Are you holding a pen? Wearing a pair of shoes? Sitting at a desk? Then you're touching the work of a designer. Design careers accounted for about 500,000 jobs in the United States in 2000, and the field is growing. Three out of every 10 designers are self-employed. There is keen competition for design jobs, but if using your creativity makes you happiest, there's probably a job for you somewhere in the following list.

Graphic Designer:
Whether it takes the form of signs, logos, film credits or CD covers, the work of a graphic designer is to plan and create messages for specific audiences. You'll probably do most of your work on a computer, and you'll start as an assistant to a designer or design team in a studio or corporate design department.

Illustrator:
Illustrators turn the verbal into the visual, whether it's a poem in a children's book or instructions for using a video camera. You may work by phone for people you'll never meet or have an art director looking over your shoulder. You'll work under tight deadlines and be involved in a large number of projects at once.

Industrial Designer:
You'll design products from irons and toasters to cars, inline skates and DVD players. You'll work from sketches and models, make prototypes (working full-scale examples) and choose materials. You might freelance or work for manufacturers or research teams.

Interior Designer:
It takes more than a love of paint and furniture to be an interior designer. You'll also need a strong interest in space, human habits, materials and color. You'll solve clients' problems related to the use and effectiveness of an environment working for a design firm, furniture retailer, architect or large corporation. You'll draw plans and make models, evaluate costs and coordinate the work of other consultants.

Fashion Designer:
Love clothes? Consider studying how to sketch, produce computer drawings, suggest fabrics and either sell your idea to a manufacturer or work for the manufacturer yourself. The fashion industry's main cities are New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. There are many fashion-related careers, including costume designer, patternmaker, fashion magazine editor and fashion illustrator.

Theater and Stage Designer:
Any theatrical production involves the work of many people and a wide range of talents. Scenery, lighting, costume and makeup design are the best-known specialties in theater, and each has its very different responsibilities. You'll need an interest in entertainment and a commitment to creating visual effects.

Multimedia Artist/Animator:
Much art is now in motion in films, television and displayed graphics, such as electronic signage. And multimedia work is increasingly a part of the medical industry, transportation, forensics and manufacturing. Your work--often in collaboration with many others--will begin with a sketch or hand-drawn storyboard and move into computer modeling, video editing, lighting and effects, animation and a host of other related areas.