Advice on where to start?

andrew88

Junior Member
I am a complete novice in graphic design and was wondering what is the best route to get into it and possibly web design in the future.

What should I concentrate on first? Is it best to go on a course or self study? I can't really study full time at the moment and can't find any part time graphic design courses, only full time at local colleges. Does anyone know of any?

I have looked on Amazon for books and have found;

Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practices of Graphic Design
The Non-Designer's Design Book

Are these a good place to start?

I have started teaching myself photoshop/illustrator, should I also focus on improving my drawing skills or is drawing not as important now a lot of work is computer based?

Thanks for your help,

Andrew
 
The best way of learning is to do!

Read as many books as you can get your hands on, follow relevant blogs, do tutorials. Basically become a sponge. There's a few threads here recommending lots of design books, hopefully one of the mods will drop the odd link for you.

Anywhere is a good place to start! The fact you are curious enough to ask is a start. At this stage don't rule anything out, just have fun.

On a personal not, I'd say you should never ignore drawing as a skill. Computers will never replace it, sketching is a skill totally removed from using a computer, and it has a differetn set of advantages.
 
Are you really going to trust the microsoft paperclip? I'm leaving those mistakes there for posterity!
 
So I think I've proved that a good grasp on Spelling and grammar is a good place to start in graphic design!
(Obviously the point I was trying to make there ;) :D )

I'm now really paranoid about my typing, and I can't believe I'm getting heat from the guy whose screen-name is "TYPO". Ohhhh the irony! :)
 
Krey20 said:
The best way of learning is to do!

Read as many books as you can get your hands on, follow relevant blogs, do tutorials. Basically become a sponge. There's a few threads here recommending lots of design books, hopefully one of the mods will drop the odd link for you.

Anywhere is a good place to start! The fact you are curious enough to ask is a start. At this stage don't rule anything out, just have fun.

On a personal not, I'd say you should never ignore drawing as a skill. Computers will never replace it, sketching is a skill totally removed from using a computer, and it has a differetn set of advantages.

Ok, thanks. Once I have a reasonable knowledge is it best to volunteer to work at companies for free to get the experience? Do companies generally allow that or would they not consider someone with little knowledge?

Andrew
 
After gaining a 'reasonable' amount of knowledge you could try to get some solo projects for charitys / friends / local groups / clubs to build up a portfolio. Or attempt to join a local company for experience with that.

The only issue is when do you feel you have enough knowledge?! There is so much to learn :D
 
andrew88 said:
Ok, thanks. Once I have a reasonable knowledge is it best to volunteer to work at companies for free to get the experience? Do companies generally allow that or would they not consider someone with little knowledge?

Andrew

All good info (even the typonese) Add some books to your Christmas wish list, Berry made a great list:

http://www.designforums.co.uk/graphic-design-design-print/2827-colours-theory.html#post32597

It can't hurt to try and get out there, even a Saturday job at your local print bureau/shop might be a good start, not only for learning printing terms/techniques but also getting to know people 'in the business'
 
Visit exhibitions. Read magazines, read books and above all enjoy it.

Call a few designers, see if any of them would like to be a mentor (most have egos that would love this :)

good luck.
 
andrew88 said:
Once I have a reasonable knowledge is it best to volunteer to work at companies for free to get the experience? Do companies generally allow that or would they not consider someone with little knowledge?

Andrew


Some would, some wouldn't.

Probably the wrong time if you ask me, there's that many out of work / uni designers out there at the moment that placements are like gold dust never mind jobs.


Good luck.

And in my experience you can read every book abut design that there is, but you never stop learning.
 
rossnorthernunion said:
... but you never stop learning.
That goes for life in general. You should never feel like you have all of the answers. Never be afraid to ask questions.
 
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