts.
4. Moscow University of Design and Business.
5. St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

The rating should not be taken as the ultimate truth, since a lot depends on the specialization. It is better to study interior design at a university with, web interfaces - with an emphasis on IT, clothes - with an emphasis on creative and artistic specialties. At the same time, the authority of domestic universities does not determine future success, which cannot be said about. Fashion designers trained in France and Italy, or industrial design professionals trained in Germany, have significant employment advantages.

What personal qualities do you need to have

• Logical thinking. You will create not a picture, but projects of reality. Therefore, it is important to be able to think logically and take into account a lot of aspects within the framework of specialization.
• Individuality. It fuses with creativity and helps generate unique ideas that make your design stand out.
• Attentiveness. One mistake made in web design will turn into sleepless weeks for the layout designer, in creating interiors - a complete violation of its functionality.
• perseverance. You will not become an artist who can wait years for inspiration - you will work within a rigidly stipulated deadline. Therefore, it is important to have perseverance and performance.
• Developed intellect. It is important to be able to penetrate into the direction in which you are engaged and understand what will reflect and visualize your design.

How to build a career and succeed

The presentation of the profession immediately loses its attractiveness and the image of "pure creativity" if it is filled with semantic realities. Think about what is behind the usual logo of a large company, because it is a very expensive corporate property (think Nike or Mercedes-Benz). Behind the approved picture are the most complex marketing research, analysis or creation of a corporate identity, dozens of ideas thrown into the trash can and hundreds of sketches.

You only if you do not build illusions and perceive the design as a picture. You need to get a quality education within the chosen direction and continue learning throughout your life. It is necessary to master a lot of software and technical tools, in particular illustrators and visualizers - specialists have not worked with paper for a long time.

Ideally, if you manage to get an education in an elite foreign university. If not, settle for an affordable university or college, continue your professional development, and strive to gain as much experience as possible. Learn from your own mistakes, do not sit too long in one workplace, attend seminars and trainings, participate in professional competitions. Stay in touch with the global community, study trends and trends, while maintaining your own individuality.

Pros and cons of being a designer

There are many advantages and disadvantages in this profession. Many of them are conditional, most refer only to employees with little experience or frankly average qualifications. That is why we will pay attention to the average pros and cons in order to be at least somewhat objective in the analysis.

pros profession designer:

• Demanded, relevant and promising profession.
• Decent wages for qualified professionals.
• Unlimited opportunities for good earnings on freelancing.
• Interesting, somewhat creative work.
• A real opportunity to improve the surrounding reality.

Minuses profession designer:

• A challenging job that requires understanding of the industry.
• Often subjective, incompetent assessment of work.
• Low salaries for specialists without a name, qualifications, experience.
• Lack of instructions for solving specific problems.
• Almost always irregular working hours.

It is worth noting that it is the subjective assessment that is noted by most specialists as a key drawback of the profession.

Even with vast experience and high qualifications, you will constantly encounter misunderstandings from customers, engineers and builders. This cannot be avoided even by specialists whose works have been repeatedly noted by the world community.

How much do designers in Russia and abroad earn

The salary depends on the direction of the profession, on experience, the degree of proficiency in software and technical tools, on the region, personal brand and many other factors.

The amount in any case will be the "average temperature in the hospital." However, indicators can serve as guidelines. On average, Russian specialists receive 33-35 thousand rubles, in Moscow - 37-43 thousand, in the regions the minimum wages are 12-15 thousand rubles.

Interface designers earn the most (90-100 thousand), followed by 3D designers (93 thousand), web designers (85 thousand), interior designers (73 thousand), furniture (65 thousand) and landscape designers (62 thousand). Specialists from European countries almost always get more. If we consider the same interface designer, then in the USA he receives an average of 3 thousand dollars a month, in Canada - 2.7 thousand, in Germany 3.9 thousand euros.

Summary

When students in grades 7-9 write an essay on the topic “My future profession is a designer”, they do not always realize the completeness of the tasks of a specialist. Before entering a university, study the pros and cons. Understand that this is not only drawing - it is, first of all, the design of reality, real or virtual. This is a difficult job, which often does not find an objective assessment. You will need experience, constant learning, and long-term work on your personal brand to be successful.

