As a school student, you must have been asked to create a poster spreading a social message through it, at some point in time. Communication Design is just that, but at an advanced level. It involves clearly communicating important messages, business plans/strategies or even ideas using visuals.
A professional communication designer uses technology at its best benefit to create compelling visuals and graphics to tell a story and communicate a message. The designer established a relationship between the visuals and the viewer. They know best what kind of visuals will appeal best to the viewers and communicate the message faster than words.
Communication design is basically visual storytelling. By learning the skill and knowledge of communication design, one can work as a game developer, web designer/developer, 2D/3D artist, character designer, visual effects artist, motion graphic designer, multimedia designer, broadcast designer for cinema & TV and interaction designer.
Technology today is playing a huge role in the field of communication design as it is enabling designers to get across marketing messages faster to audiences using digital formats like websites, mobile applications, television channels, etc. than print media like newspapers, outdoor banners, magazines or posters.
Communication Design is different from Graphic Design:
Graphic Design is a term used to generalise all kinds of visual designing right from large design projects to a very small part of the design. Besides, graphic designing is purely about delivering a visual product. It mainly considers the layout and composition of a particular design more than the message being tried to convey. It also refers to the tools for creating graphics, like Photoshop. For example, a graphic designer is primarily concerned with handling one specific task of design creation instead of the entire marketing campaign.
Communication Design on the other hand is about conveying a message strategically using design tools. It involves both, designing a strategy to communicate a message, as well as designing visuals to convey the message.
Today, due to the advent of technology, companies and governments alike are telling compelling visual stories using communication design. CSR campaigns, scheme awareness among the masses, brand/product promotion, social initiatives by the companies, client pitches, etc are all using attractive and appealing visuals to get messages across in the best way possible. This has created a solid need for communication designers.
Here are some top institutes offering communication design courses for those willing to apply:
India:
Symbiosis Institute of Design (Pune)
National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad)
Indian Institute of Art and Design (New Delhi)
Abroad:
University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
University of Southern California (US)
Stanford University (US)
