Design and Creative

Careers in the creative field

Today, many careers that focus on the creation, design, or recreation of images, products, technology, and data pay well above the median.³

Creative professions frequently earn above the average American salary⁴ and are in high demand. There have been over 573,000 job postings per year seeking people with graphic design,⁵ writing,⁶ and web design⁷ skills in the United States alone. These postings include positions in:

Technical creative careers

• Web developers: With a projected job growth of 15 percent by 2026,⁸ this career choice marries design skills with technology to develop websites.⁹ Some developers advance their careers even further by adding web-based programming languages to their skill set¹⁰
• UX designers: These creatives combine their affinity and curiosity for people with their design and communication skills to optimise users’ interaction with web products, interfaces and brands.⁹ This in-demand creative career is expecting to grow by 22 percent in the next few years,¹⁰ with recent searches finding over 15,000 vacancies in the United States,¹³ and over 2,000 employers in the UK seeking those with UX skills¹⁴
• Information architects: This creative career revolves around content, context and users. Information architects arrange and structure information, making it easier for others to find and use the information to complete tasks.¹⁵ The demand for information architects is predicted to grow 12 percent by 2028¹⁶
• Technical writers: These writers produce user guides or instruction manuals that clearly and unambiguously state how to assemble or operate a product. They repackage complex technical information, making it easier for non-technical audiences to understand.¹⁷ The demand for these writers has an expected growth rate of 8 percent by 2028¹⁸

Careers in creative arts and media

• Creative writers and authors: These professionals write books, guides, advertisements, magazine articles, movie and television scripts, plays, blogs and social media content,¹⁹ with little or no change in demand expected in the next few years²⁰
• Editors: Often holding a senior or managerial position, editors ensure that content is written, compiled, revised and selected in keeping with the organization’s or publication’s content policies.²¹ A slight decrease in growth of three percent is expected by 2028²²
• Video and film editors: With the help of video-editing software, film and video editors organize and compile video footage to communicate information or tell stories,²³ and can expect a growth in demand of 11 percent in the next few years²⁴
• Producers and directors: These professionals produce movies, television shows, advertisements, and live theater productions, overseeing everything from script selection, the hiring of cast and crew, set design, and budget management.²⁵ Expected growth in demand for producers and directors is nominal at 5 percent by 2028²⁶
• Art directors: Creating the overall design and overseeing the layout of magazines, newspapers, product packaging, and media productions, art directors also direct a creative team, manage budgets, and deal directly with clients.²⁷ Forecasts show a steady demand in this creative career choice over the next few years²⁸
• Multimedia artists and animators: These artists design two- and three-dimensional animated or moving images, models, computer-generated images, and visual effects for entertainment media and video games,²⁹ with an expected growth in demand of 4 percent by 2028³⁰

Business-centric careers in the creative industry

• Industrial designers: Designing products, devices, objects, and services for daily use, industrial designers focus on what an object looks like, how it works, and how it will be manufactured.³¹ Projected growth for this position is 3 percent over the next few years³²
• Fashion designers: These professionals design clothes, shoes, or accessories, identify the materials and manufacturing techniques that should be used, and how and when to introduce these new items to market.³³ Little or no change is expected in the demand for this creative career³⁴
• Landscape architects: These creatives draw up the designs for public parks, residential and commercial garden spaces, playgrounds, and other outdoor areas. They also deal directly with clients, manage budgets, and consider environmental impact reports when designing.³⁵ A 4 percent growth in demand is predicted by 2028³⁶
• Architects: These professionals plan and design structures for residential, manufacturing, commercial and office use,³⁷ and can experience 8 percent growth in demand in the next few years³⁸

The future of careers in the creative sector

Changes in technology impact every industry and sector, and typically demand a measure of upskilling and reskilling from those in the industry in order to remain relevant. The creative sector is no exception. Creative professionals who have invested in acquiring tech-enhanced skills are reaping the benefits of faster, more effective and more affordable delivery:³⁹

Here are a few examples:⁴⁰

• Creatives are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help produce content that matches audiences’ needs
• Neural networks assist in the creation and recommendation of tailored content by learning and organizing users’ online preferences and habits, such as what they buy online, and what movies and music they stream
• Advertisers use neural networks to contextualize social-media conversations, gaining valuable insight into how their customers feel about their products
• Immersive technology, such as virtual reality, augmented reality and 360° video, is being used to invite audiences to interact directly with brands, data and even the news. This has the potential to reshape journalism, storytelling and data reporting

What skills are needed for a career in the creative field?

