“Great design is a multi-layered relationship between human life and its environment.” – Naoto Fukasawa (Naoto Fukasawa Design, Japan)
Visual Communication Design is a burgeoning industry, with more youngsters getting interested in pursuing formal education in this specific area of design. Milindo Taid, Department Head at the Whistling Woods International School of Design has a few tips for all the young aspiring visual designers in the country and beyond, who wish to pursue their dreams.
1. Anticipate change
Milindo Taid talks about design being a relatively new profession, delving into how it’s a future-leaning stream, “For anyone aspiring to do design seriously, you need to understand that you intervene in design in the present but it impacts the future. It’s a future-leaning kind of profession. Anticipation is one of the key requirements for a design-thinker.”
2. Accept responsibility
As someone once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Milindo Taid echoes similar sentiments, saying, “A design-thinker and doer needs to have a sense of responsibility towards the consequences of his or her actions – for design is a very powerful shaper of culture and society.”
3. Channel your empathy
Design requires that you solve someone else’s problem and therefore calls for a zeal to participate in the lives of others, for which, you have to be a people person. “Design is, first and foremost, about people and communities, and empathy is a core requirement.” Designers need to be naturally empathetic.
4. Be open to collaboration
“Design is so multidisciplinary,” says Milindo Taid, “Someone aspiring to be a designer needs to be open to collaboration, especially with people who are not like you. Designers are more of generalists than specialists. An openness to be engaging with other disciplines is a trait you must possess.”
5. Be a visual thinker and perceiver
Design requires visualization abilities, and Milindo Taid believes that being visually inclined is one of the key elements to becoming a design-thinker. “You must have a general sensitivity to all things visual and be able to appreciate a certain aesthetic. You need to understand what is ugly to get an understanding of what is beautiful,” he says, “It can be acquired, but it’s better to have a general sensitivity to form and colour. Designers think through drawing. You should also be able to put pencil to paper effectively.”
The Whistling Woods International School of Design offers a cohesive and comprehensive programme in Visual Communication Design for all aspiring designers.
Admissions are now open. You can register for Whistling Woods International School of Design here.
Prof. Milindo is former faculty in Communication Design at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad and former Head of New Media, NID. He is also one of the founding faculty members of the Communication Design programme at the MIT Institute of Design, Pune. With over 19 years in teaching, research and academic administration across India and abroad, several student projects that he has guided have had national as well as international recognition. He is a recipient of a European Union doctoral scholarship at the Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain.
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