Becoming a Designer

Fire flies are the most exciting creatures on the face of this earth! I believed it then and I believe it now. The only difference between now and then would be my loss of belief in their magical capabilities.  The flashing, flickering and fading hellos they would send to each other would dazzle me. I would strive to reach for them and capture that light in my hands; instead I came back empty handed and a captive myself. These magical lights were my first thoughts on design.

I remember devising and designing ideas for naturally lit up lamps using fire flies. Naivety would make me ponder on ways to inject colors in those little shiny bodies. Even as a child I was a step ahead of being a mere designer. I tried selling those sketches to my dad and ended up with a brand new oil pastel set to boast off as a bargain.

Years later I was introduced to concepts such as ideology, discourse, creative culture and visual design etc. I drifted from the creative practices the light bugs introduced me to and found written narrative as a more engaging way of making understanding the world and the process. Therefore my journey to design was not a natural one, but rather a conscious detour.  My belief in knowledge of arts being the most profound way of cultural expression and an indispensable foundation for enlightened citizenship in our increasingly complicated society set sail to my exploration and ended me in an arts college where I got my degree in Fine Arts.

I was introduced to the power of design at my work place. Although I have not been formally taught the design subjects but my education and my aesthetics helped me get around it. I enjoyed wearing the many hats a designer has to wear while designing a product or communicating that particular product to the audience. Suddenly after my introduction to the design world, my ideas would not fit into words and I needed a form to express my idea. A designer thinks about the functionality, the usefulness and the aesthetic radiance a product might yield. Most importantly the value and identity attached to a design excites me. It was a fascinating experience to see the transformation of ideas into branding/promotional elements and leading to the desired perceptions formed in the consumers' mind. The time I spent while working with marketing communication team made my desire to explore the world of design in a greater detail and at an academic as well as professional level.

However, it is not only about personal preferences and career prospects. In my opinion, the power of design is being experienced in more areas than ever before. It has now extended its boundaries far beyond the corridors of marketing companies, advertising agencies and publishing houses. These days, the effectiveness of message no matter where it originates and who is the target audience relies upon the design as much as the copy. In fact even more in some cases. This has also drawn the attention of technology experts, and new designing software are being created, new industries which are dependent on the power of design are growing rapidly, and new interactive and multimedia is gaining ground like never before. It is surely evident that the "design culture" is here to stay and there will be no dearth of opportunities, achievements, and excitement for anyone who is associated with the designing function.

What my destiny conspires for me is yet to be disclosed. But my preparation includes a post graduate certificate in design management.  It is my job to prepare for the world I envision to encounter during the days to come and then hope for the best.