What is communication?

What is the role of a Communication Designer at Facebook and how is it different from a Product Designer?

• What does an average day consist of for a Communication Designer at Facebook? What kinds of projects do they work on? What is the culture of the Communication Design Team like? Why does Facebook offer Product Design Internships but not Communication Design Internships? Also, what do you think of a Communication Designer/Team versus the Product Designer/Team?

• Answer:

  communication designers work, well, on our communication efforts. they create web sites, presentations, videos, print material... to help Facebook express itself and strengthen the brand. Some examples of what the team has built include the websites of http://internet.org or http://www.facebook.com/home. product designers work on one product, that is, one aspect of the Facebook user experience on the web and or mobile. for instance, photos, messaging, etc. product designers will design the wireframe / mock-ups and partner with engineers with a view to implement a new function. product designers all work on ongoing projects (that get shipped, but that have to evolve, be maintained...) whereas communication designers may work on one-off projects with a unique visual identity. there are much more product designers than communication designers. that might explain the internship situation. on culture, one interesting influence on the communication design team is https://www.facebook.com/analoglab. the "analog lab" deeply shapes all of FB culture by producing posters, sponsoring artists and promoting hand-made design, but communication designers especially as they often participate to that effort.