Design invites collaboration

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works,” Steve Jobs.

Moving on from aesthetics to functionality, the field of design is opening newer vistas every day, making it an exciting domain to be explored by the coming generation.

As we have embarked on what seems to be an exciting and deeply interesting year for design, let’s take a peek into some trends that will shape the future of design in the country:

Customised Illustration

These tailor-made illustration styles in design are gaining immense popularity across a wide range of mediums—advertising, packaging, branding and more. These customised creations give big businesses a bigger opportunity to connect even more closely with their consumers.

Patterns and texture

Taking our obsession with hand-crafted styles to the next level, presence of printed abstract patterns in graphic design as a textural element has become increasingly popular over the past year.

Sophisticated flat

Similar to the flat style, a trend that dominated the markets in 2016, sophisticated flat comprises of a bigger minimal colour palette. The composition and the minimal use of colours is enhanced by a sense of dimensionality and is at times achieved by variations of tone, highlights and shadows. The addition of these variations makes icons and illustrations more robust and chic.

The rise of 3D

3D printing in fashion has been constantly evolving with the designer community taking keen interest and becoming increasingly aware about the latest technological trends dominating the design industry.

Fashion design

The field offers a prospect of growth in itself and also in its allied segments including leather, knitwear, accessories, fabric research and development, apparel production or fashion communication. The scope of placement includes export houses, design houses and studios, boutiques and other related places.

Product design

This segment plays a crucial role in every walk of life. These range from staplers and dining chairs to pens and electronics. Product designers work with both the aesthetics and functionality of a product. Extensive user research is an integral part of the research profile of a product designer before they sketch their ideas and blueprints using CAD software.

UI design

From creating animations, establishing style guides, choosing the right colours and typeface, prototyping and testing, It offers a wide variety of tasks with a UI designer also having a chance to work on applications, websites, video games and software.

Game design

Game designers are masters of all trades with their portfolios encompassing the roles of a storyteller, programmer and visual artists all rolled into one.

Exhibit design

It is all about developing a communicative environment that resonates with a diverse audience. Exhibition design graduates have diverse job opportunities available for them, such as; Event management firms, design studios, interior design firms, architecture firms, design consultancies, museums and art galleries.

(The author is Vice-Chancellor, World University of Design, Haryana)