Interactive Media Design

Interactive Media Design Career Overview

As companies struggle to stay relevant in today's increasingly tech-savvy world, many are turning to interactive media designers to help bring them into the 21st century. Unlike more traditional web designers and graphic artists, interactive media designers are responsible for helping bridge the gap between traditional corporate advertising and the emerging area of company-sponsored entertainment, including user-generated websites and social networking tools, interactive art installations, interactive video gaming systems, and mobile media applications that allow users to connect with each other.

Interactive Media Designer Training & Education

Employers hiring for positions within interactive media design expect applicants to have—at minimum—a four-year bachelor's degree. What this degree is in, however, is dependent on personal choice, as there is no one academic path to landing a career in the field. While many applicants major in computer programming or graphic arts, others focus their studies in marketing and advertising, and choose to take courses in web design and development as a minor instead.

Due to the competitive nature of the field, many students choose to take on summer internships while still in college in an effort to gain additional experience in digital programming. Along with invaluable real world experience, internships can also give students the chance to expand their online portfolio of work, which is often a critical component when applying for a job in the industry.

In addition to formal academic training, interactive media design applicants are required to have expert knowledge in the ever-evolving world of technologies, including web design, application development, search engine optimization, video editing, interactive CD-ROM and DVD creation, and E-commerce development. For students who may not have been taught one or more of these programs in their own school, many institutions offer night or online courses specializing in learning how to use particular online formats, codes, and programs.

Interactive Media Designer Career & Salary Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that demand for interactive media designers is on the rise, as an increasing number of companies continue expanding their presence on the web. Although the BLS does not keep record of the average earnings of interactive media designers specifically, they do point to a 2007 study by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, which shows that entry-level designers have a median annual income of $35,000. That figure, however, rises dramatically for more senior-level designers, who report a median income of $62,000, as well as freelance designers, who report median earnings of $60,000.

Career prospects and outlook for interactive media designers is especially promising when compared to other career fields, as the BLS reports that the demand for experts in the interactive discipline will continue to increase as companies grow their web presence in the coming years. Despite this positive outlook, competition for top jobs is still expected to rise, as the number of talented applicants entering the field rises at the same time as an increasing number of companies begins outsourcing their digital design work overseas.

Interactive Media Designer Career Fields & Specializations

Interactive Flash Designer: Career Interactive Flash designers use Flash software to create unique, visually stimulating color palates and animation graphics for a wide variety of interactive websites. Although they often work as part of a multimedia company's design team, Flash designers can also work on a freelance basis or for a large corporation's web development group. They should possess an expert knowledge of graphic design and branding—in addition to Flash—since many Flash projects are likely to be online advertising campaigns for large corporations.

Interactive Site Developer Career: Interactive site developers are the creative professionals responsible for integrating interactive, user-driven content into websites and digital technologies used worldwide. Whether it is through social networking, commenting, or peer-to-peer messaging, interactive site developers work closely with Flash designers to craft a site's overall layout and functionality.

Interactive Web Content Coordinator: Interactive web content coordinators are the professionals responsible for the actual content—whether that is text, charts, polls, or photos—that goes up on a website. Whereas website designers craft a site's look and developers create the back-end functionality, it is the responsibility of the interactive web content coordinator to monitor the content users see on the front end of the site, and to ensure that the content itself is both up to date and accurate.

Article Resources:

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Designing Interactive Media
American Institute for Graphic Arts
New Media Interactive Advertising vs Traditional Advertising
Employment Impact of Electronic Business