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1. What is design? 

The study and practice of design are centered on how people, or "users," interact with their built environment while taking societal, cultural, contextual, functional, and aesthetic factors into account. Design as a formalized discipline is a contemporary concept.

In practical terms, many individuals' encounters with design originate from their everyday engagement with tangible items, constructed areas, and virtual worlds. Through constructed environments, we communicate with one another and the world around us. Designers create everything from clothes to gadgets, cars, user interfaces, cities, and even the chair you are sitting on.

These created objects impact the cultural meaning, expressing, reflecting, and even shaping cultural norms, beyond their practical and formal qualities. In addition to practitioners, the area of design encompasses educators, writers, journalists, critics, and researchers, producing a diverse body of theoretical literature. 

Today, designers develop digital interfaces, work on business strategies, build virtual worlds, design service systems, and constantly develop new design fields.

Designers adhere to a set of basic principles and design processes, which guide their work regardless of the application. Designers are taught to approach problem-solving from a broad perspective, trying to comprehend not just the current, evident issue but also the system that gave rise to it. From the perspective of the end-user, designers approach the solution, by trying to optimize for the unique requirements and skills of that person or group. The fundamental concept of design is that designers work to "do more with less," maximizing economy (of materials, money, energy, etc.) via inventiveness and creativity.

2. What does a designer do? 

A designer envisions and plans how a structure, product, or system looks and works. They are used in a variety of fields, including industrial design, engineering, urban planning, and architecture. The product, structure, or system that they design may also be built or manufactured, depending on the organization.

To respond to the question, "What does a designer do?" take into account the many kinds of designers, their workplaces, and their roles. Here are some common ones:

a. Graphic Designer

Graphic designers utilize visual communication to create products like labels for products, logos, brochures, and ads. They are employed in a variety of fields, including marketing and publishing. Graphic designers work with businesses to create visually appealing product packaging and marketing materials that support brand identity development. They are skilled in layout strategies, color theory, typography, and other design tools. Among their responsibilities is 

• designing print layouts for brochures, flyers, and magazine and newspaper ads using design software.
• producing art in several media, such as digital design and sketching, and 
• developing graphics for a business's website and social media pages.

b. User Experience (UX) Designer

UX designers create technology, services, and products with users of digital goods and websites in mind. They concentrate on how customers engage with a digital good or service to ensure a positive and productive experience. Based on user feedback and research findings, a UX designer determines the functionality and aesthetics of a product. 

They are responsible for conducting user surveys, setting goals for new procedures, and analyzing the systems that are currently in place. They also create functional models and visual representations of new goods, apply style rules, and create personas to highlight any problems customers might encounter.

c. User Interface (UI) Designer

Prioritizing the client's needs, a UI designer works with a UX designer to create an effective interface. In addition to developing interface design elements like color schemes and style guides, they also produce a project map for the user interface design. To provide uniformity and consistency in the interface design, they go into detail about the particulars of a client's interface, including the color, layout, font, and brand needs. 

d. Product Designer

Product designers create brand-new products for businesses or improve the designs of their already existing ones. Several product designers focus on designing specific products, including automobiles, home appliances, and mobile phones. They work with fabricators and marketers to create designs and product drawings, investigate product technologies, and conduct market evaluations. To meet client needs, they could also alter prototypes and current goods.

e. Web Designer

Website Designers are experts in creating websites that are accessible to users. Expert website designers create websites that meet client requirements by utilizing their skills in computer programming and graphic design. They arrange a website's structure such that its pages present the content in an enticing way. Web designers arrange the text, video, and visual information on a website to ensure usability and effectiveness. Their duties could include testing websites and advising clients to ascertain their needs. 

3. What are the important technical skills for a Designer to stand out? 

Proficiency in many design software tools

• Adobe Photoshop: This is the industry standard for photo editing and manipulation. It allows designers to work on several digital art and design projects. Photoshop can be accessed through Creative Cloud subscriptions starting at $10/month.
• Adobe Illustrator: Used for vector graphics, logo design, and digital illustrations. Some designers also use its pen tool for digital drawing. It costs $20/month via subscription.
• Sketch: Popular for UI/UX and web design. However, it's only compatible with MacOS. Web design generally pays more than other types of graphic design.
• Adobe InDesign: A desktop publishing and typesetting program. It's more complex than similar software like QuarkXPress. Best for experienced print designers as it has a steeper learning curve. However, it works on more operating systems.

