the following are some of the ways you can put – in to be a good graphics designer:
. Remake current projects
You’ve heard it said that perfect practice makes perfect. Additionally, sometimes copying a project that truly strikes out to you is the best approach to learn about design. By repeating this, you can develop some muscle memory for both the technical abilities needed to create a particular design and the conceptual aspect of design (ie. placing objects a certain distance apart or pairing two compatible fonts).
I’m not advocating that you copy another person’s artwork. Obviously, after you’ve copied a design, you can’t use it as your own (that would be copyright violation), but you can still utilize it to practice new abilities. Even though you won’t be able to utilize the finished output for anything of your own, consider this to be your very own self-study tutorial from which you will learn a ton in the process.
After you’ve successfully imitated a certain design, move on to creating your own design concept and putting everything you’ve learned from the practice project into practice! THEN, if you choose, you can include your original idea in your portfolio.
. Concentrate on one style
You might be becoming aware that you’ve developed a preference for a particular style in your desire to surround yourself with beautiful design and perhaps even recreate some projects you enjoy.
That style is current, tidy, clever, and minimalist in my opinion. That might be anything for you—feminine and flowy, retro and hipster-like, ageless and classy, etc.
The key is to identify the aesthetic to which you are more drawn and to focus on that. How does one become a style expert? Until it becomes automatic, you start making a ton of visuals that adhere lot that aesthetic.
Even though I make an effort to stray from my signature modern, minimalist style, it still has a significant influence on every design I do.
It’s simpler for you to specialize in one form of design if you’ve honed your design aesthetic to fit a specific aesthetic. Having a distinctive design aesthetic is a terrific strategy to attract customers. If you have a large number of portfolio examples that fit their preferred look and feel, anyone who is searching for or drawn to your design aesthetic will be more inclined to hire you.
Instead of spreading yourself too thin and being average at everything, the trick is to become extremely outstanding at one thing.
. One program at a time, master it.
Speaking of mastering a single design style, this principle also applies to design software.
The Adobe Creative Suite contains SO MUCH INFORMATION that you may learn. Like you could spend your entire life learning every software and still be lacking in some skills. How sturdy they are all is really insane.
This is why I advise choosing one program to master in particular.
Choose a program that meets your most frequent design requirements or client demands, and become CRAZY excellent at it. It’s far simpler to learn the other two programs for the sporadic occasions when you’ll need to utilize them once you’ve mastered one. This will also greatly boost your self-confidence as a designer and provide you with a solid basis on which to build as you continue down your design career path.
WHAT APPLICATION SHOULD YOU SELECT TO MASTER? WHAT YOU DO DEPENDS ON THE KIND OF WORK.
Text-heavy projects like booklets, ebooks, brochures, interactive PDFs, etc. work really well in InDesign.
Photoshop excels in editing photos and creating product mockups, web graphics, and animated GIFs.
The greatest option for logo creation, vector graphics, icons, print AND online design, illustrations, etc., is Illustrator.
Nearly anything is possible in life. Providing you concentrate on finishing one task at a time. It’s a tried-and-true tactic that plenty of prosperous individuals use.
In fact, Gary Keller and Jay Papasan created a whole book about this straightforward notion. But don’t be fooled by this concept’s apparent simplicity. It’s one of the most difficult things you’ll ever have to do.
I wrote a piece titled “The Power Of Compounding” last year about the benefits of concentrating. Numerous inquiries concerning it, such as “I get the notion. However, I find it difficult to put it into practice.
That is due to the fickle nature of humans. Our aspirations are ever-evolving. Before completing our previous objectives, we chase new ones.
We are dealing with an unseen power that constantly tries to perplex us. We set several goals and believe that we can multitask our way to accomplishing them rather than concentrating on one item at a time.
What we know (to concentrate on one thing at a time) and what we really do differ (focusing on everything at the same time).
Looking at the illustration at the top of this post, it is clear that concentrating on one subject is a solid technique. The question is, HOW do we keep it up? I discuss how I use this method in my life in this essay. Let’s define the “One Thing” strategy first, though.
Each area of your life gets one thing.
People tend to think that you should always put all of your attention on one item. However, that is not the focus of this tactic. It’s important to choose your endeavors wisely. Yes, there are many things you can accomplish. However, not simultaneously.
You cannot travel the world, have children, invest in a business, write a book, get in shape, run marathons, or develop a profession. But you have a lifetime to complete all of those things.
I maintain a single top priority for each area of my life. My life has been divided into the following categories: relationships, career, health, learning, and money.
I therefore never work on more than one significant project at once. I either produce an online course or a book. I also only pick up new skills one at a time. And I’m either wanting to invest my money or save money (I naturally save the most of the time). I’m either increasing my strength or endurance for my health. … and so on.
These classifications are solely based on my own outlook on life. Your life can be divided into any categories you choose. And you don’t have to be critical of how other people divide up their life. Understanding how we classify our own life is important. Without structure, there is none.
same in the absence of structure. Chaos reigns. Chaos also means that everything exists at once, not just one thing. Not good.
