Graphic designing is a skill that requires no formal education and still ranks pretty well as one of the highest paying skill that one can acquire. In many ways, the designing skill stands out as one of the most essential talents in many businesses. Why is graphic designing so important anyway? It is a crucial tool in developing visual solutions using texts, symbols, and images that are used to communicate or to interact with a target audience. Graphic designing serves the purpose of:
- Company branding
- Visual aesthetics
- Sales enhancement
- Convey messages through images and logos
- Encourage professionalism
- Improves readability of content
- Increases the power of persuasion in businesses
As a newbie, delving into the world of graphic design can be a bit overwhelming with a plethora of resources at your disposal and very limited information on what suits best or which effect is most appropriate. However, there are general guidelines for graphic designers that ensure that you do not derail from purpose. As a graphic designer you may begin to notice that every single piece of paper you pick up, any magazine, any book or any internet webpage you click through is the work of dedicated graphic designers; you begin to see things a little differently from here on, you begin to notice color grading and patterns, as well as effects and font. This is completely normal “you are not insane” so what does it take to get into the process and hone your skill as a pro in the business.
Here are 8 very important graphic designing tips and tricks for beginners.
Gather inspirational images
The first step may be obvious… or not, but it is necessary that you build a catalog of images that you can gain inspiration from. This can easily be found on the web, from stock photo websites or regular free image sites. Many graphic designers today add photography as one of their major skills and this allows them to take their shots with a personal camera rather than use existing images on the internet.
Get familiar with the process
Every graphic tool comes with its unique interface, riddled with a ton of instructions, details, shapes, aspects, ratios, panels, toolbars, and others. To be able to dissect a project, one must understand the applications of every tool and how to flexibly mesh variables to achieve a masterpiece. To expedite this process, one can collaborate with other designers and download tons of helpful materials such as video tutorials, PSD design resource, and ebooks on skills for graphic designing.
Craft specific queries for search engines
Rome was not built in a day. The road to becoming an expert is layered with tricky steps and obstacles that you may never know until you ask the right questions. Even the best of the best can still be stunned by a particular design that is unfamiliar. Ask the right questions on search engines like “how to do this?” or “how to do that?” Chances are, many people may have encountered this peculiarity as well and written articles on them or made videos on the processes. However, to get the most comprehensive and concise answers to your questions you need to ask the right ones. So how do you ask the right design questions? Search for a design terminology glossary, this will enable you to find the exact terms you intend to use for your query.
Follow designer channels
The importance of following professional designers on their channels and social media handles is that they often give out lectures, tutorials, tips, and freebies on various aspects of design. This would enable you to tap into their wealth of knowledge and experience in becoming a professional.
Replicate images
Often a graphic designer may stumble upon a great piece of design and wonder to themselves “how was this done exactly, could it be a fusion of this and that?” The next thing they do is that they try to replicate that piece of design and even go so far as to improve on the spaces that may not be so great. They personalize every work and add a flavor of their own to every piece. This is usually the most effective way to get better.
Finding color schemes
Color schemes are a thread of specific colors that come together as a pair and are categorized under a label. The right color schemes give you clean clear compatibility of colors rather than picking random colors for yourself which may become a bad choice on a second look. There are websites where one can find and download color schemes online as well.
For the love of fonts
Fonts are a big deal in the graphic design space, so much so that your whole presentation may look completely unacceptable if you make the wrong font choices. There are a good number of websites where you can download fonts for graphic designing, such as fontspace.com, fontsquirrel.com, free-fonts.com, and likes.
Practice, Practice, Practice
There is no back door to becoming a graphic designer professional and no expert ever became one through procrastination. So rev up those engines and get started, then practice as often as you can because as they say “practice makes perfect”.
These are a few tips to help you get started on your graphic design journey.