The main difference between design and what non-professionals understand by it is this: design does not end with appearance. Find out all the features of the profession: where to get training, how and where to get a job, features of the work process, demand in the labor market and much more.

Demand

Payability

Competition

entry barrier

prospects

Designer is a serious, complex and endlessly interesting profession.

Designs for the consumer

The main difference between design and what non-professionals understand by it is this: design does not end with appearance. Let us take the form of a man: behind him is hidden a complex organism with thoughts and feelings. So looking at the result of design work, the layman sees only a picture, the designer sees a ton of work behind it.

What does a designer do?

The designer designs. It constructs a world for the user - comfortable and pretty. He knows what is well designed and what is bad. Someone needs to decide this. Imagine that this someone looks at the blueprints of the spacecraft, touches the wiring, sits in chairs, puts on spacesuits, breathes oxygen - and puts his signature: “Checked. Approved. Everything is good, convenient and safe.” This person thinks like a designer. The main task of a professional is to transform into the one to whom the design is addressed, and decide what is good for him and what is bad.

Everyone expects beauty, style, lightness, energy from a designer - meaning by this the picture drawn to the consumer on the TV package. But what does a packaging designer actually do? He makes a tool for storing goods. In fact, any design object is a tool. If the tool is useless, then the design has not even been run through here. A box for storing goods should be beautiful and attract attention; be convenient for storage in a warehouse, in a store, at home; comfortable to carry; it should have readable and convenient designations for quick search in the warehouse and catalog. Will the packaging be light? Will it take up a lot of space for transportation in a container from the other side of the world? Can you save money on this? Will it get wet if you carry it in the rain? How does it feel to put goods in it, take it out, put it back in? How much material will it take to make it? How expensive, environmentally friendly and technologically advanced is this material? How attractive is he? Maybe it will be an innovative polymer or cardboard, without images and inscriptions? Is it labor-intensive to manufacture packaging from such a material? How much time and money will it take? Is this packaging recyclable?

Get a job in demand

UI designer

Master the design profession included in top 10 most popular in Russia. Interface formation: from the search for ideas to implementation. Hierarchy of a design project: from creating a composition, building typography and modular grid to a single visual style.

more >

UX designer

Study of the user audience and its needs. Creating an interface that improves the user experience. Design and prototyping of interface solutions based on research. Formation of a holistic understanding of the product.

more >

Interface design

Basic elements of the user interface, psychophysiology of perception, data collection and analysis, UX and UI design, Customer Journey Mapping, design tools, user interface quality assessment, group work at workshops.

more >

Web Designer

Web designer tools, modular grids, design and prototyping, responsive design and layout preparation, composition, color, typography and visual hierarchy in web design, project management systems, work presentation and portfolio preparation.

more >

The designer answers himself a million questions, makes a lot of decisions, provides for everything. If he thinks only about beauty, he will not do a good thing - and that's what he does: the designer creates good things. Many things. Every day. He makes a decision: how will people get to work tomorrow? Will the patient be saved? Will Apple sell its new laptop in a billion copies? Will everyone know in the morning that the clock has changed? Isn't it time to modify traffic lights to save dozens of lives at a treacherous intersection? Or maybe tomorrow your toaster will tell you the news and remind you to take an umbrella?

I will repeat myself and I am ready to repeat myself a hundred times: design is not art, not a picture, not appearance. The designer creates a solid structure, a frame. Each next job is a new task, interesting and difficult.

Solving this problem is your responsibility. You can invite an illustrator, photographer, programmer or psychologist to help, or you can do everything yourself. You can make a book cover incredibly attractive or revolutionary comfortable, you can invent a dollar-priced bicycle or make it an unexpected shape - but you have to make the cover and you have to make the bicycle. Which tool you use - mathematical mind or feelings and taste - is up to you.

Industrial and graphic design

Industrial, or industrial design (industrial design) is one of the most interesting areas in the profession. Create a new thing - your own - and release it around the world; to make it cheap, durable, economical, environmentally friendly, beautiful and as convenient as possible - these are the tasks of an industrial designer. A car, a vacuum cleaner and even a paper clip, that is, industrial products - this is the industrial designer's life's work.

