If you're thinking of entering the graphic design field, you probably have many questions about learning graphic design and how it works.
Perhaps you already have a little web design experience but wish to expand your skills into the world of graphic creation. Graphic design is a skill that can be fun, creative and exciting to learn. Read Below for Five Things You Should Know Before Learning Graphic Design:
1. You Can Learn Graphic Design Even if You Don't Consider Yourself to be Artistic While viewing graphics online, you may say, "Wow, that person must really be a great artist to create that logo!" However, the person may have never drawn a single picture by hand in their life. The great thing about graphic design is that you don't need artistic skills to create graphics or logos. Sure, knowing art will help if you're creating complicated designs or images, but to learn the basics, most design programs remove the complicated steps and make it very simple to create almost any type of graphic.
2. You Don't Have to Attend College to Learn Graphic Design Although having a degree looks great on paper, a college course is not required to learn graphic design. The Internet has opened the doors to so many opportunities of learning that literally anyone can learn graphic design for less than $100. Keep in mind, however, that a college degree is desirable if you're planning to search for high paying employment in the field of graphic design. Employers want to know your exact skills and which programs you're familiar with fluently. Online, there are some courses which offer a degree upon completion. Be sure to research and verify the organization before accepting a degree online - watch for scams.
3. Graphic Design is a Skill That is Used More Frequently than Portrayed If you feel that graphic design skills won't be useful, think again. Even if you're only designing a small website for yourself, knowing graphic design can come in very handy and save you many dollars in the future. Many Uses of Graphic Design: *Creating Website Logos *Creating Unique Text with Unusual Fonts *Building Navigational Menus *Organizing or Enhancing photos on the Web *Creating Animations and Mouseovers *Creating Banners and Buttons *Building a Site Map *Designing Clip Art *Building Web Page Background Images As you can see, the above tasks can each be accomplished with graphic design skills, and each task would cost you $100 or more individually. One logo could cost thousands in some cases!
4. Don't be Deceived by "Cheap" Graphic Design Pricing Online, you'll find that many freelancers claim to offer graphic design at very cheap rates. For instance, on "bidding" boards you'll find bids for $25 - $50 for a logo design task. Don't be fooled. Either the graphic designer is offering very cheap services up front just to get a reference, or he/she is not really offering quality services. There have been many stories told about bid jobs being hiked in price once the job is accepted. Low Pricing for Such a Valued Skill is an Illusion It's a sad day when someone spends hours and hours working on a logo that will last a lifetime for fifty bucks! Never sell yourself short. If you become a graphic designer, charge for your time and also your knowledge. You're being hired because you have a special skill that you worked hard to learn. If you spend an hour or five hours on a project, you will still want to charge for what you know. The average pricing for logos among prestigious graphic design companies is $300 to $500 for a basic logo. The price goes up with more complicated tasks such as animation creation or complicated artistic graphics. Each graphic designer is unique in how his work is priced, but never let someone cheat you out of the pay you deserve.
5. Graphic Design Programs Are Used by Professional Graphic Designers Unless you're a "genius" programmer and fabulous artist, you will use a graphic design program like everyone else! Graphics programs are used by most designers because the programs make life much easier, and designing time is cut down substantially. A graphic design program allows you to use interactive tools to perform the following major functions and others: *Beveled Objects *Shadows *Contours *Repetitive shapes *Line Drawing and Shape formation *Color Changes (outline and filling) *Molding Objects or Words *Creating shapes such as squares, hexagons, stars, circles, etc. *Combining photos with graphics for enhancement or adjustments *Creating unique text fonts *Build Loops and Frames and Turn them Into Animations *...and many other functions!
Doing all of these from some sort of code would take forever. You can't afford to spend too much time on each project because you'll end up being labeled the "starving graphic designer" if you do. Types of Graphic Design Programs There are many different graphic design programs available. Some of the most popular are Photoshop, Xara X and Corel Draw. These programs have the features mentioned above and much more to offer. Photoshop works mostly with photos, but can be used to create astounding graphics as well. When making your decision about learning graphic design, take these five things into consideration. You'll want to make the most of your graphic design learning experience. Determine which program will be best for you before enrolling in a class. Most graphic design classes will concentrate on one specific design program throughout the course.
I hope you will like it :)