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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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53123.01 – Theatre designers

Theatre designers conceptualize and produce set, costume and lighting designs for film, television, theatre and video productions.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Costume designer
  • Lighting designer

Core competencies

  • Management of Material Resources to ensure materials selected and used fit within the financial constraints of production without compromising on the quality or artistic vision of the design
  • Time Management to ensure all design elements are completed on time, preventing delays that could disrupt the production process
  • Fluency of Ideas to generate innovative concepts and adapt creatively to the vision of the director, ensuring the set, costumes and lighting enhance the overall production
  • Spatial Visualization to imagine and plan how sets, props and lighting fit together and interact within the physical space of the stage, creating effective and visually compelling environments for performances
  • Creativity to develop original and imaginative concepts for sets, costumes and lighting that visually support the story and enhance the audience's experience of the production
  • Knowledge in Arts to understand colour theory, composition, balance and harmony in order to design sets, costumes and lighting that are visually appealing and effectively convey the mood and themes of a production

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Design and create settings, scenic environments, properties, costumes and lighting for theatre, film and video productions, operas and ballets.

Additional information

  • Theatre designers may specialize in costume, lighting or set design; fashion designers may specialize in men's, women's or children's apparel or in different lines such as sportswear, footwear or formal wear.
  • Designers may advance to supervisory and management positions.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

  • Industrial designers (22211)
  • Interior designers and interior decorators (52121)

NOC hierarchy breakdown

NOC version

NOC 2021 Version 1.0

Broad occupational category

5 – Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport

TEER

3 – Occupations usually require a college diploma or apprenticeship training of less than two years; or more than six months of on-the-job training

Major group

53 – Occupations in art, culture and sport

Sub-major group

531 – Occupations in art and culture

Minor group

5312 – Occupations in creative and performing art

Unit group

53123 – Theatre, fashion, exhibit and other creative designers

Occupational profile

53123.01 – Theatre designers

O*NET in-it

This page includes information from the O*NET 27.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Employment and Social Development Canada has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.