Job Highlights for Fashion Design

  Three out of 10 fashion designers are self-employed almost 5 times the proportion for all professional and related occupations.
  Creativity is crucial in all design occupations; most designers need a bachelor's degree, and candidates with a master's degree hold an advantage.
  Keen competition is expected for most jobs, despite projected faster-than-average employment growth, because many talented individuals are attracted to careers as fashion designers.

Fashion Design
Fashion Designers are people with a desire to create. They combine practical knowledge with artistic ability to turn abstract ideas into formal designs for the merchandise we buy, the clothes we wear, the publications we read, and the living and office space we inhabit. Fashion Designers usually specialize in a particular area of design, such as automobiles, industrial or medical equipment, or home appliances; clothing and textiles; floral arrangements; publications, logos, signage, or movie or TV credits; interiors of homes (interior design) or office buildings; merchandise displays; or movie, television, and theater sets.

The first step in developing a new design or altering an existing one is to determine the needs of the client, the ultimate function for which the design is intended, and its appeal to customers. When creating a design, designers often begin by researching the desired design characteristics, such as size, shape, weight, color, materials used, cost, ease of use, fit, and safety.

Designers then prepare sketches by hand or with the aid of a computer to illustrate the vision for the design. After consulting with the client, an art or design director, or a product development team, the designer create detailed designs using drawings, a structural model, computer simulations, or a full-scale prototype. Many designers increasingly are using computer-aided design (CAD) tools to create and better visualize the final product. Computer models allow greater ease and flexibility in exploring a greater number of design alternatives, thus reducing design costs and cutting the time it takes to deliver a product to market. Industrial designers use computer-aided industrial design (CAID) tools to create designs and machine-readable instructions that communicate with automated production tools.

Designers
sometimes supervise assistants who carry out their creations. Designers who run their own businesses also may devote a considerable amount of time to developing new business contacts, reviewing equipment and space needs, and performing administrative tasks, such as reviewing catalogues and ordering samples. Design encompasses a number of different fields. Many designers specialize in a particular area of design, whereas others work in more than one area.

Commercial and industrial designers,
including designers of commercial products and equipment, develop countless manufactured products, including airplanes; cars; children's toys; computer equipment; furniture; home appliances; and medical, office, and recreational equipment. They combine artistic talent with research on product use, customer needs, marketing, materials, and production methods to create the most functional and appealing design that will be competitive with others in the marketplace. Industrial designers typically concentrate in an area of sub-specialization such as kitchen appliances, auto interiors, or plastic-molding machinery.

Fashion designers
design clothing and accessories. Some high-fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men's, women's, and children's fashions for the mass market.

Floral designers
cut and arrange live, dried, or artificial flowers and foliage into designs, according to the customer's order. They trim flowers and arrange bouquets, sprays, wreaths, dish gardens, and terrariums. They usually work from a written order indicating the occasion, customer preference for color and type of flower, price, the time at which the floral arrangement or plant is to be ready, and the place to which it is to be delivered. The variety of duties performed by floral designers depends on the size of the shop and the number of designers employed. In a small operation, floral designers may own their shops and do almost everything, from growing and purchasing flowers to keeping financial records.

Graphic designers
use a variety of print, electronic, and film media to create designs that meet clients' commercial needs. Using computer software, they develop the overall layout and design of magazines, newspapers, journals, corporate reports, and other publications. They also may produce promotional displays and marketing brochures for products and services, design distinctive company logos for products and businesses, and develop signs and signage systems called environmental graphics for business and government. An increasing number of graphic designers develop material to appear on Internet home pages. Graphic designers also produce the credits that appear before and after television programs and movies.

Interior designers
plan the space and furnish the interiors of private homes, public buildings, and business or institutional facilities, such as offices, restaurants, retail establishments, hospitals, hotels, and theaters. They also plan the interiors when existing structures are renovated or expanded. Most interior designers specialize. For example, some may concentrate in residential design, and others may further specialize by focusing on particular rooms, such as kitchens or baths. With a client's tastes, needs, and budget in mind, interior designers prepare drawings and specifications for non-load bearing interior construction, furnishings, lighting, and finishes. Increasingly, designers use computers to plan layouts, which can easily be changed to include ideas received from the client. Interior designers also design lighting and architectural details such as crown molding, built-in bookshelves, or cabinets coordinate colors, and select furniture, floor coverings, and window treatments. Interior designers must design interior space to conform to Federal, State, and local laws, including building codes. Designs for public areas also must meet accessibility standards for the disabled and elderly.

Merchandise displayers
and window dressers, or visual merchandisers, plan and erect commercial displays, such as those in windows and interiors of retail stores or at trade exhibitions. Those who work on building exteriors erect major store decorations, including building and window displays, and spot lighting. Those who design store interiors outfit store departments, arrange table displays, and dress mannequins. In large retail chains, store layouts typically are designed corporately, through a central design department. To retain the chain's visual identity and ensure that a particular image or theme is promoted in each store, designs are distributed to individual stores by e-mail, downloaded to computers equipped with the appropriate design software, and adapted to meet individual store size and dimension requirements. Set and exhibit designers create sets for movie, television, and theater productions and design special exhibition displays. Set designers study scripts, confer with directors and other designers, and conduct research to determine the appropriate historical period, fashion, and architectural styles. They then produce sketches or scale models to guide in the construction of the actual sets or exhibit spaces. Exhibit designers work with curators, art and museum directors, and trade show sponsors to determine the most effective use of available space. Many merchandising designers have a bachelor or master degree in visual communications.