Career Counselling: Wield a brush, do a fine arts programme

My daughter is studying in Class 10 and plans to take up fine arts as her main subject with English, psychology, political science, economics and German language (as her sixth subject since she is proficient in the language) in classes 11 and 12. Could you please throw some light on the career opportunities for graduates in fine arts? What are the career choices available to graduates from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad?

— Manoj Saxena

With the subjects your daughter has selected for classes 11 and 12, there are many career routes that she can pursue. Apart from careers related to subjects like psychology and political science, proficiency in German language too can lead to numerous career options. After a degree or a certified level of proficiency in German, she can work in sectors such as tourism, with embassies, in media and entertainment, public relations and mass communication, international organisations, publishing, or with German organisations that require professionals for interpretation and translation of the language. Some new avenues such as online content writers, technical translators or decoders too have come up in a big way for those fluent in any foreign language.

If she is creative, she can consider any field of art or design which covers practically all areas of work, as the aesthetic aspect of any product or service is important. Fine arts usually implies drawing and painting and designing of pictures, murals, portraits, sceneries using various types of medium and on different surfaces. To make a career from painting one needs to be very talented with creative abilities that others will pay to see and enjoy. With a degree in fine arts, applied art or design, she can also work in art studios, advertising companies, publishing houses, fashion houses etc.

Other areas where her painting skills can be an asset are teaching, direction, photography, television, clothing and fashion, as art directors for magazines, on-line services, software companies, publishing houses, manufacturers, advertising, promotion and product design.

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National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad is India’s premier design school and getting admission into this institute is extremely competitive. So, it is best to also keep alternative study options in mind, based on the field of art and design that your daughter wishes to pursue.

NID offers courses in textile and apparel design, industrial design, which includes furniture, product, interior, glass and ceramic design, communication design which includes graphics, animation film, and film and video communication, and exhibition design.

Each of these fields can open opportunities for a wide range of career opportunities.

It is best that your daughter in the next two years explores some of the options available from the different subjects she has taken so that she can begin to decide and focus on the field of work that is best suited to her talents and interest.

Send your queries at ­hteducation@­hindustantimes.com or to Career Counselling, HT Education, 1st floor, HT House, 18-20, KG Marg, New Delhi-110001. The columnist is director of Careers Smart, and author of the Penguin India Career Guides Vol 1 and 2