Newbie, can anyone help

P

plkdelta

New Member
Hi all, I'm very new to graphic design, Complete Novice in fact.

I use macs to create music, but would like to get into design.

Could anyone advise on software for the complete beginner.

Also would anyone be able to help on a little task, putting a logo on something my friend has designed. I have the image ready?


Thanks in advance
 
To learn, you could try Inkscape (Vector), GIMP (Photo-editing), Scribus (Page layout), which are free open source software which would be good to learn on just to see if graphic design is for you. If you find it is, and you have the funds, you could buy the Adobe creative suite (also available on cloud for a monthly subscription), which contains Illustrator (vector), Photoshop (Image-editing as the name suggests) and Indesign (page layout). Adobe suite would be ideal simply because it's the 'industry standard'. I've been practising using Serifs creative suite (drawplus/photoplus/pageplus), which in a nutshell, do much the same as the fore mentioned programs, and cost anything between (£50-100 each depending on the version), only available on Windows though.

I'd get familiar with magazines such as creative arts, digital arts to name just a couple, get yourself a few books on layout principles, typography, design history, colour theory & psychology....as a start. Also, play about with brainstorming, paper, pencil and glue....It's a lot more than just the software!
 
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Buying the software won't make you a designer instantly, you need to learn design theory. I couldn't just make music because I had the software and knew vaguely how to use it, I'd still need to learn music theory first to ensure what I was producing was music as we know it.

Design is more than just visuals, it's about ideas and communication. There are branches of design that focus heavily on visual, but the fundamentals cannot be ignored, such as typography, and grids. Have a read through these articles, though much of it may go a little over your head at first if you're completely new to design theory – Thinking with Type | Home
 
^ I think the thing about theory (whether its music or design) is that it provides a framework for problem-solving when things somehow don't look/sound 'right'. I wouldn't say it was a pre-requisite for producing creative work, though...
 
grab yourself a decent sketching pad and some good quality pencils and get designing. Most designers including my self start their projects with concept sketches and this is a great and relatively cheap way for you to experiment with different designs before venturing into software. After that if your serious then take the plunge and get some decent software, I currently use the adobe creative suit and that works well for me.
 
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