Learning Graphic Design for Beginners
Do you want to get started on graphic designing?
With so many specialist and niche design roles, it can be easy to forget that all of them fall under the umbrella of “Graphic Design”. Whether you want to become a logo designer, an art director or a creative director, the path is the same. Here’s how to get started:
Attend a Graphic Design Course
The first step to becoming a graphic designer is to take a course. It doesn’t have to be full-time or even in person, there are plenty of options available online and in your local area. The important thing is that you choose something that teaches you the basics of design, including typography and color theory. Once you’ve learned what these things mean and how they work together, you can start experimenting with your own designs!
What is graphic design?
Graphic design is a skill that allows you to express yourself through visual communication. It's an art, a craft, and a science all balled up into one. But even though it’s a science, there’s no formula to it—no magic recipe to follow or algorithm to check your work against. Graphic design is an art form; there are no hard-and-fast rules you need to follow.
In fact, graphic design is probably best thought of as the perfect mix of art and logic. You use logic in order to understand the needs of your audience and create something that solves their problems, but you also use self-expression to bring some real joy and beauty into the world—something that will make people smile, laugh, or feel understood.
Is graphic design right for me?
Design is an exciting and creative field that has many career opportunities. The process of learning graphic design can be overwhelming, so it's important to have a plan. With the right resources, structure, and approach, you'll be well on your way to becoming a successful designer.
There’s a lot of different skills involved in graphic design. From using software like Adobe Photoshop and Sketch to illustrators - which means learning how to navigate the tools they offer in order to create those designs. You’ll learn about color theory and the importance of contrast, balance, rhythm, scale and proportion. If you're looking to learn graphic design, KREATREE the right place.
You can learn graphic design and begin to use the tools for free in a few hours, but it will take some time to become proficient. You should expect to invest about 30 hours of learning and practice to get started. Here's how you can do it:
1. Choose your path
There are two paths you can follow to become a graphic designer: a formal education or self-education. Each path has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Formal education: Graphic design programs at colleges and universities usually take 1-4 years and cost $3,000+ per year. They teach you the fundamentals of graphic design, and have a more practical focus than most art degrees, which means they can help you get a job faster. However, there are no guarantees that after four years of study you'll have the skills needed to work as a professional designer — you could end up with student debt without a job at the end of it. Also, if your goal is to learn how to make money from designing online, you may find yourself in an environment that doesn't support or encourage it.
Self-education: Learning graphic design on your own is free, easy, and can be done on your own schedule (which is great if you have another job. However, there can be a tonne of resources to browse through, which is exhausting and can affect progressive learning.
Kreatree builds on a hybrid accelerator learning model that couples both of the above such that the learner reaches their skills development goals effectively.