Design, in its broadest sense, is the creation of something that solves an existing problem. It's a process that has several steps such as planning, ideation, and execution to communicate messages, explore multiple possible solutions and not just to enhance aesthetics. From the pre-historic age to the modern technology era, design has been an integral part of human life for ages serving several purposes. There are numerous types of design, each created with different focus, purpose and applications. In this article, we'll explore about some of the most common and influential fields of design.
- Textile and Apparel Design: Textile and apparel design is an ever evolving field, influenced by factors such as pop culture, design trends, and consumer preferences. They have 3 main sub categories namely costume design, textile design and fashion design. Though all might sound similar still they all have certain common factors as well differences. Now lets see the differences between them.
Textile design: Textile design mainly focuses on creating different fabric material types, knitting styles based on geographical location and purpose of use.
Fashion design: Fashion design is to create a variety of garments and styles for consumer usage. Fashion design focuses more on aesthetics and creativity than functionality and usability. Fashion design also used to create fitting clothes and dresses for different body types influenced by geographical location, climate, cultural background and many other factors. Fashion design is based on materials, colors, pattern and etc.
Costume design: Constume design is used to create garments, accessories, dresses and clothes for different characters portrayed in theatres, film, tv and other performing arts. Costume design helps in conveying the nature of the character and the character arc to its audience. Costume design is influenced by when and where the story is happening.
Graphic Design:
Achieving the perfect equilibrium between form and content is akin to a tightrope walk. Lean too much towards form, and you risk creating a beautiful but hollow shell. Lean too heavily on content, and you might bore your audience with a wall of text that lacks visual engagement. The sweet spot lies in using form to elevate content—using typography to establish hierarchy, color to guide emotion, and layout to improve readability. When done correctly, the user shouldn't even notice the design; they should simply experience the content effortlessly. This invisible hand of design is what separates good work from great work.
Acoustic design:
Acoustic design is the design of controlling sound in a confined space to make sure that the sound is audible clearly to everybody in that vicinity. It requires understanding of various physics and engineering concepts related to sound generation, propagation, absorption, reflection, and diffraction to create closed or spaces so that the sound is comfortably heard by the audience.
Sound can bounce or reflect of surfaces hence making it difficult for the listener to hear them. So by using materials that can absorb sound and reduce reverberation we can reduce sound reflection. Also we can improvise them to reach levels of zero sound reflection by placing those sound absorbing materials in a particular structural manner. Sound absorption is required in concert halls, theaters cinemas and recording studios where other noise hinderances have to be avoided. Sound isolation involves preventing sound from exiting a particular closed area. This is crucial in environments where privacy and quiet are important, such as conference rooms in offices and hotels.
Sound reinforcement involves enhancing of sound and clarity in large spaces by making sure even the tiniest of noise made is clearly heard by the audience like if there is a fan revolving sound in the background of a movie scene even that is heard by the movie goers. This is achieved through the use of sound systems, microphones, speakers and by the right placement of them. These sound reinforcement has gone up several levels in modern world by distributing the sound to different speakers in that environment which makes the viewer to even feel the distance and direction of the sound.
Just imagine you are living in a multi-storey apartment and the residents living above your flat tend to make a lot of noise by dropping things, moving furniture, jumping and etc. Would you be able to sleep peacefully or do something without these sudden noise interruptions? Definitely no. So these are the places where noise control is important. Other environments requiring noise control are libraries, hospitals, workplaces and schools.
Urban design:
Urban design is the planning of layouts and designing segregations for cities and towns. It focuses on creating livable environments that are easy for transportation, establishing new features or repairing existing ones like underground drainage systems, communication systems, cable and internet, life essentials like gas pipelines, transportation facilities such as roadways, railways, metros, expandable for future use and to accommodate more citizens and sustainable by keeping the place easier to clean, easier to recycle the waste and dispose the hazardous and toxic waste. Urban designers consider factors such as effective use of land, and placement of highly crowded places in the city like government offices, public transportation hubs, residential area, commercial area, industrial area, recreational area for easier reach to improve the overall quality of life for residents. Ultimately, well-designed cities often have a mix of land uses, which can help to reduce traffic congestion, create more walkable neighborhoods, and support local businesses.
Landscape design:
Landscape design is the art and science of constructing and maintaining outdoor spaces. They are not just done for aethetics purpose but also to create a suitable enviroment for the building around which it is. For example a public park in a residential area, a corporate campus, a university or instituitional parking space each should have a different landscape surrounding it which elevates the overall purpose of the building and helps the people using that building. A public park in a residential area should have multiple entry/exit points for easy accessability, a large open space to conduct community events, broad pathways and ramps so that it is usable by people of all age groups, proper waste disposable points at various places, plants native to that locality because they can adopt to thr climatic turbulences there.
