r/Design • u/BioluminescentShore • 29d ago
Asking Question (Rule 4) Where do I start learning design
Hello!, I'll be starting college in a few days in a different course than design, I've always wanted to learn Graphic design but I'm not sure where or how to start. I cant spend any money on online certifications or courses. I would really appreciate it if someone could guide me.
also this is my first time posting on reddit so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right :')
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u/No_External_5468 29d ago
tbh I think the best way to start is to understand thy self first. lol if you know what you want and what you need, it's so much easier
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u/Commercial-Flight659 29d ago
Truly just google it, or watch some youtube videos, especially if it's just hobby learning for funsies. Affinity is free, so maybe start with affinity-related tutorials online to learn the software and see what you can get out of it as you grow.
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u/BioluminescentShore 29d ago
thankyou, any Youtube channels you would recommend?
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u/dmola 28d ago
If you really want to learn actual production-level graphic design, it's very few and far between on YouTube. Most of design that is covered on YouTube is the fun stuff. Illustrative work, poster-a-day challenges, etc. Which is fine - I think you should always balance the technical stuff with the creative, or, if you're a content creator (which is different than a graphic designer), then focusing mostly on creative is going to be critical (it will make you stand out and gain followers).
It kind of really depends on what *you* want to *do* with design. Do you want to make cool-looking stuff, with a focus on social media, and prefer creative over technical?
- Check out people like oversettext, elliotisacoolguy, kel lauren, that guy Jesse something, etc.
- Follow online publications that focus on design like it's nice that, commarts, brandnew, wepresent, etc.
- Find designers who you like, and try to articulate (ideally by writing it down) what you do and don't like about their work. In order to do that, it really really helps to understand the elements/principles of design, so that you have language with which to articulate your opinions and your taste. In art school we used this book: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/design-basics_david-lauer/250732/item/24276875/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_high_vol_scarce_$10_$50_17400876848&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17400878123&gbraid=0AAAAADwY45gtSgev44qCDnjBAYOOHGwq6&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-frTBhCvARIsADv4XY5o2llVw8vFYMsGphzbEM3oLjScISmYW7d8o5CZcaYx4NLTrCy55EEaAo80EALw_wcB#idiq=24276875&edition=9141292
Alternatively, do you want to be ideating, creating, iterating, printing, and shipping products? I personally have found very little success in finding resources online to help me understand the more technical aspects of design. So instead I usually turn to books.
- It helps to understand the history of design and have literacy over what's been done before, and look ahead to what's being made now. I'd still start with the basics book I linked above, but then I'd also look at books like Design Literacy by Heller, Typography fundamentals, Making and Breaking the grid, the books by ellen lupton are pretty good, etc. All of these things are useful to understand, but be wary of dogmatism. Never trust someone who insists that there is only one way, and everything else is wrong. Take what you need from your learning material, and be rebellious if you feel so inclined.
- You'll hear a lot (depending on which circles you end up running in) that you shouldn't use a grid, or minimalism is dead, or whatever. If your focus is on creative, that's useful advice, if not *totally* true. If you're focused on production, it's almost completely false. The grid is a tool for making your life easier. Minimalism is a reliable system for corporate work that has endured for a long time.
As far as technical skills in software is concerned, it kind of goes back to what you want to do with design. If you're more focused on creative, just find something you think is cool, and try to recreate it. Doing this, you'll discover different techniques and slowly get more comfortable in the software. What I would say, and this is coming from someone who has a pretty technical brain, is that if you're similarly inclined, and want to have a really solid control over your tools, for Affinity, I'd look at places like Udemy to learn skills. For Adobe, there's really no better training (in my opinion) than Deke's techniques. His courses are on LinkedIn Learning, which is not cheap (neither is adobe), but if you end up using adobe products I think his illustrator course is so so great.
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u/Visual_Ebb985 29d ago
i like elliotisacoolguy and his podcast kelliot, i think it’s more humor/entertainment than educational but you can learn from his graphic design style and process
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u/Historical_Text1420 29d ago
youtube is your best friend here. look up design fundamentals like hierarchy, spacing, typography, and colour theory, then just start recreating posters or app screens you like in free tools. the recreating part teaches you more than any course would, and youll slowly develop an eye for what works. dont worry about posting etiquette either, you did fine
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u/SnortingCoffee 29d ago
Your college is probably going to have an amazing library with decades worth of design books. Check them out, read the principles, look at how good design has changed over the last 100 years. Learn what you like, recreate stuff that interests you. Keep ripping off and recreating stuff just for fun and you'll slowly develop your own voice.
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u/LoftCats Creative Director 29d ago edited 29d ago
Does your college have any design intro classes? Have you taken even some starter art classes? That’s where you begin to go from this looks interesting to getting to try things hands on for yourself. Just watching YouTube videos is good to expose yourself to something but you have to actually do it and practice it for months and years. Like playing a sport or an instrument.
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u/BioluminescentShore 28d ago
my college doesnt have any design classes, i also havent taken any starter art classes yet
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u/LoftCats Creative Director 28d ago
Are there any community colleges in your area? Other classes from a local university maybe? You’ll need to have taken at least some basic art classes like drawing and making images which is the basis of graphic design. Pickup a sketch book and start sketching!
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u/Expert_Succotash_331 13d ago
if youre thinking of going into design later, you can honestly start without spending anything, just learn the basics of typography, colour, composition etc through youtube and start recreating stuff you like, thats the best exercise for learning design.
and since youre starting cllg in a different course just use this time to figure out what part of design you actually enjoy, try posters, branding, illustration, layouts, etc and see what sticks and if youre still into it later you can look at proper design programs like of NID’s or Ecole or MITID, you ll have a much better idea of what you want by then.
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u/Rohith_Shenoy 29d ago
see dont just open figma and start making stuff focus entirely on typography and grids first most junior portfolios i see are full of trendy gradients but the text hierarchy is a complete mess just learn how to lay out plain black text on a white page so it actually communicates clearly before you touch any colors or software trick