- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- the ability to use your initiative
- to be flexible and open to change
- ambition and a desire to succeed
- thinking and reasoning skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- active listening skills
- the ability to understand people’s reactions
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Your day-to-day duties may include:
- creating 'one off' designs (haute couture)
- basing your designs on a theme for the coming season (ready-to-wear, high street)
- using computer aided design (CAD) software, graphics packages and traditional hand-drawing techniques to create your designs
- researching design ideas
- following a brief
- adapting existing designs
- working closely with the design team
- producing samples before agreeing the final design
- sending technical instructions to the manufacturers to produce the final product
You could work in a creative studio, from home or in a workshop.
With experience within a company, you could progress to senior designer, design director or head of department.
You could also become a freelance designer, employed by companies to work on specific projects, or become self-employed and launch your own collection.
You can get more information on working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
