As a graphic designer, you should know that your field constantly evolves. With your skills and imagination being your limitation, it makes sense to hone and improve them to the best you can.
Even if discovering new technical skills can be done easily, it’s essential to pay attention and push the limits of your creativity.
Whether you’re new to graphic design or you’ve been a graphic designer for a while, below are some of the tips on how you can improve your skills:
Do Your Best To Study Design Theory
You should remember that graphic design isn’t a trade, but a profession. There’s a lot you can learn by doing and using a couple of tools from this list of graphic design software even without a degree. A lot of beginners start with Canva or other similar tools for graphic design, but if you want to be a better graphic designer and improve your skills, you should start learning how to use more professional tools. Plus, it’s important to understand the fundamentals of discipline and concepts such as color theory, grid theory, golden ratio, and typography.
For most designers, it’s where a formal design education shows its value. There are numerous options you can consider, from short courses to full university degrees or distance learning setups, such may help you understand design theory properly.
Never Hesitate To Experiment
One of the ways to improve your skills in graphic design is to try out many experimental design ideas and put them into practice until you’ve discovered what you’re good at and what works best for your skills. This is an approach graphic designers may learn from in terms of experimenting with new techniques, skills, and media. So, instead of using the same colors, fonts, software, or layouts for each design you tackle, mix things up a little and try doing something new.
Try 3D instead of just focusing on 2D or throw a new typeface. You may also try using new design tools for your new collection and break a rule to know what happens. More often than not, it’ll be a mess. However, there are times that your experiments may lead you to hit gold, which can make a difference in improving your graphic design skills.
Learn From Feedback
In the world of graphic design, one of the emotionally draining things you need to deal with is criticism. But embracing feedback is important if you want to improve your skills. Be it a negative or a positive feedback, you should learn from it.
Positive feedback is good when it’s deserved, and when you know you really worked hard on it. However, you won’t really gain anything from it aside from the inflated feeling of self-worth. Once it’s underserved and knee-jerk, it could be counterproductive to your development.
Be A Perfectionist
It may be a bad reputation for a graphic designer to be a perfectionist. But, for most designers, being a perfectionist can help take your skills to the next level. For instance, pixel-perfect is considered as a cliché just because it’s the standard for outstanding designs. However, what happens after perfecting pixels is where it starts to get everything interesting for elite designers.
Consider Talking To Some Graphic Designers
Another way to boost your graphic design skills is to interact with some graphic designers locally or globally. But this can be challenging depending on the nature of your work. If you work in a big company with other designers, then networking is easy. Others who work as freelancers or those who are employed in smaller companies may not get the same opportunities for networking. However, there are many ways you can expand your circle.
You may go to conferences, events, and meetups. You may also connect with other graphic designers on social media platforms. Once you’ve established a relationship with them, talk about designs, throw some questions, collaborate with them, or discuss any possible problems you’re experiencing as a graphic designer.
You can also ask an expert graphic designer to be your mentor. In short, don’t get shy to be out there and make connections with some designers and you’ll learn more than you could imagine.
Pay Attention To The Every Little Detail Of Good Designs
Bad designs and good designs are all around you. You’ll see them everywhere: whether you’re on billboards, storefront signs, magazines, supermarkets, or when you’re browsing the internet.
Anybody can easily tell good designs from bad designs, but not all can tell you what separates them. If you like to improve your graphic design skills, pay attention to good design and determine the reason it’s pleasing. Is it the font or layout? Or is it the photography?
You may also take the same approach with bad designs. Determine why such designs don’t work and what’s wrong with the design elements. Before you know it, you’ll begin to know what works and what won’t, which can be useful in your own designs.
Read Books
This tip is simple but it’s also often overlooked. Some graphic designers rarely have the time to sit down and read books. They have textures to arrange, new fonts to make, and colors to match. Add this to your daily routine and surf the web for new references and ideas.
Whether it’s an eBook or a hardbound book you bought from a store, you’ll surely learn something from it as long as you take the time to sit down and actually read it.
Enroll For Classes
If you think you can learn more if you have a lecturer by your side, then try looking for universities or colleges that provide design classes without enrolling on a full-time basis. Not only do you pick up new knowledge, you also get the chance to meet other people who share the same interests as you while learning the latest graphic design trends.
Some designers who are more renowned may hold a forum or lecture in universities and colleges. Through being a student, it’s much easier for you to access such events. By attending forums or lectures, you can also network with other designers. Talking to somebody with higher skill sets and more experience may help push you to work hard in improving your skills as a graphic designer.
Conclusion
Improving your skills as a graphic designer is easy if you never give up learning everything about design theory. Since graphic design trends change often, you must know how to adapt to such changes and never be afraid to experiment. The key is to use your own creative instincts and put all your passion to your work. After all, great graphic design is a labor of love.
