How To Teach Yourself Graphic Design In 5 Easy Steps

With so many design resources available here on Freepik, you might be wondering how you can learn to make some designs of your own. Perhaps you’d like to make some graphics for your website, or you’d like to contribute some design work to a resource website. No matter your motivation, learning graphic design can seem tedious or even unattainable. I’m here to tell you that learning graphic design is nothing to fear! You may be intimidated by the applications designers use or the expense of design courses, but there are many resources available for free. Let’s take a look at the process of teaching yourself graphic design.

Step 1: Find Reliable Resources For Graphic Design Information

Like I previously stated, there are several websites that offer graphic design resources and information. Not all the information you find on the internet is reliable, which means you’ll need to do some investigating to find the best online resources. Freepik strives to bring you helpful information from trusted sources. It’s important to trust the source of any information that you get online.

Step 2: Gather As Much Information As Possible On Design Theory

Graphic design is an art form. You need to study the theory behind any art form to truly understand it. You need to know the rules for great design, and how those rules came into existence. So many people make the mistake of jumping into a program like Photoshop without knowing the principles of why things work the way they do. Jumping in too quickly is a recipe for failure. Take your time, and really learn the theory and concepts of graphic design.

Step 3: Choose A Niche

A great designer will be skilled in all the aspects of graphic design, but choosing a specialty is important. By choosing what you’ll specialize in, you can dedicate yourself to that topic and learn everything about it. This is where studying all that theory comes into the picture. You’ll need to have as much background information as possible to decide what area of graphic design you’d like to specialize in. There is an old saying, “A jack of all trades is a master of none.” This simply means that if you try to be great at everything, you’ll never master anything. The industry leading designers are masters of a specific area of design. There are many overlapping areas of graphic design, so you’ll get the general skills you need by working on a niche.

Step 4: Acquire The Applications Needed For Your Area Of Design

This is another spot where people have a tendency to go straight for Photoshop. Different areas of expertise require different applications. If you’re going to be a logo designer, you’ll be primarily working in a vector application like Illustrator. If you’re doing print design, you’ll most likely be working in a layout application like InDesign. Most designers have access to all of these types of programs, but when you’re first starting to learn graphic design, focus on the application that corresponds to your specific area of study.

It’s important to note that you do not need to go out and purchase an expensive application to be a graphic designer. While the Adobe applications are the most popular, there are several free alternatives to the software that Adobe provides. If you’re more comfortable sticking with the Adobe applications, consider getting a subscription to the one application you’ll be using the most. This will keep costs down, and help you focus on learning one application at a time.

Step 5: Use Various Resources To Master Your Design Application

Find some tutorials for the application you’ll be using for your design work. There are millions of tutorials in audio, video and text form available for free online. You may also consider purchasing a book written about the application you’re trying to learn. Most tutorials will give you a new skill set, and provide some work to add to your portfolio. These books and tutorials are also a great way to reinforce what you learned while studying design theory.

The most important thing is to get out there and practice. Apply the skills you’ve learned to everyday objects. Identify good and bad design. Work on projects and gather as much information as you possibly can. Graphic design isn’t a static skill. Designers on every level continue to learn daily and grow as designers. Find a great design community, get your work out there and enjoy the process of learning and designing.