Students in India are now considering designing as a profession. A field ‘unknown to many’ a few years back is now initiating parents to re-consider it as a prospective career option for their children.

Today there are counsellors, coaching classes and information centres spread across the globe to help aspiring students reach their goals in the design field. But what do people do at design schools? The misconception of these schools being a platform for only creative people or it is to do with software skills leaves many young aspiring designers puzzled.

Senior graphic design faculty from MIT Institute of Design in Pune, Deepankar Bhattacharyya, said that there is a major difference between art and design and both the fields demand a different kind of aptitude.

“However, many students think that they need to be artists to join a design school. It is not the question of skills. One needs to think with his hands, which will in turn help him to visualise. Right thinking helps the eye-hand coordination and helps in developing an idea further. In design, we do not look at skills the way an artist does, but we use it as a tool for imagination,” he said.

Coming from the first batch of undergraduates at the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), Bhattacharyya stressed that having good hand skills is an advantage when one is looking at graphic illustrations or animation as a career option. “These skills can be developed after joining a design school. Designers deal with concepts and there should be a balance between concepts and skills because they complement each other when it comes to a good design,” he added.

Civil engineer and product designer from Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), Sanjay Jain said that skills play an equally important role in Industrial Design.

He said, “Good design fulfills a need, solves a problem and is human-centric. Skills to draw, build, visualise are needed to think, communicate and connect to the user through concepts and ideas. It is like cooking. Cooking skills are as much needed as the ingredients to make good food.”

“It is fine if you do not have the skills. You will have plenty of opportunities to learn and hone them in the design schools. Some of these schools tend to stress more on learning computer-aided skills as they are the tools that help in visualising, thinking and communicating that help facilitate designing,” said Jain.

For aspiring designers, there are big opportunities waiting and a number of upcoming design schools in the country will ensure right guidance to these students as long as they have the right attitude and willingness to learn the skills.