Graphic design courses graphic design training. The path of a graphic designer: training and getting a job Learning graphic design from scratch
Look around: for last decade the world has changed beyond recognition. The age of space technology has brought us inventions that great science fiction writers have written about: Cell phones, automatic translators, computers, Internet and more.
Today, computers are not only a thought embodied in reality, they are an assistant, a friend, a means, a method, EVERYTHING for modern man. Computers perform a lot of functions, helping people in almost all areas of life. Agree, not a single office, not a single enterprise can do without a computer. Today it is almost impossible to get a job without knowledge computer programs, and in our resume, when applying for a job, we make sure to fill in the column “knowledge of graphic editors.” This knowledge is especially relevant for people who have devoted themselves to construction and architectural professions and landscape design. Often, it is lack of knowledge of these programs that stands in the way of obtaining a prestigious position.
We offer you computer design courses, where you are in an atmosphere of goodwill in a circle the best specialists In graphics, you will not only be able to master the programs, but also master the basic techniques of working with the most popular graphic editors AutoCAD and ArchiCAD.
AutoCAD is the most famous and one of the most popular programs designed for automatic design in the mechanical engineering, construction, architectural, geodetic and engineering fields. Computer design in this program will give you the opportunity to create competent and clear drawings, using the unique ability to depict a two-dimensional object in three-dimensional space.
ArchiCAD is a graphic editor created for architects and builders, allowing, in the full sense of the word, to construct buildings, furniture, and landscape elements on the computer. In this case, analog walls, stairs, roofs, balconies, etc. are used, at the end of the work you can get a clear result of your “construction” - visualization of the project.
What awaits you when studying graphic design? In modern computer classes, under the strict guidance of teachers, you will master the AutoCAD and ArchiCAD programs. At the same time, graphic design courses are taught using real examples, and all classes are practical. During the lesson, you will be able to ask questions of interest, to which you will receive adequate and complete answers. Let us repeat once again: a graphic design school is a school whose teaching staff consists of professionals who have spent a lot of effort and time thoroughly studying the programs, many of them are practitioners who use the programs in their work. This sets our school apart from other similar educational institutions, where the teachers are university students who have just graduated from universities.
Computer design courses are highly specialized classes. What does this give you? Professionalism of teaching and the opportunity to receive practical advice on the use of programs. Upon completion of computer design training, students are awarded a Diploma.
Composition Basics
Composition is one of the most complex and fundamentally important disciplines in the professional training of a designer. In the process of teaching the basics of composition, the basic rules of working with compositional space are studied. Techniques and means of conveying various concepts are studied, such as: symmetry, asymmetry, rhythm, space, etc. The composition course is of paramount importance in developing an understanding of the structure of images, imaginative thinking, creative self-expression and helps to find necessary resources to create and visualize ideas in the creative design process.
Sketching and graphic drawing
Drawing is the basis of all types fine arts and design. It opens up the possibility of realizing one’s ideas and plans, develops spatial and decorative thinking.
In classes, students can become familiar with such concepts as aerial perspective, horizon line, volume, rhythm, proportions of objects, organization of paper space. Practical lessons and drawing from life lay the foundation for professional thinking and are key tool in future work as a designer.
Flower science
Colorism as a science in graphic art. Basics of color. Basics of color harmony. Methods and means of creating color harmony. The role of color in design. Psychology of color. Color culture. Color and space. Working with color. Creation of color compositions. Domestic and foreign experience in color science.
Web design as a branch of graphic design. Main types of sites. Stages of website development. Creative brief (defining the goals of the site, target audience, concept). The main elements of a web page and the logic of their arrangement. Website design. Usability.
Review of programs used to develop the site. Modern styles web design. Basic principles of website design. Color schemes. Design of text material and choice of typeface. Methods for designing page elements. Modular grid. Setting parameters in Adobe Photoshop.
Working out the details of the website design. Icons, pictograms, favicon. Development of static and gif-animated banners. Using vector programs to develop website design using Adobe Illustrator as an example.