The work of a graphic designer is sometimes boring, but varied. And in it, in contrast to industrial design, an animated person can more easily express himself - observing simple technical rules, he will receive complete freedom of action in his hands. A graphic designer creates a ton of everything: packaging, print and online advertising, logos and corporate identities, websites, magazines and books, CD and DVD covers, navigation systems (pointers) and infographics (diagrams and graphs), presentations and flyers , newspapers, even computer game interfaces. What a graphic designer does not do: he does not draw (there are illustrators for this), he does not write slogans and press releases (this is the task of a copywriter), he does not deal with business plans and sales (this is the prerogative of a manager), he does not repair or maintain computers ( system administrators reign here), does not make films (cameramen and directors do this), does not program sites (webmakers are responsible for this), does not place ads (there are advertising managers for this). All these skills are useful and sometimes applicable at the will of the designer, if it is beneficial to him in a particular case. However, they have no right to impose them on him.

A designer doesn't draw - should a designer be able to draw at all? I will answer the question with a question: does a doctor need to know anatomy? Design exists in visual categories, the ability to draw is the only way to understand from the inside the processes of creating a visual space. We are not talking about high artistic skill: a designer is only partly an artist. The draftsman's skills are precisely this very part. The smartness of a self-taught person is not enough here, but an art school will not help much either. University education or private lessons will give a much higher quality drawing, thereby bringing you closer to understanding your future work. The practice of drawing will develop a sense of form, light, color, proportion, composition - as well as instill skills in working with materials and will contribute to the development of artistic taste. The ability to draw will come in handy to varying degrees in different areas of graphic design; as for industrial and technical, clothing and interior design, illustration, photography, three-dimensional graphics and visualization - the skills of a draftsman are directly required. Design is not a drawing, there are academies of arts for artists, but handicraft skills should not be written off as scrap: the Japanese, Poles, Iranians are all handmade designers and everyone is held in high esteem. The drawing itself is only a tool among others; You can choose it, or you can not choose. The main thing is not to put it ahead of the essence of the design task.

orders and money

The superficial attitude to the specialty and the Russian “designer for himself”, common among customers, knocks down prices. That's why companies often hire self-taught bums to create $100 "masterpieces." The same ones that we see on signs, in magazines, in packaging, in advertising - everywhere. After all, someone did it. Someone who considers himself a designer. Low qualifications are not uncommon. To become a designer, it is not enough just to study at a university or just have work experience. You need to work, study at a university, study outside the university on your own (there are plenty of websites and books around) and along the way love design, and not everyone accomplishes such feats. So this work in Russia is estimated in proportion to the general level of professionalism - not high.

Despite the fact that pseudo-specialists are content with hundred-dollar orders, and customers with hundred-dollar work received, there are also prices of the European level, and they are accepted among real design specialists. Prices in a good studio start, for example, from 1500 euros for a logo. Some work is easier, some is harder; corporate identity for a medium-sized company can cost both 10 and 20 thousand euros; a site for several tens of thousands of conventional units will not surprise anyone. The amount of an order from well-known freelance designers can greatly exceed these values. However, one must be aware that this money is not allocated for “beautiful something” or even “nothing”: good design requires a lot of work, equally mental and manual, a lot of time and the work of a certain number of specialists. Professional marketers, copywriters, photographers, illustrators, technical designers, programmers, flashers, technologists, three-dimensional and visualizers, psychologists are involved in serious work... "All in one" does not happen here: the designer quickly finds his own narrow specialization, sticks to it; because of his specialization, he is valued.

However, there is no unsuitable work either - there is an unprofessional approach to business.

For a professional, every order arouses interest and excitement, the solution of a new unusual task spurs on, long-term monotonous work trains the will and consolidates skills.

For everyone, of course, there are topics that he will never take up, but I can’t imagine a designer who, as luck would have it, only religious sects, political parties and pirates turn to (religion, politics, crime are a standard set of taboos for a designer).

The professional environment is ambiguous. Quite often, people in design think more about themselves than about their work - and produce mediocre design, thereby leaving Russia on the outskirts of the world. But not everything is so hopeless. You just need to keep in mind that there will be another obstacle that needs to be overcome; there will be resistance, there will be windmills - and there will be Everest to climb. We are strong and brave. We are young. Finding a large order is a very real task. Serious business customers are well aware of the importance of a professional solution to a design problem, since it is design that directly affects the quality of the product, its demand, the cost-effectiveness of production and transportation, and, in general, profit.

