Artists have more scope to work today than they ever did before, that is as long as they are willing to treat it as a profession and not just their passion. A digital artist can essentially be any talented illustrator who decided to specialize in multimedia and acquired the additional skills necessary for them to remain in high professional demand, even outside the world of pure art. They may or may not pursue art as a passion in their own time, but digital artists are valued business assets first, who work for the profit of their respective employers.
It is easy to forget how crucial the role of a digital artist is in various aspects of modern business, because we only see their work, often without even realizing who was behind the artwork. At times, it may not even occur to the viewer that they are looking at someone’s display of talent unless they are made aware of it. With that point in mind, today we are going to look at how useful artists have been in the field of software development, supply chain management and even construction.
How Professions Coincide: Engineers and Artists?
A civil engineer who is capable of sketching complex 2D models on paper and creating even more complicated 3D models with any CAD software is both an engineer and an artist. They have to possess the necessary talent to sketch and create a successful model both on paper and later within the applicable simulator software.
Civil engineers do not always have the necessary artistic flair, which is where architects come in. Architects are artists who add that sense of aesthetics to civil engineering, although they are often engineers themselves. The astounding and complex buildings which they design for civil engineers will stand as testaments to their creative talent for decades to come.
Artists in Supply Chain: Innovation, Technology and Design
If we take a look at any popular supply chain management software, the relevance of artistic work should begin to make sense almost instantly. The easy to understand, self-explanatory artwork and animations they have embedded within were all created by professional illustrators. All visual depictions in these enterprise-grade applications are created, updated and supplied by digital illustrators to the software vendors on a continuous basis. Given that visualization is what makes modern SCM apps so useful and revolutionary within the B2B segment, it is easy to notice how artists have a crucial role to play in this section of the industry as well.
Artists and designers have always played an even more crucial role in creating and designing innovative, technological solutions that are currently revolutionizing various aspects of the supply chain industry. In order to understand how that’s happening, we will have to take a look at this post on Kettering University Online. The post itself is primarily about how and why qualified supply chain managers and engineers are concentrating on building products or services in a way, so as to specifically cater to the demands of their respective clients. While doing so, it mentions the All-in-One Kit Cart (2nd generation) by J-Tec, which is a lighter, modular version of their original All-in-One cart.
The ergonomic design and the significantly lighter (39%) weight of their 2nd gen loading cart has made it possible for supply chain workers to manually load heavy pallets onto assembly lines safely. The cart is also lowering the need to use forklifts in crowded delivery points, which is often a common cause for accidents within supply chain facilities. Amazing power, safer ergonomics and surprisingly lightweight design of the product stands as a perfect example where art met science to facilitate business and ensure safety for everyone and everything.
Simplifying Complicated Concepts in Supply Chain
Supply chain refers to the delivery side of business operations, so that’s generally not an area which most of us would normally associate with artists. However, that is only because a large majority of people are not even aware of the roles which artists play in supply chain management. Just take a look at this YouTube video that explains SAP and how their products work towards boosting supply chain performance.
Although the video itself is quite informative, focus on how it is being illustrated as well. A simple combination of whiteboard art, visual cues and audio guidance is used to effectively deliver multiple complex concepts to the target audience, within a very short span of time. The artistic depictions are animated and sped up for holding the attention of the target audience, which simultaneously makes this an excellent piece of marketing content as well.
This is just one of many examples where advanced concepts of supply chain management are being delivered effectively by an artist to present/potential customers, students of supply chain management and new employees alike.
Digital Artists and Software Development
The most common field of employment for talented digital artists would have to be the video game sector. Both major and minor game developers hire the highest number of digital artists every year because their products are so heavily dependent on artwork and animations. However, game developers are not the only software companies who hire artists.
Whether we are discussing the visualization elements in an SCM application, a project management software solution or a statistics & analytics tool, the artwork must be created to provide legibility to the core ideas. As things stand, career potentials for creative illustrators are massive in software design and development, as long as they also take a bit of time to learn about the technical aspects of doing the work required of them.
Those that are already talented in their ability to draw, create and innovate, will find that getting used to a software-based drawing platform was the easiest part. Not everyone can become a professional artist because this is a field of work that requires at least some degree of innate talent. That is precisely why business artists across the various fields are so highly paid; one can acquire skills, but not talent.