The landscape design of the corporate campus should enhance the first impression of its visitors/clients. It should also boost the morale of the employees working in that corporate. To achieve this the corporate campus should have a pleasant environment with well maintained lawn and a few colorful plants at equally spread out spaces.
A university or college campus should peace and calmful and so that people can study wherever they want. The landscape design should provide these functionalities. They should have large trees with a circular brick wall around them, thus enabling students to study and prepare before their exams. They should have specialized gardens for research purposes such as botanical studies, horticulture, or environmental science. Though there are many more factors to be considered like way finding, lighting, efficient power consumption and etc., we just explained two factors to make you understand how landscape design can compliment to the utility of a university or college campus.
Course design:
Course design is the development of necessary knowledge that has to be transferred to the trainee over a period of time through specific learning materials, activities and assignments or projects to incur a particular skill in the trainee. Course design is inclusive of the objective of the course, course outcomes, the assessment methods, lesson plans and instructional materials. A course designer is supposed to take advice or consultation from various industrials experts and trainers to create an effective course structure that is in accordance with the current industrial standards as well as it should have the scope of scalability for future upgradations. A course design should mainly focus on how to start the course, which skills or lessons to be taught initially and from there how to gradually move up to the next levels with ease without making the trainee to feel difficulty when moving from one level to the next.
Learning design:
Learning design might sound similar to course design but it is completely a different field. The overall focus of learning design should be about creating effective learning experiences for trainees with different difficulties. From slow learners to physically challenged depending upon the challenge that the trainee faces a special program has to be designed that makes them to learn skills with ease and perform at the same level as their counterparts. Learning design will change from person to person, as well other factors like geographical location, their surroundings, cultural backgrounds and etc.
UI/UX Design:
UI/UX design is the acronym for user interface design and user experience design. User interface is used to create functional digital products such as websites, dashboards and apps that are user friendly and easy to navigate. User experience is used to ensure that the purpose of development of such digital products is delivered in the easiest way possible to the user. User interface is like the skin of the product whereas user experience is the skeletal system, muscular system, circulatory system and nervous system of the product. UI/UX designers deliver functional and engaging digital products by following a series of steps such as user research, empathy mapping, information architecture, storyboarding, wireframing, prototyping and usability testing.
Industrial design:
It is the practice of designing products that are economically viable, and has mass manufacturing feasibility and distribution. It focuses on creating objects that have functionality, aesthetics, ergonomics and sustainability. Industrial design work on consumer electronics, household goods, transportation devices, medical devices and many other products that we consume in our day to day life. Industrial design should consider factors such as size, shape, weight and where they are used or stored so that people can plan and calculate the cost of storage, transportation, distribution and ease of use. The product should be durable and reliable also such that it works for longer duration and people need not keep spending money on it every now and then either for service and repair or to buy a new one. From a sustainability point of view industrial design should include what happens to the product at the end of its life, how much waste or toxic waste it expels during production as well during usage and how those wastes are going to be managed.
Jewelry design:
Though jewelry design is a subset of fashion design but still the industry has grown so big such that it has to be considered as a separate type of design. Jewelry design is the art of creating wearable accessories that adorn the body. Jewelry design involves creativity, metalsmithing skills such as soldering, casting and engraving. Jewelry designers should have an understanding of materials, trends and consumer preferences based on their buying power, cultural importance, heritage so that the products they designed are saleable in the market. Jewelry designers use their skills to create pieces of jewels that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing, and that reflect their personal style and vision. As jewels have very intricate designs and are made of noble metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, titanium which are very expensive so the jewelry designers have to make sure that their designs does not cause more wastage as well as the small pointy corners and edges of the jewels should not hurt the consumers.
Stage design:
Imagine watching a play unfold in a theater and how will you understand when and where the scene is happening? Those details are conveyed to the audience through the background of the stage. This is what is called as stage design. Stage design involves sets, props and lighting to create the mood and environment of the scene to bring the play or music to life. The right stage design can even deliver the social context, evoke emotions, create suspense for enhanced storytelling and better viewer experience. Stage designers need to work closely with directors, actors, lighting artists and other members of the creative team to understand the purpose of the play, tone of the scene, emotion to be conveyed, time period of the scene, location and cultural importance of the play. Stage design includes several steps such as research, concept development, sketching and technical drawings, model making, installation and establishing and finally lighting design. Stage design is such an important career as it is necessary to create truly immersive and memorable theatrical experiences.
