10 reasons to start a career in digital design

**This is an updated post**

Do you love design? Ever wanted to be an artist? Are you someone who is both creative and tech-savvy?

If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then a career in Digital Design may be the ideal way to spread your creative wings, exercise your mind, and gain a steady pay cheque all at the same time!

What is digital design?

A Digital Designer is a creative who combines their Graphic Design skills with imagination, vision and technological savvy to produce a large range of visual media, from websites, to advertising, digital imaging, animation, 2D and 3D modelling, and graphics.

Basically a Digital Designer is responsible for how something looks on a computer, mobile phone, or in video.

Curious about what a Digital Design career could offer you?

Read on for the top ten reasons you may want to pursue a career in this area.

1. A broad skill set

Working as a Digital Designer lets you use your talents in a number of creative endeavours and keeps your brain engaged and active!

To this end, a Digital Designer boasts a broad skill set across a number of platforms, including: Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver. When you work in Digital Design you combine Photography, Videography, Animation and Graphic Design skills together to transform ideas and concepts into reality.

2. You’re not limited to one ‘type’ of work

Armed with this broad design skill set, Digital Designers can choose from a huge number of jobs in the Digital Design industry.

Some Digital Design roles include:

• Web Designer
• Illustrator
• Photo Editor
• Concept Artist
• Digital Developer
• Special Effects Artist
• 2D and 3D Animation Designer
• Website User Experience Designer
• Graphic Designer
• Video Game Designer
• Advertising and Marketing Designer
• Video Production Executive

With such a variety of different roles to choose from, you’re not limited to just the one, linear career path. You could transfer your existing skillset across to a different area of the digital design industry and see where things could take you.  

3. Find fun work pals

Working in the Digital Design industry you will meet a diverse range of creatives and clients. You will more than likely find yourself working alongside like-minded people who share your passion for creativity, innovation, design and technology. You never know – your new colleagues you may just become friends for life!

4. Work for yourself or for someone else, or both!

A Digital Designer has the freedom to go freelance, or to work specifically for a company or a client.

Because practically every company and agency needs digital design to compete and get attention in the digital age, Digital Designers also enjoy a great amount of freedom when it comes to what type of company they want to work for: whether that be a small boutique agency, a start-up, a big multinational, a government department or an iconic brand.

5. Plenty of opportunities for career advancement

With demand high, and job avenues plentiful, Digital Designers have lots of opportunity for career advancement.

When you first start out in the digital design industry, you’ll almost certainly begin in a junior role. If you’re hard-working, have a strong work ethic, and are passionate about your job, you’ll have no trouble progressing up the career level to a mid-weight position, and beyond.  

For those interested in leadership roles, you could angle for a management position, and eventually onto a department head role.  

6. Combine creativity with technology

A perfect blend of creativity and technology, the role of a Digital Designer uses both the technical mind and the creative spirit.

Working as a Digital Designer, you will take ideas from concept, to technical creation and creative trouble shooting. This way, Designers get to feed their imagination while also keeping their mind sharp and well exercised.

7. Convert ideas into real things

Imagine turning your concepts and ideas into actual workable websites, computer games, logos, graphics and animations! That’s what Digital Designers do – bring their ideas to life using the latest design technology.  

8. Steady employment in a growing field

As the world continues to move towards online space, the field of digital design is expands along with it and job opportunities open up. Employment for Digital Designers, Graphic Designers and Illustrators is forecasted to be very positive, with strong growth predicted.  

9. Set the standards for design

As a Digital Designer you sit at the very vanguard of design – creating the visual worlds that influence current aesthetics and trends. You and your work contribute to the ebbs and flows of modern style movements. Now that’s pretty amazing!

10. Collaborate

If you love working in a team environment and get along with people, then working in a collaborative, creative environment as a Digital Designer could be perfect for you. 

A large part of what a Digital Designer does is to collaborate with others on concepts and ideas. You get to debate and create with other creatives and clients, turning a concept or an idea into a concrete work.

Start a career in Digital Design

So if you love being creative, working with interesting people, feel like you’re overflowing with creative ideas and have a knack for technology, then a career as a Digital Designer could be perfect for you!

Interested in a Digital Design career?

Open Colleges offers two online graphic design courses you can undertake which will help you begin your career in the design industry.  

The CUA50715 Diploma of Graphic Design has been developed to help you gain the skills and knowledge employers are looking for today. It’s designed for people who already have some experience in graphic design and are looking to expand their knowledge in order to help them find employment.  

The CUA50715 Graphic Design Pathway Program has been specially designed for students who want to begin a career in graphic design, but do not have any prior experience. This course is perfect for creative-minded people who are looking to build a strong base of foundational knowledge when it comes to graphic design, before undertaking the Diploma of Graphic Design (which is included in this pathways program).  

Wondering just where a career in graphic design can take you? Study an online course today with Open Colleges and start imagining the possibilities.