If you are looking to start a career in an industry where your ideas and creativity would be encouraged and rewarded, then you should consider careers in the creative industry.

Generally, careers in the creative industry provide an environment that encourages fresh ideas to be developed. Many professionals in the creative industry can choose to either practice freelance or work for an employer, and in some cases, merge both practices.

In this article, we would be discussing skills that professionals need to succeed in the creative industry and emerging careers in the creative industry.

Skills needed in the creative industry

As a professional in the creative industry, you should understand that hard work and patience increase the chances of success in your career. Careers in the creative industry require constant practice, research and risk-taking to learn new ideas and explore your creative abilities.

To successfully explore the rewards of working as a creative, these careers require professionals to have the following skills:

• Creativity: Creativity in its many forms, is greatly rewarded in various careers across the industry as it opens doors for innovation and discoveries. Careers in the creative industry require professionals to adopt creativity in their unique styles on various projects.
• Teamwork: Teamwork and collaborations create room for professionals to learn from other experts across the industry. Having good teamwork skills allows a creative to gain inspiration and explore ideas from other professionals and also represent these ideas in their projects.
• Networking: Most creative careers benefit from establishing and maintaining a great network with professionals in the industry. Establishing a strong relationship across your network of fellow creatives and mentors increases your exposure and help develop your career.

Emerging careers in the creative industry

The creative industry includes both careers that do not require professional training and careers that require technical knowledge or training in areas like programming, software engineering or editing.

Here are 5 emerging careers in the creative industry you can choose to explore:

Industrial designers

These professionals design concepts for products and services ranging from cell phones, cars, to online marketplaces. Industrial designers are primarily responsible for improving the artistic design, purpose and usability of products and services. They observe market needs and combine their knowledge of art, business or engineering in creating these products. Industrial designers work with specialists from other teams to test the feasibility of different designs and develop the best designs to adopt for new and existing products.

Technical writers

Technical writers communicate complex information to a target audience by crafting easy to read materials. They are primarily responsible for designing clear and concise written materials from complex information to educate a target audience. These writers typically study product samples and collaborate with product developers and other specialists to understand the product and craft materials that convey needed information to the readers. Technical writers create instruction manuals, guides, journal articles and other supporting documents.

Art directors

These professionals design the visual style for a product. They are responsible for deciding which artistic style and element best explains a concept. Art directors need to understand the design elements of a project and communicate the vision of a design to other creative workers on that project. Art directors work in theatre, advertising, film and other visual communication media.

Multimedia artists

These artists are skilled in graphics technology and creating designs and effects for various forms of digital media. Multimedia artists use multiple technologies and artistic methods to create the ideal graphics for video games, commercials, website designs and other entertainment media. These artists can choose to specialize in particular aspects of multimedia art like graphics design, 3D animation or special effects animation.

Editors

These professionals are skilled at planning, reviewing and producing content for publication. Editors typically review and check content for facts, spelling and grammar errors. They ensure the content published to align with the brand standards and needs and also reorganize the content to improve readability. Editors are generally required to have strong communication and writing skills to produce quality content.

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