Control your urges
For the majority of people, making objectives or deciding on one priority to concentrate on is natural. It’s not a wise move, though, unless you’ve developed the ability to concentrate solely on one subject.
You must first strengthen your concentration muscle. In the absence of a goal and singular focus, you quickly revert to your previous behavior.
You wish to alter your perspective. Change your mindset from “I want everything” to “I value what I have.”
This “one thing” philosophy can only be lived in that way. In other words, learn to restrain your urges.
For that, I advise engaging in Stoicism or Mindfulness. Both ideologies spend a lot of time on separating ourselves from our desires. We can’t focus on anything at once, in my opinion, since we have an insatiable thirst for more.
True liberation comes when you let go of your desires. In one of his seminars, the Stoic Epictetus best put it, as recorded by his pupil Arian:
Freedom is preserved through eliminating desire, not by gratifying human cravings.
If you control your desire, you can solve the issue from the inside out. In my experience, if you’re constantly craving more and more things, you CANNOT live a tranquil and focused existence.
I’ve written an article where I explain Zen Buddhism concepts, and I’ve made a podcast series where I discuss Stoic principles. If you want to master your urges, look into those.
Exercise single-tasking
Practice time has come. Only work on ONE thing at a time during the upcoming week. That will be very challenging if you’re a technologically savvy modern human. But because you’re reading this, I presume you enjoy a challenge.
It is time to set ONE goal for each area of your life.
You are not prepared to use the “One Thing” technique in your life until you have learned to control your desires and have practiced doing one thing at a time.
Because life is so long, you want to practice. You will become more dependable if you take the time to let wishes take less of your attention. You’ll develop into a person who keeps their word. You’ll develop into a person who accomplishes their goals.
And when you begin to accomplish things one after another, you will get momentum. It’s up to you to maintain the momentum.
People get happiness and prosperity in this way. Over time, both of those things accumulate.
Do not forget to consider the big picture. All of your objectives WILL be met. Who cares if you accomplish them today or tomorrow? It matters that you are not swayed by your desires or other factors. Your own life is something you create.
. Surround yourself with beautiful things and creations
You guys, this one is massive. The more time you invest in learning about, observing, and participating in good design, the better designer you will become.
It really is that easy, I assure you.
Since I was always surrounded by superior design and designers in my first year out of school, I experienced THE GREATEST growth as a designer.
I was able to learn SO much about being a better designer just from all of the design work hanging about the office, the adjustments to earlier projects I’d work on, and by working around designers who were better than I was.
All because it was constantly in my line of sight, allowing me to see minute elements that the average person would likely overlook but which, in actuality, elevate your designs more than you could ever imagine.
I rapidly discovered, for instance, that any text printed larger than 10pt lacked professionalism.
I became more aware of the value of whitespace and how to avoid cluttering my page.
I gained knowledge on how to recognize and pair modern and trendy typefaces with other fonts, as well as which ones weren’t.
I could gush endlessly about these guys. The most effective technique to hone your design abilities is to surround yourself with beautiful design. For me, it was (and still is)!
Take 20 minutes each day to look at excellent design produced by other designers if you’re serious about improving as a designer. What makes it a good design? Take note of the fonts used, how elements are positioned, how the layout of the page is organized, how the design is kept from being cluttered, what kinds of effects are employed, etc.
WHERE ARE SOME PLACES TO LOOK TO FIND GOOD DESIGNS? A GOOD LIST IS HERE:
Pinterest
My go-to resource for finding graphic designs is Pinterest. For practically every project I work on, I utilize it to collect a ton of ideas. The pins that are at the top of the feed are often the projects that have been repinned the most, making them designs that appeal to a big audience and are presumably very decent. Bear in mind though that not all designs on Pinterest are good designs.
Create your own design inspiration boards, where you may collect all of your favorite designs and return to them whenever you like. Check out my Pinterest profile if you need a place to start! There are more pins related to graphic design than I’d like to admit.
Instagram
Although I am not the best at posting my portfolio to Instagram, there are a lot of designers who aren’t. I’ve recently been adding graphic designers I love to my Instagram feed, and it’s been very inspiring to go through each day! Start looking for some hashtags related to graphic design and start following any and all accounts that inspire you. Every time you open Instagram, which, if you’re anything like me, is a trillion times a day, you’ll get a daily dose of design.
Dribbble Dribbble is a design portfolio website where graphic designers may upload their work to be shown. Yes, it has three b’s; I know, I’m confused too. There is a lot of excellent work there that you can both learn from and be inspired by. Even better, you may add some of your favorite Dribbble designs to your newly created Pinterest board!
Behance
A design portfolio website like Behance is also considerably bigger and more varied than Dribbble, which can occasionally feel a little more overwhelming due to how much content is on there. Nevertheless, Behance is a terrific resource for learning by example because there are some insanely excellent designers who use it to showcase their portfolio.