Interaction Design:
Interaction design is the practice of designing products and services that facilitate interaction between humans and machines such as ATM machines, ticket kiosks and etc. Interaction design necessarily not be only between humans and computer programs or mobile apps it can be between any machine that uses a digital interface. Interaction designers need to research about user behavior, behavior pattern, change in behavior pattern based on various factors such as financial situation, spending nature, cost of living, their earning, geographical location, cultural impact, their likes and dislikes, preferential differences to develop machines that can suit every type of user and their needs. This user research is done through interviewing users from various walks of life differing in geographical location, educational qualification, job, salary, cost of living in their location, purchasing power parity, their goals in life, their previous bad experiences, their technical expertise and then converting these surveys into user personas to learn about the users needs and requirements and finally ends with usability testing of the products that they designed.
Yacht design:
How would you prefer your marine tourism vacation to be? In a nice, cozy, private, ultra-luxurious, seaworthy vessel right? Creating such type of aesthetically pleasing, functionally superior and safe recreational yachts for rent and for private ownership is called yacht design. Yacht design should first confirm that the hull of the yacht is efficient, stable, and capable of handling various sea conditions. To achieve this yacht designers should possess a deep understanding of naval architecture, hydrodynamics and materials science. They must also consider factors such as weight distribution, buoyancy, and resistance to rolling and pitching. The yacht designers should equally pay attention to the interiors of the yacht as it has to be visually pleasing besides comfort and style. Yacht designers should stay updated with the latest innovations and technologies in the marine industries such as propulsion system, material science, electronics and gadgets. They should also keep in touch with the current and upcoming trends in interior designs for allowing quieter vessels. Currently yacht designers are focusing on creating more sustainable and environmental friendly yachts by trying to create fuel powered and electric powered hybrid propulsion systems. Yacht designers will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and create ever more impressive and sophisticated vessels.
Architecture:
A few minutes ago we saw what landcape design is. So when landscape design defines the surroundings of the buildings, architecture is the design of those buildings inside which people dwell. Architecture is just not about building aesthetically pleasing structures but also making sure that the functionality,accessibility, navigation and safety of its users. For example when a architect designs a mall he should make sure that the washrooms or restrooms are easily accessible in all the floors. When designing for an movie theater the architect should be mindful about the emergency exits. Similarly when they design for a hospital they should provide a ramp as the entrance for ICU. Like the above said examples architects should consider the purpose of the building and design accordingly. Architects should keep in mind about the cultural, historical, and environmental context in which their projects are located. Architecture has continuously evolved with introduction of new materials, technolgies and building approaches. Though there are different architectural styles around the world globalization has blended all these different styles to create a new contemporary design approach in the field of architecture. Though architecture has vastly improved, people who love aesthetics have got a valid point that this globalization, economy centric minimalism and the thirst for sustainable buildings have killed creativity, cultural identity and uniqueness in architecture all over the world as almost all the countries have the same box type skyscrapers.
Game Design:
How would you prefer your marine tourism vacation to be? In a nice, cozy, private, ultra-luxurious, seaworthy vessel right? Creating such type of aesthetically pleasing, functionally superior and safe recreational yachts for rent and for private ownership is called yacht design. Yacht design should first confirm that the hull of the yacht is efficient, stable, and capable of handling various sea conditions. To achieve this yacht designers should possess a deep understanding of naval architecture, hydrodynamics and materials science. They must also consider factors such as weight distribution, buoyancy, and resistance to rolling and pitching. The yacht designers should equally pay attention to the interiors of the yacht as it has to be visually pleasing besides comfort and style. Yacht designers should stay updated with the latest innovations and technologies in the marine industries such as propulsion system, material science, electronics and gadgets. They should also keep in touch with the current and upcoming trends in interior designs for allowing quieter vessels. Currently yacht designers are focusing on creating more sustainable and environmental friendly yachts by trying to create fuel powered and electric powered hybrid propulsion systems. Yacht designers will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and create ever more impressive and sophisticated vessels.
Interior Design:
It might sound similar to architecture but architecture is more about functionality whereas interior design focuses more on decorating interior spaces such as homes, offices, public spaces that look aeshetically pleasing as well meet the needs and preferences of the clients. Interior design involves space planning, color combinations, furnitures, lighting and decor. Interior designs can have a significant impact on the mental well-being of the people using that closed space. Interior designers must have a strong understanding of design principles, materials, and construction techniques. Interior designs has a profound effect on mental peace which boosts innovation and creativity.
Package Design:
Any product cannot be sold just like that in stores, they need a cover to contain them. Creating attractive, eye pleasing as well as communicating brand identifiable covers is called as package design. Package design is just not about creating the wrapper or sticker for the product container it actually has more to it. Package design should make sure that the product is held safely inside it while the user uses it. The package design should also provide ease of use for its user. Also the package design can also provide necessary information such as manufacturer details, location, batch number, product code, toll free number, necessary license and certifications to manufacture that product as well as it can be used as a marketing tool by carrying the brand identity of the product manufacturer. Package design can have a significant impact on the product's success. Though it might look like a subset of graphic design but some people claim that graphic design is a subset of package design and have arguably valuable points to back their valid take.
