How to Become a Designer: Career Guide, Courses, After 12th, Benefits, Skills, Salary, Scope, Jobs 2023

Steps to Follow to Become a Designer

There are some necessary steps that will be followed to grasp a way to become a designer, here we tend to justify those steps in detail:

1. Resoluteness: Before you begin following your career in design, you need to check that you simply understand what are your interests, what subject combos one has to be compelled to absorb in your 12th, and what courses you're eligible for to become an embroidery designer.  A career as an embroidery designer is usually hard-to-please and trying occasionally, you need to have the zeal and motivation to come up with new creative ideas. Check: Courses After 12th
2. Choosing the Appropriate Set of Subjects: To have a better grasp of the world of fashion an aspirant should choose subjects like Fine Arts, Fashion Studies, and Entrepreneurship in Class 12.  These subjects will help in exploring skills like creativity, artistic ability, sense of style, and teamwork which are required to become a designer.
3. Entrance Preparation: After appearing for 10+2 one will appear for entrances like NIFT, UCEED, AIEED, NID-DAT, and qualify for Top Design Colleges based on the performance of the aspirant and the counseling process.
4. Selecting the Finest College: To get admission within the Top Design Colleges then you may have to score very high in entrance exams. If your score is low then you'll have to choose any school that accepts your marks. According to professionals and consultants, getting admission to government colleges is difficult as they have the best facilities available at a minimum fee.
5. Post-qualifying Entrance: Appearing for the entrance exam is done and the counseling process starts. Students can select the colleges they wish to join according to their entrance score. Choosing the right college is important and students must keep all the factors in their mind before choosing one. Check: List of All Design Courses

Types of Designers

With a great demand in the Design industry, a number of Designers work in the field such as Graphic Designer, Fashion Designer, Interaction Designer, Web Designer and many more discussed below in-detail.

Graphic Designer

• Graphic Designers create visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to transport ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. 
• They develop the general layout and production design for applications like advertisements, brochures, magazines, and reports. 

Interaction Designer

• An Interaction Designer is the person on the planning, development, creative or marketing team. 
• This helps form and build a design strategy, identify key interactions of the product, create prototypes to check concepts and stay current on technology and trends which will impact users. 

Check: Interaction Design Courses

Web Designer

• Web Designers plan, create and code websites and sites, many of which combine text with sounds, pictures, graphics and video clips and are responsible for creating the planning and layout of an internet site or sites. 

Check: Web Designing Courses

Fashion Designer

• The job of a Fashion Designer includes sketching fashion ideas, cutting out and sewing the clothing item, attending fashion shows, using tailoring skills to perfect the fit, drawing patterns to make garments, selecting fabrics and any special additions for the outfit and reading magazines to stay up with the most recent trends. 

Embroidery Designer

• Embroidery design work includes creating artistic designs using special stitching techniques to embellish fabrics, garments and accessories.
• Embroidery design may be done by hand or with the assistance of a machine.
• Embroidery Designers practice different variety of embroidery design techniques like Counted Thread Embroidery, Outline Embroidery, Whitework Embroidery, Candlewicking Embroidery, Patchwork Embroidery, Shadow Work Embroidery and, fish scale Embroidery. 

Interior Designer

• Interior Designers make indoor spaces functional, safe, and exquisite by determining space requirements and selecting essential and decorative items, like colors, lighting, and materials. 

Check: Interior Designing Courses

How to Become a Designer in India?

One can become a designer in India by pursuing a 4-year degree course, certification program, 1-year diploma program.

Bachelor in Design is a four-year degree program that imparts skills like creativity, artistic ability, innovation, analytical skills, and a sense of style. In the third year, the students take a 3-4 month internship to gain industrial knowledge.

Platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare provide short-term certification courses.

How to Become a Designer after 12th

Below we have discussed some key points to keep in mind when preparing to become a Designer in India after 12th at UG as well as PG level. 

UG Preparation

• After completion of class 10+2, one will have to clear the entrance examination and complete a 4 years undergraduate course.
• The graduation course is for 4 years in India and students will have to do an internship to gain experience.
• There is no subject compulsion in class 12. Students can choose any stream in their 10+2. However choosing subjects like Fine Arts, Fashion Studies will keep students in touch with the skills required to become a designer.

PG Preparation

• After completion of the undergraduate course, candidates will do an internship for a year and then can pursue further higher education to enhance their salary package.
• Programs like Master in Designing, Masters in Fashion Management are some of the popular programs which one can choose.

Courses to Become a Designer

Below we have discussed the detailed description of Bachelor of Designing Course along with the admission process, eligibility, entrance exam and preparation tips.

Bachelor of Design (BDes)

Bachelor in Design is a 4-year degree program that imparts skills like creativity, artistic ability, innovation, analytical skills, and a sense of style. In the third year, the students take a 3-4 month internship to gain industrial knowledge.

BDes Admission Process

Most of the colleges conduct entrance exams to provide Admission in BDes Course. The step-wise admission process of the entrance exam are as follows:

• On-line Registration: Aspirants are needed to register themselves for the entrance by providing their email address, a mobile number after which a login id is going to be generated.
• Filling up the Application form: After making the login id, candidates have to complete the form by providing their personal and tutorial details and enter the course they're choosing.
• Application Fee: On uploading the requisite documents, students got to pay the application fee via MasterCard, open-end credit, or web banking.
• Transfer Application Form: When paying the application fee, candidates have to save and transfer the confirmation page for future references.
• Admit Card: Print out admit card 10-15 days before your exam.
• Entrance Examination: After obtaining the admit card, candidates have to sit for the entrance, take a look at and qualify an equivalent to urge admission.
• Declaration of Result: Within the end, admission authorities would disclose the results of the entrance and take a look at what they need to appear for.

