Design: Where do I start?
(Posted on Nov 10th 2022)Design, whether that’s UX, UI, motion, interaction, or sound design... what does it mean to be a designer, and what’s the difference between an artist and a designer? How do I decide which design field I want to get into? In this post I’ll explain the difference between different design roles, as well as share my personal experience throughout my design journey.
I’m no artist, how could I become a designer?
Firstly I’ll start by differentiating between Artists and Designers. An artist is someone who (unsurprisingly) can create visual art, usually from scratch. Their main purpose is to convey a specific emotion or intent through purely artistic/visual means. Now listening to that, I’m sure you’re hearing plenty of overlap with things designers do, which is true! Designers usually take a different approach when designing something however...
Designers can either create art (or “assets” as they’re usually called) for specific elements of a product’s design, or take pre-existing assets created by graphics designers and other artists and assemble them into a larger, coherent, functional piece. I’m being vague about design because it can be applied to a lot of different things such as videogames, websites, apps, or even physical products! UX Designers specifically seek to understand the user’s intentions and emotions throughout their product journey.
Both designers and artists attempt to convey a specific intention through their work. They also often collaborate with one another (assuming they’re not both handled by one person). When talking about videogame design specifically, someone who does UX design can end up working closely with graphics designers, UI designers, level designers, and even sound designers!
Okay, but what about UX/UI designers?
This topic ties back into the start of the last paragraph where I say “assuming they’re not both handled by one person”, because that’s typically what people in this specific role do. A UX/UI Designer is in charge of the visual elements of a product, as well as the overall experience being delivered to the user. This role is often delegated to more seasoned designers who have experience in multiple areas of design, and it often prioritizes the UX side of things.
I could write an entire article on how confusing and unwelcoming the hiring industry is when it comes to design roles, but that’s for another day. It’s unfortunately very common for companies to ask a single designer to handle many significant areas of design. When you’re approaching the UX field, you’ll find job listing after job listing that lists requirements that are far beyond user experience design, and if you land a UX role, you’re likely to end up having other design responsibilities outside of UX.
How do I know which field I want to go into?
Allow me to list a handful of specialized design fields and give you an idea of each of their responsibilities. Once you have a better understanding on what purpose each of these roles serve, perhaps you’ll find yourself becoming more interested in one area than another! This is just a few of the major design roles you’ll find in the wild, but there are many more design-related fields out there.
UX Designer - Responsible for helping deliver an enjoyable, equitible, useful, and usable experience to the users. They often work closely with many other designers and artists, and can help completely transform how a user sees, feels, and interacts with a product.
UI Designer/Artist - Delivers a visually interesting and engaging experience to the users, often in charge of helping visually shaping the design of a product. They can be responsible for designing anything from a videogame’s individual screens and HUDs, to a website’s login screen.
Motion Designer - Helps with the user’s journey through different areas of the product, ensuring the path to each aspect of a product is simple and efficient. They help make sure transitions between screens and interfaces flows intuitively.
Interaction Designer - This role often overlaps with UX design, making sure all elements of a screen or menu operate in ways that are efficient at accomplishing a user’s goals. They can end up working with IOT devices, physical products, or digital products.
Sound Designer - In charge of delivering an immersive and responsive experience, utilizing things such as music, auditory narration, and/or sound effects. They can really help bring a product to life, on top of being able to deliver an entirely unique experience to the users.
Visual Designer - This role is more of a generalized role encompassing UX, UI, and Interaction design, and depend greatly on what product is being designed. With physical products, a visual designer’s job can be to help tie brand identity to the product. Digitally, they can help solve visual design problems users may have.
Level Designer - A role specific to game design that focuses on delivering an impactful, memorable experience to the users. Through level design, a designer can craft extremely engaging experiences, and when done well, can help a user feel fully immersed in an experience.
UI Designer/Artist - Delivers a visually interesting and engaging experience to the users, often in charge of helping visually shaping the design of a product. They can be responsible for designing anything from a videogame’s individual screens and HUDs, to a website’s login screen.
Motion Designer - Helps with the user’s journey through different areas of the product, ensuring the path to each aspect of a product is simple and efficient. They help make sure transitions between screens and interfaces flows intuitively.
Interaction Designer - This role often overlaps with UX design, making sure all elements of a screen or menu operate in ways that are efficient at accomplishing a user’s goals. They can end up working with IOT devices, physical products, or digital products.
Sound Designer - In charge of delivering an immersive and responsive experience, utilizing things such as music, auditory narration, and/or sound effects. They can really help bring a product to life, on top of being able to deliver an entirely unique experience to the users.
Visual Designer - This role is more of a generalized role encompassing UX, UI, and Interaction design, and depend greatly on what product is being designed. With physical products, a visual designer’s job can be to help tie brand identity to the product. Digitally, they can help solve visual design problems users may have.
Level Designer - A role specific to game design that focuses on delivering an impactful, memorable experience to the users. Through level design, a designer can craft extremely engaging experiences, and when done well, can help a user feel fully immersed in an experience.
Of these roles though, which one(s) stood out to you most? Are you a problem solver? Perhaps UI or Interaction design would interest you. Passionate about creating an enjoyable user experience? UX design and level design can both help accomplish that! No matter your interests, if you have a desire to create, there’s a design role out there suited for you.
How can I learn more?
There’s tons of resources on the internet to further your knowledge! If you’re looking to formalize your knowledge for example, try looking into sites like Coursera and find a certification program for the field you’re passionate about. If you’re just trying to get a better understanding of design as a whole, there are tons of wonderful designers who are also Youtubers, and watching “a day in the life” videos can really help you get a better grasp of all responsibilities involved. For videogame design specifically, I love listening to older Game Developer Conference (GDC) talks, and I highly recommend checking some out.
The internet is a limitless body of knowledge, and all it takes is a spark of curiosity to begin your journey. If you end up diving head first into a field you end up deciding you’re not fond of, don’t get discouraged! As mentioned previously, many jobs these days require you to have at least some knowledge of various different design fields. Try reaching out and networking with other designers as well on sites like Linkedin! Freelance work can also be a huge help when first building your design portfolio and helping you showcase your capabilities.
Design is a very large, virtually all-encompassing field and it’s understandable to feel overwhelmed in the beginning, but once you’ve started to gravitate towards a specific area of design, it can help that overwhelming feeling disappear over time. You’ve got this!!!