The Changing Design Landscape Now Offers Unique Career Opportunities?
The Changing Design Landscape Now Offers Unique Career Opportunities?

Contactless and remote working models, digital platforms, and online access have made work locations agnostic, adaptable and resilient. The business of fashion found creative ways to remain relevant. Resiliency design gained momentum enhancing design’s role in solving real public-interest issues. Retail and hospitality market segments sought interactive experiences and integrated technologies to inspire trust and loyalty. These changes strongly support young people post class 12 to seek immersive design education that provides them with opportunities to merge business strategies with behavioral understanding and emerging technologies and become career-ready.

Niche-focused Architects: Adaptable design that redefines physical spaces is the key to future success. It has given rise to ‘hyperlocal’ city models that ensure all amenities are available within a 15-minute walking or biking radius, enhanced the notion of ‘resimercial,’ i.e., a mix of residences and commercial office space on the same premises and inclusion of senior housing into mixed-use buildings to provide them access to a more connected life.

Biophilic Interior Designers: Support clients to reconnect with their natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions.

Living spaces of tomorrow require a unique blend of technology (artificial intelligence, automation, sound and motion sensors) products (facial recognition apps, humidity reducing air-conditioning system, furniture with antimicrobial and easy-to-clean fabrics and materials), and adaptable room layouts that support multiple functions.

Colour Trendsetters: Colour Trendsetters support color-critical decisions needed for fashion, textile, home, interior design, brands, retailers, and product manufacturers to instill a sense of reassurance and comfort.   

Virtual Showroom Designer: The growth of e-commerce has meant creating interactive tech-powered digitally-rendered spaces for shoppers to browse through clothing, accessories, and luxury items. Exceptional digital design skills and collaboration with animators and game designers are now a necessity to create these alternative platforms. 

Fashion Photography: Physical distancing has led photographers to use video calls over digital platforms like Zoom and FaceTime, webcams, and smartphone lenses for photoshoots. ‘Stay safe + sound with i-D’2 was a project commissioned to shoot models over FaceTime.  

CGI Artist: Computer-Generated Imagery requires an extensive understanding of lighting, set design, styling, and composition. CGI rendering in virtual reality fashion showcase and exhibitions, technology-driven offerings like digital collections, and virtual ‘try on’ using realistic digital avatars, mixed-reality events with live streaming are the new ways to engage with clients worldwide.

Data Editors: Data about consumers as they scroll through e-shops can help brands better understand their needs and purchasing decisions, develop new products and support retailers sharpen their marketing strategies. Being aware of industry trends, data editors can help analyze such information and maximize its potential.

Social Media Influencers: Instagram and TikTok have created a massive shift in how people experience and consume architecture. ‘TikTok-itecture’1 recently saw the creation of 950 million videos that utilized the hashtag #architecture to describe buildings in various cities or a specific architectural style.  

System Designers: Online life is the new normal. Knowledge and understanding of design and technology support developing apps and Building Information Modeling (BIM) to efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. Due to its exceptional versatility to fit varied needs, many industries have capitalized on drone technology. Real estate developers used it to show investors potential property sites while multimedia communicators used it cost-effectively to promote powerful messages.  

Corporate Social Responsibility Expert: Social media has held many fashion and beauty brands accountable for perpetuating inequalities since they’re influential in terms of trends, ideas, and visions of beauty. CSR experts require a deep understanding of fashion, social and cultural contexts, environmental and governance issues, and international affairs. They support brands to effectively strategize, look responsible, integrate sustainability, and use their voice to create meaningful change. 

Smart Retail Inventory Manager: Inventory planning now needs data-driven bottom-up operating models that accurately predict demand rather than the earlier top-down model basing decisions on budgets and trend forecasts. Strong analytical skills, ability to interpret real-time data, understanding of social media using consumer behavior and market trends are essential. 

Product Designers: The design and development of products that offer self-care solutions like GPS bracelets, UV Phone sanitizers, reusable self-decontaminating boxes, and containers are evolving. Simultaneously, the concept of shared-product design for group possession is also being explored. 

Other career options are need-based furniture design to match lifestyle, multifunctional kitchen design, prevention design providing solutions to prevent unsafe environments, designing data and privacy management models that distinguish security and privacy, inclusion design to incorporate personal handicaps like the age to contextual handicaps like access to technology. 

The field of design is currently exploding with possibilities and is, therefore, the right choice for those seeking to explore careers in this sector.
 

 
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