What Is Communication Design?
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Approved and verified accurate by the Assistant Vice President of GCU Marketing on July 17, 2025.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.
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:
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.
Now that you’re familiar with the basics, it’s time to take a look at a couple of closely related disciplines. Communication design is often confused with graphic design or visual communication — which is understandable because there is quite a bit of overlap — but they aren’t all the same things.
Graphic design is a catch-all term that refers to visual content. Graphic designers can work on a wide array of products, from video games and apps to websites and printed marketing materials. The job of a graphic designer is twofold: to create a visually compelling and eye-catching element and to convey a message.
For instance, a graphic designer working on fundraising materials for a children’s cancer hospital might work on images of happy children and grateful parents leaving the hospital after achieving remission. Graphic designers seek to convey messages in various ways, and not all of them are as obvious as happy children leaving a hospital. For instance, when working on a website for a financial services firm, the graphic designer will select specific colors (e.g., green) to convey wealth. Even the font choice can subtly reinforce the company’s brand.
A graphic designer can do a lot with just an image. However, one thing that a graphic designer does not do is create the written content for the image. That’s where this broader discipline comes in; it combines both visual and textual elements to convey a message. Unlike graphic design, it also focuses on aligning those elements with the overall strategy of a campaign or brand, ensuring consistency, clarity and impact across all forms of communication.
To visualize these two definitions, imagine two overlapping circles. One of them is graphic design, and the other is communication design. Next, imagine a larger circle that encompasses them both. That larger circle is visual communication.
Visual communication is the umbrella term that encompasses both of those subfields. Essentially, visual communication involves conveying a message with images, designs or symbols. Visual communication blends together color theory, typography, branding and data visualization.
Visual communication design is the development of visual and written elements that convey a message.
The definition is rather broad, so to better understand the answer, it can be helpful to take a look at some specific examples, such as:
These are just a few examples of what communication design professionals can produce. In essence, their goal is to create a visually attractive and compelling image that conveys an important message. That message might be to buy from a certain brand, donate money to a worthy cause or access public services for a certain reason. Due to the versatility of design and visual communications, this approach is applicable across sectors and industries.
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Embrace the Potential of Visual Storytelling
Explore the foundational principles of visual communication design. Apply online at GCU!
Communication design refers to the engagement of an audience through visual content. This may be done for a variety of purposes, including informational, entertainment, sales and marketing.
What is communication design’s impact potential? Well, if a picture says a thousand words, how much more impactful could a picture be when combined with words?
If you’re passionate about telling stories and conveying important messages with both visual and written content, you might consider pursuing a career in communication design. Explore this subfield below and start planning your own career pathway in design and visual communications.
After exploring all these communication design examples, you might be eager to pursue a career in visual storytelling. If you’re passionate about communications and design, you can fuse your passion with purpose at Grand Canyon University. Apply today for enrollment in the Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Bachelor of Arts in Advertising and Graphic Design or Bachelor of Arts in Digital Design with an Emphasis in Animation degree program.
