Starting the Right Way in Graphic Design
A few months ago, I encountered an advertisement on social media that promises complete beginners that they would become graphic designers by taking this one course. The course covers a few topics: introduction to graphic design, photo editing, adobe photoshop, adobe illustrator, and getting hired and getting paid. It is a 15-day course facilitated by people who call themselves experts, but have used a terribly designed image to go with their promotion, using 4 different typefaces in the same frame and color choices that were all over the place. It was mortifying.
The course in question leads me to speculate that perhaps it is that lazy and simplistic mindset that primarily causes unqualified “graphic designers” to produce awful designs that do not abide by professional quality standards. Far from what the course promises, graphic design cannot be fully learned in just a couple of months, let alone 15 days. Unfortunately, this lazy and simplistic mindset about the graphic design profession is prevalent nowadays, as anyone having basic knowledge in Adobe Photoshop or even just in Canva can call themselves graphic designers, when those looking towards becoming legitimate and effective graphic designers have to go through a tedious training process with hundreds of hours spent on theory and instruction and hundreds to even thousands of hours spent on practice and application.
Graphic design is a complex professional and academic discipline that requires not only creativity and software skill proficiency but also exemplary communication, lateral thinking, design thinking, problem solving, innovation, and a lot more.
With common misconception about the simplicity of graphic design, most beginners find the profession largely intimidating the first time they encounter in its fullness the intricacy across the many subjects, topics, and best practices that they must be knowledgeable about. Unfortunately, and partly the case for myself when I was a beginner too, many graphic designers are only able to learn of this intricacy when they are already on the job, and have already brought terrible and erroneous designs out into the world. Starting the proper way is therefore of utmost importance to all who want to become professional graphic designers. Prior to building a portfolio and packaging oneself as a graphic designer, the following important tips must first be taken note of.
Study. Hard.
Regardless if you are learning graphic and multimedia design in a university program or taking an unstructured learning pathway in the field, it is very important to study really hard. Software skill proficiency is a competency that requires profound learning, and while you may already be fairly learned in using Canva or Adobe Express, the non-negotiable minimum requirement to qualify for a graphic design job is proficiency in both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. It is also vital that a graphic design beginner knows the ins and outs of visual communication, color theory, branding, and others. Professionals who do not have these competencies should not call themselves graphic designers, at least not yet.
While as mentioned earlier it is virtually impossible to master graphic design with just one course, that is not to say that taking graphic design courses is ineffective. For those taking an unstructured learning pathway, steer away from low quality online courses offered by unqualified people; instead, take as many industry-recognized, high quality courses as you can to kickstart a graphic design career. There are government accredited technical certificate courses that teach software proficiency for a few months, but these courses are notoriously incomplete and have little touch points with the other aspects required in the graphic design profession, so it is also important to broaden and deepen learning by taking supplementary study on these topics on top of one another. Be sure to max out the utility of each by learning graphic design fundamentals in best capacity!
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Adobe is the world-leading brand in graphics production and creativity. It redefined desktop publishing, and has set the global standard for digital design over the last four decades. Adobe softwares are hegemonic in the design industry, and it is an unchallenged idea that every graphic designer should have outstanding command in using them, primarily Photoshop and Illustrator. In fact, proficiency in both aforementioned softwares is considered the minimum requirement to qualify for most graphic designer positions. Therefore, it is massively important to master the use of these tools, and one can do so through consistent practice.
Even when a beginner spends hundreds of hours studying educational materials on graphic design — layout, vector, image processing, and many others in theory — this learning can only come to fruition through relentless practice. To master applying graphic design principles, the key is to be fully hands-on. Likewise, in the use of Adobe softwares, as with any other piece of complex and highly specialized software, practice is paramount and there is no other alternative. You really have to spend countless hours using it to improve proficiency.
Seek supplementary learning.
Throughout this article, continuous learning has been a huge highlight, and for a good reason. Software skill proficiency is a humongous cornerstone of the graphic design profession, and with continuous development of these tools alongside technological advancement, it is important to keep skills up-to-date. Therefore, it should not matter whether a graphic designer is a neophyte or a senior with years of experience; learning should be interminable.
Aside from taking courses on graphic and multimedia design topics, consuming educational content on social media, video, and audio streaming platforms is also beneficial. This is because the graphic design field is a dynamic and ever-evolving profession, and not all relevant information that have emerged recently are rapidly incorporated within books or courses. Make use of social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for exchanges of relevant information and learning about design trends, software walkthroughs, tutorials, tips and tricks, new ideas and principles, and new features from your graphic design tools. You will be surprised by how rich and insightful social media platforms can be through users sharing free, useful, and bite-sized information that can help you become the designer that you want to be.
Become a mentee.
Critique is crucial, most especially to beginners in graphic design. At the same time, guidance from experienced designers is vital not only on production techniques but also on best practices when dealing with clients, project teams, and stakeholders. This is where becoming a mentee manifests its value to a graphic design beginner.
Critique and guidance can both be obtained by building a constructive mentor-mentee relationship with a senior in the field. Your mentor can be your team lead or supervisor in a corporate setting, a friend or acquaintance who is a professional in the discipline, or a creative educator well-versed in the graphic design profession. There are no outright rules on mentorship, but a designer can have one mentor per each unique facet of graphic design they wish to focus on, such as marketing and branding, motion graphics, or illustration. Some avenues to gain mentorship include graphic designer organizations, ADP List, The Futur Pro Group, the Adobe Creative Community, social media groups, events for creatives, and local graphic design leaders who may welcome mentorship relationships with beginners.
Explore parallel competencies.
As was earlier mentioned in this article, graphic design is a complex professional and academic discipline that requires not only creativity and software skill proficiency but also exemplary communication, lateral thinking, design thinking, problem solving, innovation, and a lot more. Having said this, it is vital that a graphic designer expands their studies out into parallel competencies.
Marketing and advertising, brand management, psychology, written and speech communication, project management and organizational skills, research, problem-solving, data visualization, and business acumen are among the many skills required to achieve excellence in the field.
Want to know more about some of these competencies? Check out Must-have Competencies for Multimedia Designers