NIFT Entrance Examination

Every year the National Institute of Fashion and Technology (NIFT) conducts an entrance exam to provide admission in Design Courses.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the NIFT Exam, the applicant must have passed 10+2 in any stream with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks from a recognized board of education.

How to Apply for the Entrance Exam?

• Fill the form- The application form is available on the website and should be filled in carefully with correct information.
• Required Documents- The filling kind required varied documents like the Aadhaar card, pan card, photographs, 10th mark sheet, 10+2 scorecard, etc.
• Pay the Application Fee- After completing the procedure one has to complete the payment via the online mode on the website.

How to Prepare for the Entrance Exam?

• Syllabus: Students should have a correct plan and idea about the topics and syllabus of the question paper. The duration of the exam is 120 minutes.
• Section-wise Preparation: Questions are principally asked from the subjects like Quantitative power and Numerical Ability, Reasoning and General Knowledge, Drawing Skills, and Proficiency in English. It is important to study these topics thoroughly. Previous-year Question Papers: The students should study the previous year’s question paper completely. Studying previous year's papers will help the students be comfortable with the structure of the paper.
• Time Management: This is one of the most important factors in preparing for the entrance exam, prepare a timetable and stick to it.

NID Design Aptitude Test (NID DAT)

Every year the National Institute of Design conducts an entrance exam to provide admission.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the NID DAT Exam, the applicant must have passed 10+2 in any stream with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks from a recognized board of education.

How to Apply for the Entrance Exam?

• Fill the form- The application form is available on the website and should be filled in carefully with correct information.
• Required Documents- The filling kind required varied documents like the Aadhaar card, pan card, photographs, 10th mark sheet, 10+2 scorecard, etc.
• Pay the Application Fee- After completing the procedure one has to complete the payment via the online mode on the website.

UCEED Entrance Examination

Every year the National Institute of Fashion and Technology conducts the UCEED Entrance Exam to provide admission in Design Courses.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the UCEED Exam, the applicant must have passed 10+2 in any stream with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks from a recognized board of education.

How to Apply for the Entrance Exam?

• Fill the form- The application form is available on the website and should be filled in carefully with correct information.
• Required Documents- The filling kind required varied documents like the Aadhaar card, pan card, photographs, 10th mark sheet, 10+2 scorecard, etc.
• Pay the Application Fee- After completing the procedure one has to complete the payment via the online mode on the website.

How to Become a Designer Abroad?

Below we have listed how one can study Design courses in abroad countries like the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.

How to Become a Designer in the UK?

• 10+2 with minimum 65% like any other BA, BSc Degree.
• IELTS score above 6.5 is mandatory for admission in Top Design Colleges in the UK.
• The average fee is around INR 15,00,000.
• Students can apply for financial loans while meritorious students are awarded scholarships.

How to Become a Designer in the USA?

• A valid 10+2 Score with a minimum of 65% aggregate is the primary requirement for admission.
• SAT score above 1250 and IELTS Score of 6 is accepted in the Top Design Colleges in the USA.

• Students can apply for financial loans while meritorious students are awarded scholarships.

How to Become a Designer in Canada?

• A valid 10+2 Score with a minimum of 65% aggregate is the primary requirement for admission.
• GRE score above 300 and TOEFL Score above 80 is accepted in Canada.
• SAT scores above 1100 are also accepted by some Top Design Universities of Canada.

How to Become a Designer in Australia?

• A valid 10+2 Score with a minimum of 65% aggregate is the primary requirement for admission.
• TOEFL score above 75 and IELTS Score of 6.5 is accepted in Top Design Colleges in Australia.
• Students can apply for financial loans while meritorious students are awarded scholarships.

Benefits of Career as a Designer

Design is a dynamic subject that opens up a wide range of exciting career opportunities. A designer can find employment in different industries or choose to be self employed. Unlike some professions, there is no limit to the ideas you develop, the people you meet, and the places you go. Designers can create things for themselves, friends and family without having to outsource anything.

1. Salary: Designers earn extremely well in the industry. The average salary that a designer earns is 5, 00,000-10,00,000 every year. They also enjoy perks like flexibility, learning opportunity and international exposure.
2. Job Security: Design is very much in demand in today's world and so designers with the right skill sets can expect secure jobs with various perks.
3. Higher Studies: To gain more knowledge in the field of design and business, designers can go for postgraduate courses such as Masters in Design, Masters in Fashion Management and Masters in Business Administration (MBA). These courses are provided by the top government colleges of the country such as NIFT, NID, IIMs.
4. International Exposure: Design is very much in demand in today's world . Designers work with various international and national designers and showcase their works in shows like Lakme Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.

Skills Required to Become a Designer

Below we have tabulated some highly-required skills observed in Designers by top recruiters:

Salary of a Designer in India

Designing is one of the most demanding jobs presently in India. The average salary that a Designer earns is between INR 5,00,000 - INR 10,00,000 every year. 

Below we have categorized the salary offered to Designers in India based on their experience level, job profiles, region and gender of the designers.

Experience Wise Salary

Job Profile Wise Salary

Region Wise Salary