The field of graphic design is growing bigger and it presents an ocean of creative opportunities for new and pro designers. People love visuals, and graphic designers are the third act magicians who bring beautiful things to existence. Marketers and businesses across the world are taking advantage of graphic design and using it to establish their own distinguished tone, style, and identity among competitors and prospects. This means graphic designers are now highly sought-after individuals across the globe. So, are you passionate about graphics and design? Don’t know where to get started? This article is for you! We have a few tips to help you get started as a budding graphic designer.

Identify the why you want to be a graphic designer

Learning graphic demands a lot of resilience; otherwise, it is easy to give up along the way. Identifying the reason for doing this will keep you focused on the goal. For example, are you learning graphic design to make money, learn a new skill, or make a career change? Whatever the reason, your motivating factor will be the fuel that powers your quest to learn. Once you have answered the why you can decide to pick a passion project to begin with; choose something you can work on for a length of time without giving up. It is okay to want to learn every aspect of design. However, that can take a toll on you, given the tedious nature of design. As you advance, you can acquire more complex skills.

Know the basic principles of graphic and design

Just like any discipline, you will need to get acquainted with the foundational set of rules that guide graphic design. It is the only way to gain experience and become proficient in the field. Don’t fret; as a beginner, you can learn about basic principles such as alignment, contrast, balance, unity, consistency, white space, etc. The good news is that you can learn them as you go. In fact, every time you study a principle, you should try and apply it in your creations.

Learn to use graphic design tools

A graphic design tool(s) is your right-hand man when it comes to graphic design. You simply can’t do anything or push boundaries if you do not have the right tools on your side. Well, there are many tools and software that you must learn to stay agile. Luckily as a beginner, a good grasp of simple photo and video editing software will go a long way. One of the most common types of software is vector and pixel editing systems. For photo editing, you can learn to edit and retouch images with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. These two apps offer you everything from small scale cleanup to image manipulation and enhancements. You should also learn about video editing using free and professional-grade tools. You can click on https://setapp.com/app-reviews/convert-video-files and learn more about video converters you can use to make your projects easier. You can always start out free tools as a beginner then jump onto the pro-level options as you fine-tune your skill. There are lots of tutorials online to help you get started.

Be on the hunt for graphic design resources and free courses

Talking of tutorials, do you know that all the information you need to be a graphic design wizard is right at your fingertips? Well, thanks to technology, some of the high-quality materials, courses are available for free or at a small cost. All you need to do is keep in touch with the top-notch design sites for updates or courses that will scale your design experience. Remember, the only way to grow as a designer is learning and staying bumper to bumper with the recent developments in the field.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

They say practice makes perfect, right? The same principle applies to graphic design. Talent is great but is not enough if you want to dominate the field.  Design is an iterative process; that demands constant reworking of ideas and projects. In essence, the more you create and practice, the more you become better. Therefore, you must develop an innate ability to grow and adapt to the ever-changing design environment. As you might know, there are a myriad of skills that you must acquire to be a design guru. More so, as you advance, the skills get technical. This means you have to do a lot of practice to learn them and become efficient.

Find inspiration

If you want to teach yourself graphic design, start by getting inspired by the masters in the discipline. It is an easy way of learning because you get quick tips on what to do or avoid to succeed. For example, if you are learning graphic design to help your business, you can look at how some of the world’s greatest graphic designers become successful entrepreneurs. Use Pinterest as your source of inspiration. As you add the designs to your board, you will realize what you are into and start creating your masterpiece. Other sources of inspiration that you can look at are Behance and Dribbble.

Get feedback and learn from it

Now that you have started creating or designing, it is essential to know what people think of your work. Afraid of criticism? Not confident enough? That’s okay. You don’t have to show it to everyone. You can ask a professional graphic designer for an honest opinion of your work. Keep in mind, the whole idea of graphic design is creating projects that people will find attractive. Ideally, you are making great images and videos for people. Have the right attitude and embrace criticism. It is an excellent way to learn and improve your skills.

Patience pays

Remember, we talked about having a passion for graphic design? Passion is what will give you the patience to keep going. Truth be told, it is easy to be intimidated by the sheer amount of learning associated with graphic design. From coding to Photoshop, most graphic design skills demand a lot of time and patience to learn. Be patient; remind yourself that even the most talented designers were newbies at one point. Every mistake you make is a learning experience, keep going, and with no time, you will be a seasoned graphic designer.

Final thoughts

All said, one thing to keep in mind is that graphic design is about exploration and experimentation. This means you have to be continuously learning new skills and experimenting with different tools and software. Therefore, as you take hid of these tips, remember that you can only be a great designer if you break the rules and push your design skills by coming up with unique and innovative ideas.