Technology Careers That Creatives Will Love

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Ever since the advent of Photoshop over 25 years ago, the creative worker’s role and responsibilities have changed vastly in the job marketplace. In the past 10 years, powerful and portable technology has further changed the daily workflow of the creative worker along with everyone else. With possibilities opening in the digital marketplace for everything from completely new positions to the need for creative workers in traditionally coding-based positions, there are a number of careers for creatives to choose from.

Front-End Development

This type of position is especially suited for graphic/web designers. When developing any kind of new app, whether online or housed on a device, most programmers tend to make functionality based on the given instructions from stakeholders, but they also tend to do it in a way that makes sense to them. This does not always translate out well to the end user, and this is where the creative worker’s advantage comes in. In front-end development, it is the duty of the developer to create an intuitive, user-friendly interface and to lay out both the functionality and organization of data for the app. This requires a high level of design training and emotional intelligence in order to do well.

Video Game Development

Whether working in pre-game visual development or in live game graphics creation, there is a wide array of possibilities in the video game industry, an ever-growing and profitable market. Game designers use a variety of programs on the job, giving developers diverse expertise. Digital visualization tools allow for smooth pre-production work, while skinning characters and backgrounds is a creatives-only requirement for successful game production and execution.

Education-Based Web Development/Graphic Design

One industry might appeal to the more altruistic, socially responsible creatives. While there aren’t as many openings in the field, web and graphic design for educational institutions is that industry. This field has its own challenges, such as unusually small marketing/communications teams and sometimes tight budgetary restraints, but the actual work itself is usually rewarding in a non-commercial manner, with the opportunity to build a long-term body of work over time. Additionally, creatives may find a little more final authority on the look and feel of the final products created (for both the web and printed materials). While pay is not necessarily always as competitive as it is in the private sector, the job security and benefits can be much more valuable in the long run.

One of the biggest advantages that creatives have in the technology industry is that the skills developed in creative arts classes, whether soft skills like critical thinking and emotional intelligence or hard skills like composition, color theory, music theory or design theory, are in shorter supply in the field of technology than traditional coders, and are not always as easy to master as the hard science of coding and development. Learning both the creative and technological sides of the industry makes one a more valuable and versatile worker.

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