Professional design courses gain popularity over regular degrees

When given a choice of a graduation degree providing not only knowledge but also good pay packages after you leave college over a regular graduation, which gives you only a paper backed degree, what will you opt for?

Professional courses over a regular graduation are thus getting popular amongst all the other degrees. A graduation degree in design is gaining mileage as it promises you a booming career if you have acquired the right skill set and knowledge.

Director of INIFD campus, Mita Agarwal said, “Nowadays, people are realising that a career-oriented graduation rather than a regular graduation offers much better prospects. It is certainly essential to get a graduation degree in one field or the other. Then why not in a field like design, where opportunities are growing by bounds with each passing year. Many foreign universities are collaborating with Indian institutes, thus graduating in  designing is gaining an international edge too.”

Teena Johnsson, now a faculty in one of the government institutes, had come to Pune to study apparel designing a year back. She feels that Pune is a cultural city and in itself is an inspiration for designing.

She said, “A career in design is immensely satisfying for creative people as it gives a direction to their imagination to flow in a linear path. One should be aware that the field is very demanding with respect to originality and creativity, thus you need to be prepared to work hard.”

What is most endearing about design courses is that all of them offer the option of self- employment and freelancing, according to Agarwal. One can be in one’s own space and enjoy the benefits of work, she said.

A design graduation over the usual graduation offers not only knowledge but also adds fun, creative and practical elements to one’s career. Various institutes in the city offer designing courses with fees starting from as low as Rs10, 000 to Rs1 lakh and above. The general eligibility criterion for all the courses is 10+2/equivalent.

Some of the designing options that are gaining momentum, as a prospective career options are:

Textile designing
Due to the rising demand for Indian textile in the domestic and foreign markets, jobs in this industry are on a rise. Those with creative ingenuity and technical skills generally opt for the textile design course. Textile designing comprises both surface design and structural design of the fabrics. The designers usually handle embroidery designs, print, weave and texture. There are growing opportunities in the private export houses and government-sponsored silk, handloom, jute and cotton organisations.

Landscape designing
It involves designing gardens and parks. So this field is beneficial for those interested in gardening either personally or professionally. Many designers combine garden design with another job, such as landscape contracting, garden consultancy, garden writing or retail nursery. You can get employed by the horticultural businesses, planning or design firms, developers or construction companies and the government (parks department).

Interior designing
It involves designing and coordinating decorative elements for the interior of a house, apartment, office or other structural space, including colour scheme, fittings, furnishings and sometimes architectural features. It is concerned with designing living space in a manner that is not only appealing to the eye but also functional and useful at the same time. Interior designing graduates can find employment with independent architects or in large architectural firms, with contractors, hotels and resorts. Professionals may also find work in private or public design consultancy firms, theatres and exhibition organising companies.
 
Apparel and jewellery designing
People will definitely never stop wearing clothes and jewellery! Thus one can be certain a related career is here to stay for long. The fields now offer fantastic options for further studies, like MBA in design management and research. The other options for specialisation are pattern making, illustration, retail in apparel manufacturing, diamond grading, gemmology and jewellery designing.

Graphic designing
Graphic designing involves making realistic and visually appealing detailed illustrations, pictures and visuals using technology which communicate messages and ideas. Graphic designers get employed in ad agencies, publishing houses and various media houses like newspapers, magazines, television production houses and others.