Because communication design touches many aspects of daily life, a diverse range of career possibilities may be open to those who specialize in it.
For example, many communication design experts work in marketing and advertising — the first of potential career fields explored below:
Communication design professionals can work in the marketing and advertising industry. They may work directly for a corporation on their marketing campaigns as an internal employee or they might work for a marketing agency that provides work to various companies.1
At a marketing agency, a communication designer can work on the visual and written elements in marketing campaigns for a wide range of companies. Some of these agencies or designers may specialize in a particular type of client, such as healthcare or information technology (IT).
When designing marketing materials, they strive to create eye-catching images and compelling messages that persuade people to buy a product or pay for a service. They can take various approaches to accomplish this, such as by using humor, offering advice or informing consumers.
In some cases, companies may also use communication design to launch public awareness campaigns. For instance, a car manufacturer might launch a campaign intended to raise awareness about impaired driving.
Although many professionals in this field use communication design to urge the viewer to take some sort of action (e.g., to buy a certain product), the job of a photojournalist is not to sell anything. Rather, much like a journalist, a photojournalist seeks to convey truthful and thought-provoking stories through their images. Photojournalists are responsible for documenting current events, social issues and the news through their photography and their writing.
Photojournalists will first carefully research the event or social issue and then identify promising subjects to photograph. They aim to take photographs that tell the story of that issue or event in either a microcosmic or macrocosmic way. In addition, photojournalists write captions for their photography, and some will also write accompanying articles. Some photojournalists write books as well, informing their audience about issues using both photography and written text.
In an increasingly mobile-friendly world, app designers play an important role in enabling people to complete tasks on their mobile devices. An app designer is different from an app developer. Whereas an app developer writes the code that creates the program, an app designer will determine how the interface looks and how users will navigate the app.
An app designer might work on anything from a gaming app to a financial services app to a health tracking app. They will develop the visual images and the accompanying text, along with figuring out how users can navigate the program.
UX and UI are similar but distinct. The user interface (UI) of a website, device or app includes all the visual elements you’ll use, such as buttons and navigational menus. User experience (UX), meanwhile, encompasses the entirety of a person’s interaction with the website or app.
Both UX and UI are essential to the success of a product. They determine how aesthetically pleasing the product is, as well as how easy it is to use and how well it functions.
Professionals in the UX/UI niche will generally first conduct user research to identify what users want and need and what their pain points are. They’ll build wireframes and prototypes as they map out how the product will look and function. They’ll also design the interactive elements, including toggles and fonts, as they finalize the various elements of the product.
Some communication design professionals specialize in motion design.
A motion designer may work on a wide range of projects, including:
- Animated films and TV shows
- Video games
- Animated marketing and advertising commercials
Motion designers create visual content by combining graphic design, animation and storytelling principles. They use tools to animate typography, shapes and imagery, often for videos, apps, websites or advertisements. Their work focuses on enhancing communication through movement, collaborating with creative teams to make sure the visuals align with brand goals and user experience.
