3 answers
Malik
Student
Brooklyn, Connecticut
1
Question
Asked
1195 views
What steps can I take to excel in design?
I'm very creative and use imagery to get a bigger message across #graphic-design
3 answers
Deepesh Divakaran
Senior Manager
3
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
Deepesh’s Answer
Creativity is a great virtue. To use it to higher degree, you need to start empathize with people around. Peek into their wants and needs, pros and cons. Then further dwell on it to help visualize what could help them.
This is basic design culture.
Second, when you talk about Graphic Design - there are many categories inside them : Basic being 2D and 3D graphics + Static and Animation
- Posters and flyers
- Webpages
- Photos
- Infographic design (Data representation)
- UI and UX
- Game designing
and so on.
But, for starters - following would be the next steps I would take, in your shoes.
Design Thinking Course (many free ones from IBM and others in there)
Learn and understand the basics of what types of Graphic Design exists.
Explore all possible areas - You'll immediately know, what to pursue.
This is basic design culture.
Second, when you talk about Graphic Design - there are many categories inside them : Basic being 2D and 3D graphics + Static and Animation
- Posters and flyers
- Webpages
- Photos
- Infographic design (Data representation)
- UI and UX
- Game designing
and so on.
But, for starters - following would be the next steps I would take, in your shoes.
Deepesh recommends the following next steps:
I would just add that practice will give you more experience than just observing. Imitate others at first, see if you can create work based on someone else's design, don't do this to sell the work, but instead to learn what kinds of techniques you need to know in order to develop your skills.
You'll find that when you first start designing, your work will be unimpressive. Do more anyway, keep creating. After a while you'll look back on your old work and realize how much you've been able to improve.
Jay (Brett) Jenkins
Katherine Ragia
2
Answers
Updated
Katherine’s Answer
Hello!
I was a project manager for a marketing/graphic design company. Graphic design is a great career.
First, consider getting a degree and/or certificate in graphic design. I would also consider a dual major or minoring in marketing or advertising. It is good to be creative when it comes to design but these career fields may also give you a background in client needs and techniques. After all, the majority of assets being designed are usually used as sales tools. Especially if you are at a smaller company or freelancing, you may also end up working to create content for an ad or working on an overall marketing campaign. It is helpful to be diverse as often times, they departments work very closely together.
Another route to go would be freelance designing. While you are learning, work on creating a portfolio, even if it is small jobs or volunteer work. Many nonprofit organizations need designers. This is a good way to build your skill set, portfolio and gain valuable experience. You will want to have a variety of clients and types of designs. This is also a great way to network to get new clients. If you end up working for a large company, you will have internal and external designs in many different media. If you end up working for a marketing company, you will have various clients.
As far as personality traits, being good at sales is helpful! Paying attention to detail, not only in your designs but when clients give direction. Having clear communication skills and being able to understand what a client wants with minimum direction. The ability to adapt and change and not take anything personally. Sometimes you have to start again from scratch and while that can be frustrating, you will want to maintain your customers and provide them with a design they love!
Hope this helps!
I was a project manager for a marketing/graphic design company. Graphic design is a great career.
First, consider getting a degree and/or certificate in graphic design. I would also consider a dual major or minoring in marketing or advertising. It is good to be creative when it comes to design but these career fields may also give you a background in client needs and techniques. After all, the majority of assets being designed are usually used as sales tools. Especially if you are at a smaller company or freelancing, you may also end up working to create content for an ad or working on an overall marketing campaign. It is helpful to be diverse as often times, they departments work very closely together.
Another route to go would be freelance designing. While you are learning, work on creating a portfolio, even if it is small jobs or volunteer work. Many nonprofit organizations need designers. This is a good way to build your skill set, portfolio and gain valuable experience. You will want to have a variety of clients and types of designs. This is also a great way to network to get new clients. If you end up working for a large company, you will have internal and external designs in many different media. If you end up working for a marketing company, you will have various clients.
As far as personality traits, being good at sales is helpful! Paying attention to detail, not only in your designs but when clients give direction. Having clear communication skills and being able to understand what a client wants with minimum direction. The ability to adapt and change and not take anything personally. Sometimes you have to start again from scratch and while that can be frustrating, you will want to maintain your customers and provide them with a design they love!
Hope this helps!
Miranda Goodall
UI Designer
8
Answers
Houston, Texas
Updated
Miranda’s Answer
Hi Malik! Being creative and having a love for design is the primary foundation for a career in design. And graphic design is such a huge field with so many pivots that you can always guarantee there's something there for you to enjoy. To excel in design, as with anything, practice is a must! Bootcamps are great ways to do mock jobs for your portfolio, and there's always an opportunity to throw out a business card and get paid for a small job here and there.
But educations is so important too; a lot of agencies hire based on education as much as experience, and if you end up doing work for corporations, a college degree is pretty much mandatory. To truly excel at design, you should learn to blend your creativity with user experience as that's what makes the best product (whether it be a poster that catches someone's attention or an app that's easy to use). Even post-college graduation, you should continue learning and staying up-to-date with new information in the world of design. You can find plenty of blogs that specialize in this on medium.com or all over the rest of the internet.
Good luck!
But educations is so important too; a lot of agencies hire based on education as much as experience, and if you end up doing work for corporations, a college degree is pretty much mandatory. To truly excel at design, you should learn to blend your creativity with user experience as that's what makes the best product (whether it be a poster that catches someone's attention or an app that's easy to use). Even post-college graduation, you should continue learning and staying up-to-date with new information in the world of design. You can find plenty of blogs that specialize in this on medium.com or all over the rest of the internet.
Good luck!
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