Think Visual: Get into Hundred Careers with One Degree
AOD invites after A/L students, aspiring designers and parents to its ‘Think Visual’ open house on visual communication design – the design degree giving access to the highest number of careers
Your average degree will give you access to a maximum number of three to four careers, which, given the competitive career market of Sri Lanka, may or may not get you a great job after graduating. However, can you imagine having a degree that can give you access to more than just a handful of careers, but to a hundred careers? This is what a degree in visual communication design delivers.The reason for theunusually high career scopein visual communication design,is that visual com designers are trained with a series of skills that are extremely diverse and needed by a majority of businesses. However, not too many people understand what ‘visual communication’ design means or the amazing career opportunities that it presents and therefore only a very few school leavers pursue it. To educate school leavers and their parents about this exciting career path, AOD- Sri Lanka’s celebrated design campus is hosting Think Visual – an open house on visual communication design. Hosted in collaboration with AOD’s partner campus Northumbria University UK, Think Visual open house includes free career counselling, exhibitions, one-one-meetings with successful designers and taster sessions for visual communication jobs. AOD extends an open invitation to the public to walk in freely between 9 am – 5 pm on Saturday 8th October 2016.
What exactly is ‘visual communication design’?
Visual communication design is the art of communicating with images. This might sound simple enough, but visual communication design is a serious education path that demands an in-depth study of a large but extremely interesting subject area. Visual communication designers are trained to become experts in creating and assembling images (or videos), typography (letters in specific font styles), symbols, colours and visual cues to send out a specific message, exactly as intended. Who needs this type of skill? All businesses in every part of the world need this. Visual communication design is what drives the advertising, marketing and promotions component of business as well as corporate identity consisting of logo design and branding. A visual communication designer properly trained with international standard education has a vast knowledge of how visual messages in colour, shapes and symbols are perceived by the general public; therefore they can craft a brand message or a promotion using exactly the right visual elements to create the needed outcome. That’s not all, the publishing industry needs visual communication designers for layout, editorial design, cover design etc. while product and merchandise sectors need it for packaging. Simultaneously, industries like television, film, photography also rely on visual communication design. The opportunities are endless.
Is visual communication design a serious career? Yes it is, and it’s one of the best out there.
There are many opportunities for visual communication designers today. In Sri Lanka visual communication designers are usually part of the core in-house marketing-promotions team of reputed brands and business, or working as freelance designers with own studio or freelance practice. With the extreme demand for visual communication design in the current market, chances to succeed through self-employment or being employed are both very high.
How do you get the right information before making a big decision?
To shed light on visual communication design careers, the opportunities that they present and the pathways to get there, AOD is hosting ‘Think Visual’ open house at its campus in Colombo.AOD Think Visual open house presents an exciting line-up of free events to educate the general public on the design careers and opportunities available in Sri Lanka and abroad. This includes on-going exhibitions, video screenings, career guidance and workshops by international and local design professionals. The events are designed not only to provide information, but also to give a first-hand experience of studying and working as a visual communication designer.
AOD principal Karen MacLeod stated that AOD Think Visual open house will be led by a team of professionals and designers from all over the world and Sri Lanka; “We have a fantastic team of designers and education professionals from Sri Lanka, Canada, India and the UK prepared to give the most up-to-date knowledge on visual communication design careers. If you’re just after A/Ls, have a creative eye and would like to be in a career path with unlimited choices, this might be what you’re looking for. So you can expect to find the answers for all your questions on visual communication design careers at AOD’s Think Visual, no matter what your future plans are.”