RMIT MCommDes Research

Sustaining a Lifelong Career in Communication Design for Mid-Career Designers Navigating Industry Shifts

Abstract

Communication design is evolving at an unprecedented pace. New tools, trends, and expectations emerge rapidly, sometimes monthly. For mid-career designers like me, this raises a critical question: how can we sustain relevance and career longevity without being rendered “outdated” or forced to restart every few years? This research develops a publication that compiles the career experiences, conversations, and reflections of 11 designers—including nine interviewees, one key precedent, and myself—to explore strategies for building long-term career sustainability in communication design. By engaging with professionals who have navigated diverse industrial and cultural contexts, reflecting on my own 15-year career across branding agencies in China, real estate marketing strategy, and Australian print production, and analyzing broader industry patterns, I aim to uncover approaches that help designers leverage their core expertise while navigating evolving expectations. The publication also seeks to articulate principles for identifying high-value skills beyond trend-chasing, understanding deeper industry patterns, and constructing resilient career identities.

In Stage Two, I’ve mainly focused on three tasks.
Firstly, I conducted nine interviews. Seven were online and two were in person at RMIT. Secondly, I revisited my previous literature review and completed reading Design Your Life by Vince Frost. The third part of Stage Two has been self-reflection.
In terms of outcomes, Stage Two generated some meaningful findings across these three research sub-directions.

The first sub-direction explores designers’ career perceptions and sustainability concerns.
Key takeaways include:
There is no single “standard” model of a successful design career.
6–7 out of 10 interviewees feel relatively confident about their career sustainability, while opinions on the design market are split 50:50 between positive and negative—the industry is seen as prosperous but generally not supportive enough to individual designers.

The second sub-direction is about industry shifts and trend adoption.
Findings include:
Trends are considered important (rated around 3.5–5 out of 5), but designers emphasise cherry-picking and avoiding fads.
AI, obviously, is seen as the most impactful shift in the past 5–10 years, influencing 7–8 out of my all participants. The conclusion could be “You can say I don’t use it, but you can’t say I don’t know it.”

The third sub-direction looks at adaptation strategies.
Designers adapt in varied and personal ways, often by developing soft skills beyond technical software use.
Continuous lifelong learning emerged as the most crucial skill while fundamental aesthetic principles remain valuable across their entire careers.
Many emphasised mindsets over skills. This is one spread of the publication, shows when designers were asked the question "What's one thing you wish you’d learned earlier in your career? If you could give advice to your 10-years-younger self, what would it be?" And some key quote would be like "Ask for help more.”, “Be confident" and "Take the first step forward". This is actually is me.

Artefacts

Select Bibliography

Frost, V. 2014. Design Your Life. Austria: Penguin Random House.

Victoria's creative economy. 2025. Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Institute of Economic and Industry Research, Creative Victoria, Creative Victoria Website, accessed in 29th March, 2025 https://creative.vic.gov.au/resources/data-insights/victorias-creative-economy

Hekkert, P., & Dijk, M. van. 2011. Vision in design: a guidebook for innovators. BIS Publishers.