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About Designing
You'll become
Average Salaries
Designing workers may earn between $39,000 and $68,000 per year
You’ve got a creative mind and you see the world differently. Turn that talent into an exciting new career by studying a design course.
Play a key role in the way we experience the world and engage with ideas by starting a rewarding new career as a designer. An emerging industry seeking thousands of new designers, the design sector is a dynamic new opportunity for you to challenge your creativity while building a rewarding career.
By completing a design course, you’ll build the critical skills, personal insights and theoretical knowledge required to turn your natural curiosity and creativity into an enriching career in the art and design industries. Exciting, unexpected and dynamic, a career as a designer is a unique opportunity to develop your artistic vision, shape your style and build the portfolio of creative work you need to start a career with a competitive edge.
Practical and creative, a design course suits anyone with big ideas and the commitment to pursue them.
You may study a design course as certificate or diploma course or as part of a bachelor’s or master’s degree. After completing your course, you can work as a graphic designer, web designer or illustrator, or in a marketing, advertising or communications role, using your creative skills and insights to develop compelling communications materials that engage, challenge and excite people.
What do designing graduates do?
As a designer, you’ll be responsible for designing visual communications materials, including producing graphics, illustrations, animations and videos. You may work in-house for a creative agency or other business, or work freelance as an independent designer, which will affect the nature and scope of your day-to-day responsibilities.
As a designer, you can expect to perform tasks like:
- Consulting with clients and stakeholders, to determine the objectives and constraints of a design brief;
- Researching and analysing assignment communications requirements and selecting appropriate design medium and tools;
- Reviewing references and researching creative elements;
- Producing sketches, illustrations, diagrams and layouts to communicate design concepts;
- Providing informed advice on use of composition, light, colour, patterns and trends in design to clients and stakeholders;
- Detailing and documenting a selected design for production;
- Supervising or carrying out the design in the chosen media; and
- Managing the execution of design projects, including managing and briefing staff, and managing budgets and other resources.
You may also be responsible for managing accounts and invoicing, marketing your services and seeking new clients, and connecting clients with other creative professionals, such as photographers and copywriters, depending on the nature of your work.
Career Outcomes
Career Outcomes
After completing a design course, you’ll likely seek employment as a graphic designer, illustrator or web designer, but may also choose to work in communications or marketing design, applying your creative skills to developing strategic communications.
Roles you may choose to pursue after completing your course include:
- User Experience Designer
- Augmented Reality App Designer
- Augmented Reality Programmer
- 3D Designer
- FX Technical Artist
- Augmented Reality Product Manager
- Virtual Reality Designer
- Virtual Reality Curator
- Web Designer
- Graphic Designer
- Interior Designer
- Web Developer
- Game Designer
- Animator
- Illustrator
- Art Director
- Interaction Designer
- Conceptual Artist
- Game Concept Artist
- Game Evaluator
- Educational Game Designer
- Game Level Designer
- Game Researcher
- Interface Designer
- Digital Media Manager
- 2D and 3D Animator
- Visual Effects Artist
- Visual Effects Supervisor
- Motion Graphics Artist
- 3D Model Builder
- Retail Spatial Designer
- Display and Event Designer
- Social Designer
- Spatial Designer
- Human Centred Designer
- Design Strategist
- UX (User Experience) Designer
- Service Designer
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Is designing right for you?
You’ll enjoy working in design if you:
- Are creative
- Can express yourself well
- Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Are curious about the world
- Can work independently
- Are proactive and enterprising
- Enjoy detailed work
- Have excellent organisational and project management skills
- Enjoy problem-solving and testing
- Work well with people
- Are patient and empathetic
Job opportunities
The Australian Government’s Job Outlook reports that the design industry in Australia is large and growing. Currently employing approximately 46,500 people, the industry is expected to grow strongly until at least 2020, where it will employ approximately 53,300 people. While the industry has contracted slightly over the last few years, it is expected to grow strongly over the next decade.
While the size of the profession indicates roles are available in most areas of Australia, Job Outlook notes that the sector is concentrated in New South Wales, with approximately 45 per cent of all designers working in the state.
Average Salaries
PayScale reports that designers can expect to earn a salary between $39,000 and $68,000 per year, with an average industry salary of approximately $51,000 per year. While a positive relationship exists between experience and earning capacity, PayScale notes that entry-level designers can still earn a competitive average salary of approximately $47,000 per year.
PayScale notes that over 80 per cent of designers have less than 10 years of work experience, indicating that people move from this profession as their careers progress. After gaining experience as a designer, you may choose to work in a more senior role as an art director, creative director or as a senior graphic designer.