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THREAD STARTThis is a guide to teach yourself design.
Step 1. Learn to see
The biggest mistake is jumping into Photoshop too fast. Learning Photoshop does not make you a designer, just like buying paintbrushes does not make you an artist. Start with the foundation.
First, learn how to draw.
- You don’t have to sit in a room with a bunch of other artists trying to draw a ***** woman.
- You don’t even have to get that good at drawing. Just learn some basics so you can be comfortable sketching with a pen.
- You only have to do one thing to learn how to draw: get the book You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. and practice for half an hour every day for a month. I’ve looked at a lot of drawing books and this is one of the best.
- Start with the book You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.. It’s a story book of Little Red Riding hood, but will teach you the foundations of graphic design at the same time.
- Learn about color, typography, and designing with a grid. If you can find a local class to teach the basics of graphic design, take it.
- Go through a few of You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. every day.
- There are a lot of books about user experience. Start with these two quick reads that will get you in the right mindset:
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- Here is a sure sign of a bad designer: their mockups are filled with placeholder text like Lorem Ipsum. A good designer is a good communicator. A good designer thinks through the entire experience, choosing every word carefully. Write for humans. Don’t write in the academic tone you used to make yourself sound smart in school papers.
- Read You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., one of my favorite books of all time. It will teach you how to suck in your readers.
- You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. is a website full of gems of good writing examples.
Hooray! Now you’ve got a pretty solid foundation – both visual and UX. You’re ready to learn Photoshop. Actually, I recommend starting with Illustrator first and then moving on to Photoshop after. Illustrator is what designers use to make logos and icons.
Learn Illustrator
- There are a ton of books, online tutorials and in-person classes to learn Illustrator. Choose the style that works best for you. Here are the books I found especially helpful to learn the basics of Illustrator:
- You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. – It’s boring, but if you get through at least half of it, you’ll know your way around Illustrator pretty well.
- You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. – This book teaches you how to make things in Illustrator that actually look good.
- Now for the fun stuff! Follow these online tutorials and be impressed by what you can make. Here are two my favorites – a You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. and You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
- There are a million and one tutorials out there. A lot of them are crap. Fortunately, there are sites with really high quality tutorials. You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. by You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. is one of them.
- Here’s a good You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
- Here’s another good You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
- Carve out an hour or two every day to go through some tutorials, and you’ll be impressed by how quickly you progress.
Do you want to design mobile apps? Websites? Infographics? Explore them all, and pick and choose the ones you enjoy to get better at them.
Learn Logo Design
- Learn how to make a logo that doesn’t suck: You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.
- You’ll want to take it a step further than a logo though. Learn to create a consistent brand – from the website to the business cards. Check out this book, You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
- Start with You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. to get your feet wet on visual design for mobile apps.
- Read this short but very comprehensive and well-thought out book on iPhone design: You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.. It will teach you how to make an app that not only looks good but is easy to use.
- Geek out on the apps on your phone. Critique them. What works and what doesn’t?
- Read You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. to learn how to make a website that people find easy to use and navigate.
- Read You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. if you want help making a website look good.
- Make a list of the websites you think are beautifully designed. Note what they have in common.
There are so many great resources to learn HTML and CSS:
- My favorite free one is You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
- My favorite ρáíd one (pretty affordable at $25/month) is You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.. If you’re starting from the beginning and want someone to explain things clearly and comprehensively, splurge for Treehouse tutorials.
You don’t need to go to a fancy design school to get a job as a designer. But you do need a solid portfolio.
How do you build a portfolio if you’re just starting out for the first time? The good news is you don’t need to work on real projects with real clients to build a portfolio. Make up your own side projects. Here are a few ideas:
- Design silly ideas for t-shirts.
- Find poorly designed websites and redesign them.
- Got an idea for an iPhone app? Mock it up.
- Join a team at You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. and be a designer on a weekend project.
- Enter a You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. to practice designing to a brief.
- Do the graphic design exercises in the You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. book.
- Find a local nonprofit and offer to design for free.
s†éál, s†éál, s†éál at first. Don’t worry about being original – that will come later, once you are more comfortable with your craft. When you learn a musical instrument, you learn how to play other people’s songs before composing your own. Same goes for design. You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
Go to You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. for inspiration on some of the best designers. Check out You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. for iOS inspiration, and You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. for website inspiration.
Step 5: Get a job as a designer
When I first started learning design, I went to a job search workshop for designers. I walked into a room full of designers who had much more experience than I did – 5, 10, 15 years experience. All of them were looking for jobs. That was intimidating. There I was, trying to teach myself design, knowing I was competing with these experienced designers.
And yet 6 months later, I got a design job. There was one key difference between me and many of the other designers that gave me an edge: I knew how to work with developers.
The biggest factor to boost your employability is to be able to work with developers. Learn some interaction design. Learn some basic HTML and CSS. Designers in the tech industry (interaction designers, web designers, app designers) are in extremely high demand and are ρáíd well. That’s where the jobs are right now.
If you don’t have any experience working with developers, get some. Go to You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., go to häçkathons, or find a developer through a You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
Make a personal website and make your portfolio the centerpiece.
Go out and make serendipity happen – tell everyone you know that you’re looking for a job as a designer. You never know who might know someone.
Research companies and agencies you might be interested in. Look on LinkedIn for 2nd and 3rd degree connections to people who work at those companies and ask for intros. The best way to get a job is through a connection. If you don’t have a connection, You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
Once you’ve got the job, keep learning
I’ve been at Exec for a year now and have learned a ton on the job. I seek out designers who are much more talented than I am, and learn from them. I find design classes (good online ones are You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., and You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.). I work on side projects. I geek out at the design section of bookstores. There is still so much to learn and to improve on.
Keep your skills sharp, and always keep learning.
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