a dishevelled look and uncompromising attitude were the hallmarks of a struggling artist until a few years ago today you wouldnt be surprised to find art students cavorting their way into the corridors of power in the corporate world this transition can be attributed to a rapidly globalising world opening doors to countless opportunities for students who can communicate a message aesthetically students of applied art as commercial art is known in the academic parlance can find employment opportunities with animation companies work as illustrators or graphic designers in internet firms and the electronic and print media they may also work in the fashion or textile industry or in furniture designing and interior decoration setups this is all of course in addition to the traditional prospects in the advertising field as visualisers designers art directors illustrators photographers and editors they may also choose to teach in schools and colleges or other art institutions the curriculum design is art that makes itself useful 1984 poster for die neue sammlung design museum munich true to this statement applied art is all about translating your artistic talent into a marketable discipline what differentiates commercial art from fine art is that in case of the former your art is aimed at satisfying a purpose bhupal ramnathkar managing director umbrella and one of the leading names in the indian communication industry insists for any youngster who has an inclination towards a career in commercial arts it is mandatory to gather information about the course much before you take the final plunge browsing through websites of art colleges in india and abroad will answer you queries and you will find that in most cases the first two years will build your foundation in art after which you will have to choose your specialisation we were taught traditional drawing board techniques of graphic representation in the first year after that we had to choose one of five electives which included typography illustration photography computer graphics and display informs d dhakras who holds a bfa degree from sir j j school of art mumbai and is currently employed as an illustrator in a leading publication company the first steps the earlier the better as ramnathkar says once you know that the bug has bitten you focus on sharpening your skills so that by the time you appear for the art college entrance exams after class xii you have an edge over others substantiating his view shamika kocharekar an intern with a leading publication house and alumnus of the sir j j school of art recollects when i was in class viii i had made up my mind to become a commercial artist i visited art college campuses that year and collected information on what i need to arm myself with before i set sail on this ship on the advice of my professors and taking a few cues from some seniors i spoke to i enrolled myself in an art foundation course this helped me a great