The career options in the creative sector are vast, and each come with their own subset of requisite skills. However, there are common skills that are shared across the different career paths.⁴¹ These include:

• Analytical skills. A creative solution can only be designed if a business problem or client need is first carefully examined and understood
• Creative thinking skills. Albert Einstein once said that creative imagination is “to regard old problems from a new angle”. That is, quite simply, what creative thinking is.⁴² The ability to lay down biases and preconceived ideas allows for creative thinking to take place within the parameters of the problem
• Problem-solving skills. Creativity for creativity’s sake is not the objective if you’re trying to solve business problems. Only those who are able to focus their creative skills on reaching solutions are in demand
• Organizational skills. Where most consider creativity to be unstructured and disruptive, the ability to design and implement a plan of action from that creativity, with measurable goals and achievable deadlines, is critical to reaching business objectives
• Communication skills. Strong written and verbal communication skills, as well as listening skills, are vitally important when conveying concepts and ideas to clients and vendors

Whether you’re naturally creative or understand that creativity is a skill you can acquire, it’s important to realise that everyone has the potential to be creative. GetSmarter’s online short courses offer practical outcomes and will help you to develop creative skills that you can utilize immediately. GetSmarter's flexible online learning model is also fully supported, offering expert insights from leading global institutions.

If you want to develop your abilities in print and digital design, and become proficient in programs such as Adobe Illustrator, a graphic-design course is ideal.

Are you a frustrated photographer who wants to understand the full scope and power of your SLR digital camera? A digital-photography course will help you to capture, compose and edit high-quality images.

If you’re passionate about creating beautiful, functional and purpose-driven interior environments, an interior-design course could be what you’re after.

Would you like to focus on web design? Study information-architecture best practices and the basics of coding in different languages, and learn how to create websites that render well on all devices with a web-design course.

If you’re a digital-marketing or web-design professional, and want to understand how people interact with online content, a UX design course will update your skills.

Need to build a business case or strategy to advocate incorporating artificial intelligence in your creative team for critical competitive advantage? An AI course will give you all the insight you need.

Whatever your technical or creative skill level, a GetSmarter online short course will help to unlock your creative skills for improved job performance, and prepare you for future career success.

Sources

¹Tandsæther-Andersen, B. (Aug, 2019). ‘The cultural and creative industries — one of the world’s most rapidly growing economic sectors’. Retrieved from Medium.
²(Nd). ‘Statistics’. Retrieved from Creative Industries Federation. Accessed April 21, 2020.
³Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
⁴Doyle, A. (Feb, 2020). ‘Average salary information for U.S. workers’. Retrieved from The Balance Careers.
⁵(Apr, 2020). ‘Graphic designers’. Retrieved from BLS.
⁶(Apr, 2020). ‘Writers and authors’. Retrieved from BLS.
⁷(Apr, 2020). ‘Web developers’. Retrieved from BLS.
⁸(Apr, 2020). ‘Web developer salaries’. Retrieved from Glassdoor.
⁹Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
¹⁰Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
¹¹Suleman, B. (Nov, 2018). ‘UX design careers in 2108 and beyond: the future of the UX designer’. Retrieved from Boxes and Arrows.
¹²(Apr, 2020). ‘UX designer salaries’. Retrieved from Glassdoor.
¹³(Apr, 2020). ‘UX jobs in the United States’. Retrieved from Glassdoor.
¹⁴(Apr, 2020). ‘UX jobs in the United Kingdom’. Retrieved from Glassdoor.
¹⁵(Nd). ‘Information architecture basics’. Retrieved from Usability.gov. Accessed April 21, 2020.
¹⁶(Apr, 2020). ‘Computer and information technology occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
¹⁷Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
¹⁸(Apr, 2020). ‘Technical writer’. Retrieved from BLS.
¹⁹Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
²⁰(Apr, 2020). ‘Writers and authors’. Retrieved from BLS.
²¹(Nd). ‘Definition: Editor’. Retrieved from Dictionary.com. Accessed April 21, 2020.
²²(Apr, 2020). ‘Editors’. Retrieved from BLS.
²³Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
²⁴(Apr, 2020). ‘Video and film editors and camera operators’. Retrieved from BLS.
²⁵Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
²⁶(Apr, 2020). ‘Producers and directors’. Retrieved from BLS.
²⁷(Nd). ‘Art director’. Retrieved from Truity. Accessed April 21, 2020.
²⁸(Apr, 2020). ‘Art directors’. Retrieved from BLS.
²⁹Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
³⁰(Apr, 2020). ‘Multimedia artist and animators’. Retrieved from BLS.
³¹(Nd). ‘What is industrial design?’. Retrieved from IDSA. Accessed April 21, 2020.
³²(Apr, 2020). ‘Industrial designers’. Retrieved from BLS.
³³Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
³⁴(Apr, 2020). ‘Fashion designers’. Retrieved from BLS.
³⁵Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
³⁶(Apr, 2020). ‘Landscape architects’. Retrieved from BLS.
³⁷Renzulli, K. (May, 2019). ‘15 high-paying jobs for creative people’. Retrieved from CNBC.
³⁸(Apr, 2020). ‘Architects’. Retrieved from BLS.
³⁹Cocorocchia, C. Et al. (Apr, 2018). ‘How do emerging technologies affect the creative economy?’. Retrieved from McKinsey.
⁴⁰Rogers, S. (Feb, 2020). ‘Is immersive technology the future of journalism?’. Retrieved from Forbes.
⁴¹Doyle, A. (Oct, 2019). ‘Creative thinking definition, skills, and examples’. Retrieved from The Career Balance.
⁴²Einstein, A. (1966). ‘Evolution of physics’. (page 92). Retrieved from Internet Archive.