Knowledge of the basic design principles

• Alignment and balance: Elements are arranged symmetrically or asymmetrically to create a balanced, stable composition with an even distribution of space or use of scale/contrast.
• Hierarchy: Important elements are emphasized to guide viewer attention. This is key for designs like infographics.
• Repetition: Repeating elements creates visual coherence essential for branding consistency. Non-designers may see it as lazy, but it's an important principle.
• Color theory: Understanding the color wheel, primary/secondary colors, hues, and tones allows combining colors effectively using contrasts, and complements for good design. It's the core foundation.

Additional software skills: 

• WordPress: Understanding popular CMS platforms lets designers integrate their visuals into company websites seamlessly.
• Word processing software: Knowledge of programs like Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat helps with print design tasks like typesetting. QuarkXPress is also useful for page layouts in the printing industry.
• Basic coding: Learning HTML/CSS basics puts designers ahead of peers and allows smoother communication with developers to design effectively within technological limitations. This enhances understanding of the web design process without needing full development skills.

These additional skills improve designers' ability to implement their work across different formats and collaborate efficiently with other professionals.

4.  What are the important soft skills for a Designer to stand out? 

Time management: While tools can help, effective time management is about prioritizing activities. Day-to-day work involves changing priorities, deadlines, and schedules. Therefore, it's important to understand what the pressing priorities are and flexibly adjust one's tasks and workload accordingly to meet deadlines. Mastering time management means having the flexibility to adapt one's schedule in response to the dynamics of daily work, rather than just using time-tracking apps. It is a crucial competency for navigating busy and evolving work routines.

Flexibility: Given the changing nature of projects and workflows, designers must be adaptable - able to adjust their process in response to shifting deadlines, scopes, budgets, and goals. They also need to stay current with advancing technologies, products, and trends through adaptability. Besides, designers require open-mindedness. To work flexibly in dynamic environments, designers should maintain an open mindset that welcomes new ideas and innovations, without clinging to outdated habits. This open-minded approach fosters creativity and the ability to meet evolving needs

Broader perspective: allows designers to demonstrate greater value and achieve better results.

• It involves understanding business goals and how design contributes to them.
• Attending cross-departmental meetings provides insight into how various processes interconnect.
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing help cultivate a strategic viewpoint of the whole organization.
• This comprehensive outlook helps ensure design work synergistically supports overall company objectives.
• A broader perspective facilitates more effective teamwork and meaningful contributions.

Empathy: is a vital soft skill for all professionals, especially in user-centered fields like UX and product design.

• Practicing empathy means understanding users' perspectives by putting oneself in their position. This helps designers appreciate users' frustrations and needs.
• Empathizing allows for creating resonant solutions that adequately meet user needs.
• Employing empathy ensures design processes remain strongly user-focused. It results in more insightful designs through a deeper understanding of the user experience.

Giving and receiving feedback: Feedback is integral to iterative UX/product design processes and continuous improvement. Designers must listen well and openly incorporate criticism without taking it personally.

• Receiving feedback requires an open, objective mindset to filter advice constructively.
• Providing feedback also needs a thoughtful approach focusing on examples and opportunities rather than individuals.
• Developing this nuanced interpersonal skill takes experience and training over time.
• Both soliciting and conveying feedback enable collaborative refinement and enhancement of work.

5. Salary for a Designer in Vietnam

Although there are already a lot of schools offering extensive graphic design education. This human resource base, however, can only satisfy 40% of market demand. This demonstrates that a significant proportion of companies still lack graphic design positions. Because of this, working in this field is now highly valued.

Here are detailed salaries according to titles and years of experience: 

• Designer Intern (0 years of experience): 1-5 million VND/monthly
• Junior Designer (1-2 years of experience): 8-10 million VND/monthly
• Senior Designer (4-5 years of experience): 10-15 million VND/monthly
• Creative Director (9-10 years of experience): 30-50 million VND/monthly