Communication design seeks to attract, inspire, create desires and motivate the people to respond to messages, with a view to making a favorable impact to the bottom line of the commissioning body, which can be either to build a brand, move sales, or for humanitarian purposes. Its process involves strategic business thinking, utilizing market research, creativity, and problem-solving.

The term communication design is often used interchangeably with visual communication and more specifically visual design, but has an alternate broader meaning that includes auditory, vocal, touch and smell.