What does a Communication Designer do?

It is no mystery that the current global environment highly values an individual who is capable of putting forward their visions and ideas in an effective manner. Any idea can be turned into a profitable venture only when executed in a way that connects the concept or the brand to its target audience. Especially in the present digital age where every person has access to the internet and is an active consumer of content available on social media networks, it is of utmost importance that the campaigns rolled out by brands or businesses are able to create an emotional bridge between the speaker and the listener. 

Human beings are evolving creatures; their values and understanding go through ups and downs with changing times. While the past generations induced the worth of a product through its merits and the practical and logistical aspects of its usage, the audience today has a reputation for valuing the product’s and its seller’s values above its practicality. Therefore, the need of the hour is to develop better communication techniques that emphasise the benefits and the strong values of the product or services.

What is Communication Design?

Communication is the art of expressing one’s thoughts and opinions to another human being. However, humans often misunderstand each other even when they speak the same language. Therefore, communication design is a much-needed occupation in such a situation to curate the message and content of a business or a party. Communication Design creatively blends visuals with strategic messaging to convey information in a compressible and engaging manner. It is more common in modern age advertising where brands leverage it to reach their audiences and make their products or services resonate with the masses. 

What does a Communication Designer do?

Communication designing is a complicated yet gratifying branch of Design which integrates various subdisciplines such as content strategy, copywriting, illustration, graphic designing, illustration, performing and visual arts to increase engagement for the brand or product while keeping up with the aesthetics and cultural values of the targeted groups. A Communication designer is a professional in charge of creating and managing the data in order to employ the available visual techniques and generate a campaign that aligns with the ideals promoted by the company.  A communication designer’s role  inevitably involves the following imperatives:

Identification of Brand Message: In order to work out a system-based approach and reach out to a greater audience, it is critical for a communication designer to understand the message that the brand or campaign in question desires to promote. Since it is a communication designer’s undertaking to ensure that the message being propagated to the public stands true to the fundamental values of the brand or business, they must have clarity regarding the motto. 

Recently, on International Women’s Day, Burger King UK had to apologise for tweeting, “Women belong in the kitchen”. While they actually wanted to point out that only 20% of chefs are women with their second tweet, the message came across as sexist and distasteful. Thus, it is a communication designer’s responsibility to overlook and explain the messages to the team from the beginning to avoid such mishaps.

Collaboration with Content Creators: A communication designer acts as the overseer for all the content that is produced by the content team including the graphic designer, illustrator, and copywriter among others. The process of content creation is supposed to be a team effort. Subsequently, for the creators to generate suitable content, it is paramount for the designer to coordinate with them and align their viewpoints with the brand’s vision.

Strategising and Publicising Content: While the diversity of platforms to voice one’s opinion and promote their ideas is intriguing, it becomes equally confusing and exhausting for the brands to keep up with the various platforms. Not only does it require additional manpower, but it also requires the skills and understanding of the sort of content required for these platforms. For example, Twitter is one of the platforms famous for its one-liners and catchy phrases. An advertisement or brand promotion on these platforms requires one to insert humour and promote the value of the product in a single line. It is a communication designer’s position to strategically reveal content in accordance with the platform’s requirements.

Curating Visuals for Various Platforms: While the content team produces the material, the responsibility to curate visuals and other content in a way which preserves the essence of the brand befalls the communication designer. The visual designs created and collected must engross the interests of the professional brand and contribute to the demographics that the brand aspires to achieve. 

Customising Content for Target Audience: The ultimate aim of communication design is to elicit a reaction from the target audience and bring forward the brand’s message in new and appealing ways. Thus, communication designers must have an understanding of tailoring art with technology. With the change in the target audience, the quality of the campaigns must reform as well since different mediums and visuals speak to different people. A communication designer needs to possess the business strategy to employ the previous data, market research, and creativity tools to befit the standards of the target groups. 

In addition to the above-mentioned attributes, the communication designer must hold the knowledge of technical skills such as colour theory, camera angles, visual hierarchies, video editing techniques, and page layout to emerge as a successful name in the field. 

Although the primary duties performed by a communication designer appear similar to that of a graphic designer, the two professions entail different responsibilities and refer to various branches of the field of design. While a graphic designer is supposed to create the visuals for any upcoming project, the communication designer plans the entire campaign from its inception to execution and takes into account all aspects of expression, i.e., image, text, graphics, symbols, videos, posters, and words. It is up to a communication designer to organise the data and the content created by other artists such as social media managers, graphic designers, or content writers in order to fashion a coherent outlook of the brand. Thus, the communication designer makes all the creative choices regarding a project and oversees the release of content with an overarching vision of the campaign in their heads.

Communication Design and its impact on society

A society’s values are substantially determined by the quality of content which is produced, promoted, and mass consumed by its population. Therefore, the campaigns or advertising techniques availed by various businesses or brands significantly influence the viewpoint of society. Communication designers are actively sought out by advertisement houses, web design companies, or product packaging units besides private campaigns for various purposes. 

While a communication designer is supposed to make labels appealing for the sale increment of various products, many a time brands roll out unique and elaborated campaigns to promote their products and end up, For example, some recent advertisements in India have been unconventionally woke in their subject matter. While the ads are followed by threads of criticism and praise from certain sections of society, they definitely play their part in starting conversations by knitting narratives around socially sensitive issues. Not only is it heartwarming to witness the positive rebranding of various products, but these campaigns also hold the power to alter the outlook of the impressionist young generation on life and various other issues. Therefore, a unique outlook on life has the potential to take help one build a career as a communication designer. 

Further, non-government organisations or election campaigns also employ a communication designer in order to build a narrative that serves the interests of the targeted parties as well as the involved parties. For example, several NGOs create promotional videos elucidating their work and the institution’s history in order to provoke viewers to volunteer or donate some amount at the very least to ensure continuous work. Movements such as the Pulse Polio project in India which aimed at oral polio vaccination for all children in India also made use of strategic communication design with roadside hoardings, television advertisements, radio announcements, and posters to raise awareness against the virus.

How can you become a successful communication designer?

Becoming a successful communication designer is immensely dependent upon an individual's ability to channel their thoughts in a story and materialise them in forms of visual content. A few needed attributes are as follows:

Patience: No profession has ever been mastered in a snap of fingers. Likewise, to become a communication designer, one needs to familiarise themselves with several skills such as graphic design and video editing. The process is long and demanding, therefore, one needs patience and perseverance to continue on this path.

Storytelling: Storytelling is one of the most fundamental skills required to become a communication designer since it is only through practice and experience that one learns the art of subtly incorporating minute elements that make the difference.

Creativity: Creativity is another essential yet crucial feature needed to become a communication designer. We live in a world where the human mind is constantly overstimulated by social media. Therefore, one really needs to think outside the box to grab the viewer’s attention in thirty seconds and establish a connection.

In conclusion, if one wants to become a communication designer, they need to prepare for a long bumpy ride before being given a chance to produce and create as per their vision.