Must Have Skills for Aspiring Designers in 2023 – A Comprehensive Study

Skills for Aspiring Designers in 2023 is what we are going to discuss in this blog which you have come to know by the title itself.

Becoming Design Industry Ready

You must make sure that when it concerns your career, you must not miss out on the action, and the action is happening right NOW!

Therefore, we encourage you to become industry ready as quickly as possible to cash on. And especially, if you are planning to launch your career in the digital design industry like communication, interaction, information, UX, etc., then you are up for a jump start as they are among the most trending design sector in the current scenario. So, do not miss the train, board, and hang on to it for a BRIGHT future ahead!

How to Become Design Industry Ready for 2023

Here are the key steps researched over the years, which will help you to maximize your speed three times.

1. Understanding the Industry
2. Traits of a Good Designer
3. Start earning

So, now going into the details of each step to attain the skills required to become a self-sustained designer.

Steps you must take to acquire the Skills for an Aspiring Designer in 2023

1. Understanding the Design Industry

There are numerous methods to do that, the one which will be convenient is the “Job Search Method on Job Portals”. There are numerous job portals and professional social media platforms, where you will find the profile of your interests and look for the various skills an employer or an organization is looking for when they are hiring for a particular profile that matches yours. Scan for the skills required in a designer to land a job or an internship.

Read the Skills required, job description, job responsibilities, and other relevant detail which might be helpful and informative to you. Repeat this for various companies that are hiring currently. When you do this you will get a clear picture of the required skills and what are the latest design software you might need to use and work with. This will upgrade you to the next level, as you now will know what the important skills you have to have are.

2. Understanding the traits of a good designer

Generally speaking, there are basically, two traits to become a designer;

1. Skill Set: Skills which makes you capable of handle the project and assignments & Address the Problem.

The employers assess this skill in you through your proof of work, which in our terms means a portfolio. They will conduct interviews and small tasks to find if you can work with a team. There is a communication test as well, which will assess your communication skills, and how well you are able to communicate your ideas.

Now you might ask; “How to build an Industry Satisfying Portfolio?”

Step 1: Here, again, the professional social media platform will come in handy, like searching for designers, and looking for their portfolios just do not stop at it, go through the case studies as well. A case-studies is a detailed analysis of a project from various perspectives. Once you go through a minimum of 10-15 case studies, you get a grasp of the steps of conducting research for a project. This will also help you develop your design thinking style. And, simultaneously while going through the portfolios of the designers, send them a connection request as well, which will also help build your network, and surely will assist you in the future.

Step 2: Learn the Tools necessary, let us take Figma, while you are learning to use Figma, start analyzing any existing case study simultaneously. Try searching for problems if any, and places of improvement in that project, fiddle with it on Figma, and create your case study on that, with your unique ideas and inputs. Once you are through with one case study, you will surely feel confident in working on a project on your own. Then take up a topic to implement whatever you are learning and create a project or case study on that, selecting the theme of your own choice and interest, and then go for that topic on that theme. Now, coming to selecting the topic, you may pick any app of your choice that you are using and may suggest an improvement in these apps.

Step 3: Now, that you have started working or almost completed a project, start applying for Internships. This also can be done in various ways, there are numerous internship openings coming up in the professional social media where you can apply. Another way can be to connect with senior designers in your field and showcase your work and request an internship. So while you are at it, your message-sending technique to the senior designer will again bring into account your communication skill.

* A simple tip here, start your conversation with the work they are doing or talk about any current theme/topic/project they have done that you really fell for, and then show your work and request them for their input.

So, if they like it, they will offer an internship, or if they reject it, ask for feedback, work on it, move on and forward it to others. You can even reach back to those designers whose portfolios you have been screening while getting an idea to make your portfolio. Send them greeting messages and convey to them how their portfolio was of immense help to you, and ask them for their feedback.

Next Comes;

 2. Mind Set: It is your mind’s ability to think like a designer. It is the skill to implement the design process in your daily life.

So, here you must keep in mind that your failures should be your stepping stones, so the fast you recover from your design failures the quicker it will be for you to amend and make improvements. It is also important to look for peer groups in this particular aspect. It will help you immensely in the Mind Set developing criteria, as it will really take a notch up in the encouragement, assistance and confidence-building areas, which you might constantly need to create a Mind Set skill in Designing.

So that brings us to the next and last step towards acquiring the skills to be Design Industry Ready in 2023.

1. Start Earning

Start earning as early as possible. The whole point behind this is that it triggers the “Awareness to your Responsibility” or “Ability to complete a task responsibly” factor. Another thing is that, you should know that no one pays you anything if you are not good at something. So, to be design industry ready, it will be a combination of numerous other traits which you will bring to use, while you are interacting professionally with the people of same interests like yours. Numerous online exposures are there to start earning in your field of designing, this will again add to one of the above discussed steps of creating your work experience profile, and in simple words, your portfolio.

Conclusion

Therefore, by industry ready does not mean just going by the book. It means an overall development with a combination of skills going into it.  While working in an organization where, abilities, efforts, and Brand values is at stake, only theory will not work, you will have to develop your interpersonal as well as profession-centric skills which will surely come in handy in your everyday professional life, and career growth. And these skills can be developed through the above-discussed steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Which industries can designers explore for their career growth?

Answer:  Designers can find employment in any sector that creates products and technology, including textile and apparel, automotive, digital, etc. Any organization or business that creates and develops things, employs designers to help create the objects they produce, and they are highly sought after for their expertise. They are frequently hired in UX design, online development, architecture, animation, and the fashion industry.

Q2. What skills does a designer need to succeed?

Answer:  In order to visualize a notion, designers must be able to solve problems creatively and collaborate with a team. Along with artistic qualities including the capacity to sketch designs, use design tools, and illustrate using conventional media, they also need to have good interpersonal skills. Designers must also comprehend what draws various markets to a product. Design success frequently depends on a designer's capacity to evaluate their own work and consistently implement criticism.

Top 10 Skills required to become a Designer. Below pointers a combination of both hard and soft skills that a designer requires to succeed:

1. Proficiency with Design software
2. Following and maintaining a balance in the fundamental design principles
3. Unique Ideation Ability
4. Creativity
5. Communication Skills
6. Visual Communication Skills
7. Problem–Solving Skills
8. User Experience Awareness
9. Team Work
10. Time Management

Q3. What Specializations can help you become a successful Designer?

Answer: Aspiring Design students often base their college specialization decisions on the industry sector they wish to design for. For example, web designers might choose to concentrate in computer science, while graphic designers frequently choose to focus in the visual arts. Each design faculty offers a wide range of expertise.

Therefore, consider the types of courses offered in each discipline and choose the specialization that will help you gain more industry knowledge and hands-on experience.

Q4. What are the job prospects for designers in 2023?

Answer: Design jobs are projected to grow along with technological advancements. Designers can adjust to shifting consumer needs since they are constantly working to find solutions to issues. Designers frequently continue to create improvements throughout a product's lifecycle, which enables them to advance their careers inside a single organization. Depending on the level of competition, some industries could offer designers more job chances than others.

Q5. How can Designers increase their income?

Answer: Gaining expertise in their industry or taking on freelancing work are two ways that designers might raise their income. By offering design advice as design consultants to numerous enterprises and organizations, many designers are currently supplementing their income.