Can anyone tell me about the schooling you had to do to learn graphic design? Or were you more self taught?
I would love to learn, mostly for myself, but if I got better it could be fun to do a little selling on etsy or find some freelance work.
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@littlejoy
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My husband is a graphic designer. He went to university for graphic design and took many other art classes (especially drawing and painting) as well. He has been particularly successful because he is a well rounded artist and can bring the drawing and painting components into his graphics work. He has learned a lot himself and others in his profession as well
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I do a little bit of graphic design. I'm no professional of course and I am self taught. I've been doing art in many different mediums my whole life though.
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I got my degree in "media arts and design" as I knew in high school I wanted to be a designer. School was great, and it is key to have some core fundamentals in place, especially in regards to software use, color & typography. I also worked a few great internships that I think helped me learn more than school in some ways.
If I look at people's books/websites now it's usually more about their work than schooling..,.you could do some software classes so you know the programs well: Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign are the main ones you typically need to be well versed in. Maybe AfterEffects and Flash if you want to do more multimedia. And just start making things!
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@hellobeeboston: Thanks! Any tips for where to learn those programs?
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My degree is in Ad/Pr, but I took a lot of graphic design courses in that program and the art program. There are lots of tutorials and courses out there to learn the programs, plus you can get a subscription to Adobe CC pretty cheap and just tinker.
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@Boogs: Lynda.com comes to mind.
Maybe that, paired with a course (long or short term) could work. I took some adult Ed classes after college to brush up on my digital and light coding skills and liked having a real person to ask questions to. I lived in Boston, lots of great classes available. I'm looking at a boot camp style class on a Saturday next month too, which will be good to cram into one day as I have less time with 2 kids. It's a constant! Always something new to learn!
Where do you live? Are there good opportunities for some group learning? I would say with Photoshop you might want a person as the program is so robust and there is SO much to learn. illustrator & InDesign you could just learn about online.
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@hellobeeboston: CA and I'll check out that site, thanks!
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I have a BFA in Graphic Design, so four years of schooling that included a lot of fine arts courses (drawing, painting, etc.)
Learning the programs is a good place to start though, I'd get Illustrator and Photoshop for sure and get some tutorial books to go through (Essentials for Design is what we used when I went to school). I self-taught myself Dreamweaver using a tutorial book.
I'd also get some books on the basic principles of design, like font choices, typography, alignment. I have "The Non-Designers Design Book by Robin Williams" from school yet, which covers the basics. -
@Boogs: check out the Minted.com design challenges. The artist community there is very supportive and if your designs win, you get a percentage of every sale. The info is in the participate tab of the website.
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I'm more of a visual/interaction designer, but have done some graphic design, and was self-taught. My university degree was in computer science and I started messing around in design programs at a young age, so I was always hired as a hybrid software engineer/designer, until I made the decision to fully commit to design. The design teams at the places I've worked at have been mostly (80-90%) with formal design backgrounds, but the vast majority of employers and especially freelance clients only care about your portfolio. I think you should totally go for it! It's so fun and not difficult to learn if you are passionate and put in the time. I second the rec for Lynda, and I would also suggest just looking up tutorials of designs or effects you see that interest you (e.g. a watercolor background, or how to design a font) and step through them - it's a great way to learn by doing.
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Community Colleges are great for learning how to use the software. They won't teach you about design principles if your are just taking a photoshop or illustrator class for example, but you'll definitely learn how to use the software.
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