Preparing layouts for layout: format of source files, organization of layers. Dynamic and interactive page elements. Behavior of sites on monitors different sizes. Layout cutting. Requirements for illustrations on the Internet. Non-standard fonts, effects, patterns.
There is no need to pay for expensive graphic design courses or spend precious years studying educational institutions. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, we have the opportunity to save our time and money and learn everything on our own, all we need is desire.
In this article we have collected for you useful tips and resources to help you advance in the art of graphic design. Many of the materials mentioned below are in English, but we do not see any problem in this, because the real reason for concern is the lack of knowledge of English in the modern world.
1. Take your time
You shouldn’t make the most common mistake of all novice specialists – rushing. You will have to spend time learning Photoshop and Illustrator thoroughly, learning drawing techniques, and learning the basics in general.
First, learn to draw if you don't already have this skill.
1. To do this, it is absolutely not necessary to sit in the same classroom with the same beginners and try to draw another cube or vase. Actually, you don't need to be a super artist. It is enough to know the basics of drawing and be able to make a sketch.
2. The well-known and incredibly useful book “ You Can Draw In 30 Days.” Just practice it for at least thirty minutes a day for a month, and you will be able to master more than mediocre drawing skills.
Learn the basics of graphic design
2. The book “Picture This”, based on the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood, will help you cope with this; it teaches the basics of both graphic design and drawing.
3. Study fonts, colors. If you have the opportunity and desire to take courses, good, otherwise, you have the whole Internet at your fingertips, which is teeming with free lessons and video materials on the topic.
4. Practice these lessons daily, they will help you in your learning.
Also you should know at least the basics of UX
Without knowledge of UX, you cannot be a full-fledged graphic designer, because your product should first of all be user-friendly. To do this, you should read at least these two books:
1. “Design of common things”
2. “Don’t make me think.”
You must be able to write
1. A good designer must excel at communication and think through every moment in his design, including text. Write so that your text is not dry and unattractive. Here again you will need knowledge of user experience.
2. It’s worth reading the book “Made To Stick”, it will help you learn how to write catchy texts.
3. Also bookmark the Voice and Tone website. There are a lot of examples of excellent texts here, you will need them for further work.
2. Learn Photoshop and Illustrator thoroughly
Now that the theory and basics have already been studied, it’s time to start practicing. It's worth starting with Illustrator and then moving on to Photoshop.
Illustrator is used in creating icons and there are a lot of tutorials and books with which you can learn how to work in this program, and here are a couple for you:
1. “Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book” is a very boring but useful book. And if you can master at least half of this textbook, then you will be able to navigate the program quite confidently.
2. On this channel you can find four fairly detailed video tutorials, which can easily replace the above-mentioned boring book.
3. “Vector Basic Training” – a book with which you will learn how to create images using curves. By the way, in addition to the book, the link also provides videos and exercises.
Photoshop is considered more complex than Illustrator, but the Internet is full of tutorials on this program:
1. Tuts+ - here you will find a lot of lessons (and on Illustrator, too, by the way) that will help you learn the tools and gain drawing skills.
2. This channel contains a fairly large number of Photoshop tutorials, and they will definitely be useful to you.
3. Photoshop Tutorials is a fairly useful resource, which, in addition to lessons, also contains various plugins, brushes, gradients and much more.
4. Study these materials for at least an hour a day, and you will quickly achieve enough high level knowledge of Photoshop.
3. Decide on your specialty
Like any field of activity, graphic design is divided into several narrow specialties: mobile applications, logos, web design. Decide what you like best and focus all your energy on studying the desired specialization.
Logo Design:
1. “Logo and form style” – in this book you will read about how to make a truly cool and beautiful logo.
2. Logo Design Love – a site from the author of the above-mentioned book. Also dedicated to logos, so it's worth hanging out on. Here are some inspiring examples and interesting information about creating a logo.
3. If you don’t want to stop only at creating a logo, then the book “Designing Brand Identity” will help you learn how to build the entire brand structure completely - from the website to personal business cards.
Design mobile applications:
1. Here you will find an amazing tutorial on how to create a mobile app interface. With its help, you can at least superficially understand what you have to deal with.
