Becoming a Multimedia Designer

Multimedia designers combine art and technology to communicate ideas through images and the layout of websites and printed pages. They may use a variety of design elements to achieve artistic or decorative effects. Multimedia designers work with both text and images. They often select the type, font, size, color, and line length of headlines, headings, and text. Multimedia designers also decide how images and text will go together on a print or web page, including how much space each will have. When using text in layouts, multimedia designers collaborate closely with writers who choose the words and decide whether the words will be put into paragraphs, lists, or tables. Through the use of images, text, and color, multimedia designers can transform statistical data into visual multimedia and diagrams, which can make complex ideas more accessible. Graphic design is important to marketing and selling products and is a critical component of brochures and logos. Therefore, multimedia designers also referred to as multimedia artists or communication designers, often work closely with people in advertising and promotions, public relations, and marketing. Frequently, designers specialize in a particular category or type of client. For example, some create the multimedia used on retail products packaging, still, others may work on the visual designs used on book jackets. Multimedia designers need to keep up to date with the latest software and computer technologies to remain competitive.