How I became a designer in six months

I did not complete the design courses and did not study design at the institute, but I managed to complete my own course of study for 6 months, I would note that in the process of learning I was simultaneously engaged in a full day of my main work. Although I did not think that I was ready to get a new job as a designer, still I was very lucky and managed to find a good place.

Of course, I understand that I do not have the skills that many professional designers have learned for several years and have a great work experience, however, I feel that I can work at a good level, creating a good design. I am currently designing websites.

This article will help novice designers to take the first steps in studying design on their own; here you will find links to those books and resources that helped me in studying and were helpful. I note that the links point to English-language resources that I used for self-study.

Level One: learn to see

The main mistake that novice designers make is an attempt to immediately begin by studying Photoshop and drawing design. But Photoshop will not make you a designer, just as buying paints and brushes will not make you an artist. Therefore, we begin with the development of the very basics of design.
')

Learning to draw

To accomplish this task, you will not need to make great efforts or sign up for the school of artists, you will not have to paint still lifes and paint oil paintings, we will limit ourselves to studying the basics of drawing, which will be enough to make a sketch on paper. One good book on drawing will help in this - “How to learn to draw in 30 days” . Practicing for half an hour for 30 days you can learn the basics of drawing.

We study the theory of graphic design

- Start with the book - “Draw it . ” This book will help you understand the basics of design.
- Learn to work with color, typography and creation of design based on the grid.
- Pass through several tutorials from this site every day.

Learn the basics of interaction experience

A huge number of books have been written on this topic; you can start with these two:
- "Design of everyday things . "
- “Don't make me think!”

Learning to write

Abracadabra like Lorem Ipsum should alarm, it is a direct pointer to a bad designer. A good designer should be able to communicate well with his users, he sees the whole process of evaluating his design as a whole and does not miss such details as a presentation text. Each word is chosen thoughtfully, wisely, and the text itself is written with the expectation that people will read it. Do not use the abstruse language used by teachers in school.

- Read the book "Why some ideas survive, and others do not . " This book will teach you how to bind readers to yourself.
“There are many examples of well-chosen text on this site .”

Level Two: learn to use Photoshop and Illustrator

Having studied the basics you can begin to master the programs for creating a design. Learning is best to start with Illustrator (a program that designers use to draw various icons and logos). A huge amount of educational materials has been written on this topic; I will cite just a few references to books that were especially useful. You can use the resources that seem most appropriate.

Learning Illustrator

- "Illustrator - the audience in the book . " A boring book, but if you master at least half of this material, you will get basic skills on using Illustrator.
- "Basics of vector graphics . " This book will teach you to create icons in Illustrator that will look really professional.
- Also watch the tutorial on how to create a logo in Illustrator, you should like it.

Learning Photoshop

At least a million educational articles have been written on this topic; one of the most popular sites with high-quality materials is design on tutsplus . And this is an example of a good tutorial "how to create a psd template for a website" from the same site. Give these lessons a couple of hours every day and progress will not take long.

Level Three: the acquisition of specialization

It is time to determine the scope of design, which you will be doing in the future. Take time to explore different areas of design (websites, graphics, mobile applications) and choose for yourself what brings the most positive emotions.

We study logo design

- "Logo Design" .
- “Creating a recognizable brand” (from a website to a business card).

We study web design

“Don't make me think” is a book about a friendly user interface.
- "The principles of beautiful web design." The name speaks for itself.
- Create a list of websites that seem attractive to you, mark their features and structure.

Level 4: Portfolio Creation

You do not need to finish art school to get a job as a designer, but you cannot do without a good portfolio.

How to create a newbie portfolio with no work experience? To do this, it is not necessary to have finished projects behind you or to work with real clients. Just do your own projects.

Here is what you can do to gain experience:

- Find a site with a bad design and redo it.
- Find charity projects and offer to make a design for free.
- Practice on sites for designers .
- Join the team at StartupWeekend .
- Perform tasks from this book .

Do not include absolutely all of your work in the portfolio, select only the best.
At the initial stages do not try to be original, it will come with time, with experience, with skill. At first, everyone learns the basics and repeats simple things behind the teacher, and when enough experience has accumulated, you can move on to more advanced and independent work.

For inspiration, visit Dribbble (browse the work of the best designers) and zurb.com/patterntap (web design).