Who suits the profession

Only a strong and purposeful person will become a designer, a passive and whiner will be overwhelmed. Do not believe in cheap education; Do not think that the ability to draw is everything. There will be a lot of boring disciplines. It is also not necessary to believe that you will be taught everything: the professionalism of a designer is, first of all, artistic taste, visual experience, erudition, the ability to think in an original, sober and fast way. Nothing can be taught - you can only learn. But the university will provide you with quite fertile soil for independent growth.

Where to study

Design education requires diligence. Design does not tolerate lazy people. Do not confuse design with illustration or photography, advertising or website development. Do not choose design if you have not entered another specialty: you will quickly get tired.

A number of universities, not necessarily well-known, offer a high level of design education. It's easy to tell them apart. It is enough to come to exhibitions (they are always in the halls of universities) - and ask yourself: is what I see applicable in life? There are always works made in the spirit of this educational institution and from this point of view, considered the best in the university. They are applicable in life - fine. But if, apart from beauty and outrageousness, you didn’t notice anything, no matter how much you looked, then in this university they teach beauty and outrageousness, and not design at all.

As a rule, people with a modest character, narrow-minded specialists who, in addition to teaching, have a design practice (I met such people only three times) teach design well.

Alas, teachers sometimes misunderstand the essence of design, and as a result, in the catalogs "Best Packaging Design" or "Best Industrial Design" we see a lot of works, although they are pretty - but, alas, not adapted in the best way for the consumer, and therefore unprofessional. An accurate diagnosis of them is a product of the university. Creative, famous, charismatic people harm the process of design education. They don't always know how to teach. Even having taste and having his own point of view, the star will consider it below his dignity to argue in her favor - and will simply try to impose it on you by constantly evaluating your work. Grades will guide the student on the wrong path - and after graduation from the university, the skills acquired there will turn out to be inapplicable, and such a graduate will not be able to work at all.

How training is built

Preparatory courses begin a year before admission. Even if you can't draw, a year-long class with a teacher can get you hooked. It is also worth looking at the preparatory courses of this university in composition. Firstly, they will get used to you, and secondly, often during this period of study time the fundamental course of so-called propaedeutics is shifted. In general, composition (which will be called propaedeutics, and introduction to the specialty, and design, and construction, and design) is the main subject. It is in these classes that you will receive 60% of all useful information - if you are lucky with the teacher.

After the preparatory courses, you have to pass the exams. Traditionally, this is a creative competition (average mark from exams in drawing, painting and composition), Russian languages ​​​​(USE) and foreign - orally. Exams in creative disciplines are held as follows: a simple setting is put on drawing and painting and is given to create a masterpiece for two days, 4 hours for each subject. (Other options - 6 hours, the exam is taken on 1 day, etc.) The composition is submitted on the same day. It is impossible to carry away the work: everything is sealed together with the audience.

In the first two courses, interesting subjects and tasks will involve you in the specialty, and the teachers will try to instill in you their taste and dispel the stereotypical thinking that has stagnated in us throughout our studies at school. Encouraging someone to think in an original way is quite a difficult task, and when you are asked to portray hatred or longing using only squares of black cardboard that cannot be torn or painted, you really think about what you thought flat until now. Throughout the course, you will be taught computer technology - you will have to master a completely new set of programs - as well as drawing, painting and, of course, composition.

In the third year, you will study special subjects in more depth. Things will get more interesting and more fun: contests, exhibitions, the first work will begin ... True, you should not forget that all art specialties require a six-year education, and design is no exception. You can limit yourself to a bachelor's degree, but then you will waste four years of your life ineptly: it is simply impossible to fit a voluminous program in such a short time.

The diploma is defended in the sixth year. The task is to reproduce a large project - for example, to design a glossy magazine. According to the general opinion of all graduate students, only if you start work in advance, you can do everything on time. Start it in the fifth year - and you will be rewarded: your classmates will fall behind simply because they started when it was supposed to - in the sixth year - and did not have time to give their projects a final shine.

If you successfully defend your degree, you will probably receive a recommendation to continue your education in this or other educational institutions - and this will allow you to study even, perhaps, for free. Some universities send students for internships abroad, others give job referrals... However, remember that not a diploma, but the acquired knowledge will work for you, and only willpower and hard work will help you save the world.