Five Kinds of DesignerSame word, five completely different jobs

Five disciplines, one word

Graphic designer - brand identities, packaging, posters, publications. Makes information look like something. UX designer - apps and websites. Works out what a person needs to do, then makes it obvious. Lots of research, lots of testing. Product or industrial designer - physical objects. Kettles, prosthetics, bike frames, packaging that survives a lorry. Interior designer - how a space works and feels. Restaurants, hospitals, offices, homes. Deals with budgets and building regulations. Fashion designer - garments, from sketch to pattern to sample to production. Works to a season and a price point.

Same and different

What all five share

• Someone else's problem to solve - a brief, a budget, a deadline • Research before drawing • Many rough versions before one good one • Presenting and defending your idea out loud • Feedback that stings, taken professionally • A portfolio that shows how you think

What sets them apart

• The tools - Illustrator, Figma, Fusion 360, SketchUp, CLO3D • Who you work with - marketers, engineers, developers, builders, buyers • What "finished" means - a printed sheet, a shipped app, a tooled product, a built room, a sample garment • How long a project lasts - a day, or three years • Whether you ever meet the person who uses it

ActivityThe design dig

In pairs10 min

In pairs. Each person takes a DIFFERENT discipline from slide 2. Ten minutes. Use the National Careers Service, Design Council or Prospects. Find: 1. What does this designer actually do on a normal Tuesday? 2. Which two software tools do they use most? 3. What is the typical starting salary, and what does it reach with experience? 4. Two routes in - name one that is not a degree 5. What must be in their portfolio? 6. One job title inside this discipline you had never heard of Write your source next to each answer. No source, no answer. Last two minutes: swap and teach each other. Then agree one thing that surprised you both.

Two numbers to hold onto

82%of advertised UK jobs ask for digital skills

£39,039UK median full-time salary (April 2025)

“

I do not draw much. I spend most of my week watching people use something and writing down where they get stuck. The design bit is easy once you know what is actually going wrong.

- UX designer, four years in the industry

What a portfolio has to show at 16

Six to ten projects, not thirty. For each: the problem, your research, the rough versions, and what you changed after feedback. Process beats polish. Colleges and employers want to see how you got there, so keep your sketchbooks and your failed attempts. One piece for someone real - a poster for a school event, a logo for a family business, a redesign of a confusing sign in this building - is worth more than five imaginary briefs. Start the folder now. Photograph everything, including the bad ones.

Discussion

Compare notes

1Which discipline did you research, and would you actually want to do it?

2Which one pays best at the start, and does that change what you think?

3Which skill from the 'shared' list are you already good at?

4What surprised you most about a job you thought you understood?

Before the bell

One thing to remember: design is a problem-solving job that happens to look nice at the end. Drawing is one tool out of many. Three things to do: 1. Start the folder. Put one thing in it this week - a sketch, a photo, a redesign of something annoying. 2. Look up one of the unheard-of job titles your partner found. 3. If you want the design route at 16, tell the careers adviser now, not in Year 11. Next form time: bring one badly designed thing you have spotted, and how you would fix it.