2. “Tapworthy” is an excellent and small book from Josh Clark, in which he talks about how to create an attractive and, most importantly, user-friendly application.
3. Go through the applications on your smartphone and try to understand which ones are well made, which ones are not very well done, and which ones are generally very bad. And pay attention to the little things that, in your opinion, were not thought through to the end, come up with a way to correct existing errors.
Web design:
1. Here again, the above-mentioned book “Don’t Make Me Think” will come in handy; be sure to read it, especially since we have found a Russian translation for you.
2. On this resource you will find 20 free books on web design, and we advise you to read at least a couple of them.
3. As with mobile app design, collect sites you like and see what they do and how they do it. Write down the main advantages of these sites and try to live up to your ideals in your future work.
Those wishing to become a graphic designer often wonder if they need to know HTML and CSS. Let's just say that knowing the basics of development will in no way hinder you and even give you an advantage. But everything, of course, depends on the specific job or project.
Even if you are not planning to become a web developer, the basics of HTML and CSS are worth knowing, especially since there are a huge number of free lessons that you can find in our articles:
1. Useful resources for programmers
2. 9 most useful sites for learning programming
And also on these resources:
1. One of the best free Tuts+
2. And one of the best paid, but inexpensive ($25/month) is Treehouse. It is suitable for beginners who are looking for clear and simple explanations.
4. Take care of your portfolio
Today, a diploma does not matter at all, but a portfolio means a lot. Nor do you have to necessarily work on actual projects to have your own work. Just do something of your own, for example, sketch the interfaces of applications, websites, draw logos for those local companies that either don’t have them, or the logo that they have is no good. By the way, in the latter case, sometimes it’s worth contacting that same company with your work, and it’s quite possible that they will buy your logo from you, even for little money.
Also do all sorts of cool things on the 99 designs website, and do the exercises from the book “Creative Workshop”. The main thing is to resist your desire to cram all your work into your portfolio, choose only the best. Let your portfolio be small, but worthwhile. And don’t be afraid to “steal” work, borrow ideas, because you are a beginner and you need to learn from something. Of course, we are not talking about you passing off other people's work as your own. Just take ideas and change them.
5. Get a job
Here everyone already has their own path - either go to work in an office, or be a freelancer. Let's say right away that starting with office work is much easier, since, most likely, you will not be the only specialist on the staff and they will be able to take you under their wing to complete your training. But getting into the office is more difficult than finding a freelance project; here your ability to understand and complete the task will matter.
We talked above about knowledge of the basics of development, and here they will be useful to you more than ever, because in the IT field, graphic designers are in great demand and have the highest earnings.
How to find a job? Create your website with your portfolio as the focal point. Sign up for LinkedIn and try to connect with the company you want to join or the people who work there. Try to make connections, because they are the key to good place work.
The main thing is not to stop studying if you have already got a job. Improve your knowledge and skills all the time, and before you know it, you will become a real pro.
Olga Sutemyeva - graphic design
Larisa Gareyshina - graphic design
Svetlana Stremyakova - graphic design
We invite you to attend our graphic design courses for FREE in your first lesson. Today, graphic design has become the main means of communication in the social environment. Graphic design is used to attract audience attention and stimulate sales. In our time of information noise, ideas that make it possible to highlight an advertised product from the crowd, draw the attention of potential buyers to it, and reveal to them with the help of graphic images all the advantages of the product and its differences from other similar ones are worth their weight in gold. And for generating these ideas, as well as for developing graphic materials Graphic design specialists needed. Specialists trained by our school in graphic design courses. And a designer who has mastered all aspects, all the subtleties of his profession, will always be in demand on the labor market. “No one has ever died from bad design”, the designers joke. And this is absolutely true. Only, I would like to add that no one has ever received money for bad design. So, let's learn!
The training program includes master classes:
Other presenters will be announced throughout the school year. You can get acquainted with the participants of last year’s master classes and their topics on our website. Also, for graphic designers, it is recommended to attend master classes in the “Photographer” program. All master classes are free for our students.