How to learn Graphic Design - Graphic Design is a Passion

How to learn Graphic Design 

You can take as much time as you want on each one of these steps until you feel comfortable before going on to the next because each one depends on the prior one to be successful the first step is learning the fundamentals of graphic design includes spacing colors typography the placement of elements on the page and understanding why you are doing all these different elements and why certain designs are good and certain designs are bad I'm going to be doing a video next week that discusses the fundamentals of design the ten most important ones always focus on so make sure you check it out next week you want to make sure you understand the fundamentals of design before going on to the programs otherwise, there are many resources online such as courses and YouTube tutorials that go over what are the fundamentals of design so you really understand each one of these components and how they will work for you as a Graphic Designer.

What is Graphic Design? - Graphic Design is a Passion 

The second step is to learn the programs this is usually graphic design software like the Adobe Creative Cloud the suite of Adobe programs which includes Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator InDesign is specific to print design and layouts and brochures and sometimes the packaging is even used in Adobe InDesign Adobe Illustrator is another program that is used for logos and for illustrations that are primarily vector-based this means when you scale it up really big or you make it really small it won't lose its clarity it won't be pixelated whereas Photoshop is another tool that is very very versatile and usually works with photos but it is pixel-based which means when you get it bigger when you scale an image bigger from Photoshop it will make it so that their pixels won't be as legible so you have to really choose which one is best for you but understanding each one of these different programs is vital for you as a graphic designer and you should take each one at a time start with Photoshop then go to an illustrator then go to InDesign and then also there are other ones that you can research to know more about as well such as Adobe bridge Adobe Acrobat some people are using affinity there are many other types of programs out there but you need to take one at a time and really understand that one the interfaces can be quite daunting sometimes but if you just take it step by step find a good course on it find a good tutorial sometimes people even put out tutorials that understand a program in five minutes and you really want to get the basics and understand what do you need to get out of it, you don't need to know every single button to get started but you do need to understand the basics so that you're not lost when you're going to create your designs so make sure that you take the time and when you're learning it you go and apply it because otherwise you can get lost in these programs and really they're very simple they're meant to help you as a designer to achieve your result step three is to join 

Facebook groups and communities of designers this is a great resource for other people who are experienced to help you and others that aren't really so experienced to get started as a graphic designer this is a resource where you can ask questions and there's no stupid questions in most of these groups people want to help they're there to help and they want to see your designs and they can critique them and give you some advice and tips so make sure at this point that you join some of these Facebook groups there are hundreds of them maybe even thousands so find the ones that are right for you and get started and start making some connections of other graphic designers as soon as possible the fourth step is to start doing some practice projects now that you understand the basics of design and you understand the programs you can get going with some sample projects my favorite place to look for inspiration is Pinterest they always have some awesome content and you can categorize it / a category such as logos you can put all the ads that you love together you can put all the other types of designs so that when you are practicing logos you Can go to your logo board and find one that you love and then go to illustrator and really dissect how did they create that and maybe you can look up a tutorial on it and just stick with that one logo until you master it until you know how they achieve that result and then practice it over and over until you feel comfortable and then go to the next one and practice doing an ad or a flyer or some other sort of design but the point is that you are going through and duplicating exactly what other people have done already you're not trying to invent the wheel here you're just learning about design and actually the application of it to a project this can include book covers or other types of typography 

Graphic Design Services:

Why is something placed a certain way really analyze each one you can spend a lot of time doing this weeks or months until you really feel comfortable with the programs and with using the elements of design and really seeing how do they put this together why did they use that color what was the purpose for this placement there when you go outside or you're going and looking on TV adds look at what their designs are everything is design and you will start to see it everywhere billboards newspapers flyers ads everything has a reason for being placed in certain places why did they have that type really big why do they make the other type really small why did they use that font instead of another font make sure you're looking at each of these elements all the time and you'll start to have a really good eye for graphic design step number five is to decide on the area you're most interested in working in this could be logos or it could be flyers or package design maybe in doing the practice projects you had a specific one that you were more drawn to working on or you really liked doing ads for restaurants or something like that then really focus on that and make up some sample company names and sample projects that you can do from scratch yourself and then put together a bunch and just over and over keep doing these until you feel really confident and you've found five of these that you can take out and use in your own portfolio the purpose of this is to hone in so that you can then go and market your services to an exact niche this is going to be the best way to get started in jobs faster if you want to be marketing to everyone everywhere that's totally okay but you're not gonna get the jobs faster and really target a specific audience so that is what leads us into step number six is to join Facebook communities

Graphic Design Portfolio:

Where your target audience is and actually start interacting with them and find a few different people and offer your services at a very discounted rate or for free this is gonna start getting you into this industry and start giving you some practice actually working with clients and you're gonna then be able to build your portfolio as well now for this step 

you may not have your own graphic design website yet however you can be showing what you're doing and your different portfolio pieces that you made and step five you can show them in a PDF format and it's not a problem to say that you're just starting out to these clients they're gonna be totally understanding and be excited actually because they're gonna be getting a discounted graphic designer these first clients you gotta treat them like gold because they will be the ones that tell other people and recommend you we still have some clients that we had at the beginning because we delivered incredible service to them and treated them like gold men and they will stay with you and these ones were the ones that referred to another person and then those people refer to another person and it will snowball especially if it's in a specific industry because people know each other in that industry these first clients can also give you some great testimonials that you can use on your website and once you build your own Facebook page you can also have them put a little testimonial there put one on LinkedIn these first clients are your ambassadors

The final step is step 7 which is building your own website this is where I'm going to give you some marketing tips right now so you understand how to communicate to your target audience when you are building the website the top image that part above the fold you need to captivate your audience in the first 3 seconds otherwise they'll be out of there you got to show a really awesome design image and give them a few words that capture their attention something that will communicate to your target audience let's say your target audience is e-commerce you can tell them that you will boost their sales with your design or something of that nature that gets them hooked and you show a really great example of some design that you have done in this area then that will get them to scroll down and understand who you are and then convert which means they will contact you for your services you don't want to show everything you've done all your portfolio you want to show specific pieces 5 pieces is a good number because that'll give a diversity but it'll also make sure you're not overwhelming them because remember they will remember you by your worst piece so you don't want to have anything bad in there you just want some great work that showcases what you want to be working on because people will see that the right target audience and then they will want to work with you and the way that you can actually get people to your website is by interacting in these groups

In these Facebook communities and recommending for them to check you out don't be spamming people with just writing a link to your website you want to be solving their problem that is how you market your services people aren't looking to buy something they are looking for a solution to their problem and that's where you come in that's what's so cool about having a target audience that you understand and know so well because if you know why they need your service you can tell them you are the solution so make sure that you are communicating this in everything you do in your Facebook groups in the Facebook page, you have for your business on your website in your interactions if you go to conventions, you are representing somebody who can solve problems so these are the seven steps that you can do on your own without having to go to an art school or get a degree you can start taking action right now so make sure you follow each step so that you can really become a graphic designer that you want to be and really make some money make some clients and make it a business for yourself thank you so much for sticking around too.

In the end, I hope to see you again next time make sure you do subscribe and hit the like button and share with your friends, this is my music channel, and music is the best way to relax in between the work, I'll see you in the next blog.