Do you want to be able to create your own Christmas card?
Design your own business logo?
You are in the right place.
I know what I’m talking about
I am a self-taught graphic designer. I started dabbling in graphic design in 2007. Now I make a full time income doing something I love. I have worked with big brands, bloggers, and 100’s of clients with their graphic design projects.
PASSION, DRIVE, AND DILIGENCE are all must haves! I am sort of a nerd…. When I started learning photoshop, my daughter would go to bed and I would watch photoshop tutorials on youtube instead of reality TV.
Practice. Practice. Practice. All things are possible.
Today I am going to share some of my most TOP SECRET TIPS with you so you can learn how to be a graphic designer too!
I am going to talk about 4 different things in this post
Learning the Basic Skills
Software | The FIRST thing you will need to learn is how to use a designing software. Photoshop and Illustrator are the industry standard and I HIGHLY recommend starting off right and learning them. When I started into graphic design I used GIMP, a free copycat version of photoshop. It worked fine for a while but once I made the official switch to Photoshop I had to re-learn everything. Really GIMP was just a waste of time.
Personally I started off by learning Photoshop and didn’t learn Illustrator until later on. I would suggest this to you as well. Tackle one software at a time.
You can download a free 30-trial of Photoshop or Illustrator at Adobe. After the 30 day trial you can just pay a small monthly fee to have either program installed on your computer.
Online Classes & Learning the Skills I spent HOURS google-ing and watching YouTube but it is really nice to take a structured online class. I LOVED each one of these classes and they were worth their weight in gold. Seriously. Besides surfing the web for free tutorials I would definitely suggest starting one {eventually all} of these online classes.
Resources to Make Your Skills Better {Graphics and Tools}
Resources for Commercial Use Fonts and Graphics | Most of you probably aren’t going to start off by designing all of your own graphics and patterns. You will need to find some Commercial Use tools [things that help make you better] and graphics to fill in where you can’t create your own. Creative Market is a gold mine of commercial use products! Fonts, Clip Art, and Designing Tools GALOR! Here are a few of my favorite things from Creative Market that I use all the time!
This Watercolor Graphic Kit is AMAZING! Not only does it teach you how to use the photoshop styles it comes with tons of graphics and watercolor styles!
This kit is for all things GOLD in illustrator! Bling! And gold is such a popular trend right now it is really nice to have some gold in your designing stash.
These Gold Foil Elements .png graphics and I use them ALL the time! Super handy and beautiful!
Resources to Make Your Skills Better {Fonts}
Fonts are the staple of Graphic Design work! As a graphic designer you will want to be purchasing fonts not just using free fonts off the web. Free fonts have their place but most free fonts are only for personal use. You will want to make sure the fonts you are using allow for commercial use.
Tips for Using Fonts | It is important to remember that fonts don’t have to be used as is. Play with the fonts spacing, uppercase, lowercase, leading and kerning. Here is a link to an article, Simple Tips for Kerning.
Also remember that pairing fonts is important!! Stick to 3-5 fonts in a design. {Here is a link to an article about Pairing Fonts.}
Promoting Yourself Online and Creating Your Own Website
To promote yourself as a Graphic Designer online you will probably want to start a blog! You can start a blog in 15 mins by following my step by step guide.
I cover this info in my post about starting a blog and WordPress Themes 101, so you can read more there, but I recommend using the Genesis theme. Not only is Genesis the industry standard they also have a TON of tutorials and support forum to help you customize the theme.
With Genesis you will also want to layer a Child Theme on top. I know this may seem a little confusing so here it is in a nutshell. Genesis is the framework. The Child Theme is the decorations.
StudioPress {makers of Genesis} have lots of Child Themes available for purchase. Restored 316 also has beautiful Genesis Child Themes avaliable. Here are few recommendations for child theme choices.
Each of these themes come ready to use and have an easy set up guide!
Specializing in Web Design and Working with Clients
Specializing in WEB Design | Once you have some general Photoshop Skills you will want to think about what types of things you want to be designing. If you are going to design websites or blogs you will also need to learn css and html coding.
If you want to Learn CSS / HTML then here are some places to start —
Treehouse – This is a subscription you have to pay for. It is a totally comprehensive course. I didn’t take the whole course. I canceled my account after my free trial but I did enjoy several of the tutorials. Worth the free trial.
This ONE single tip has helped me so much. Install Firebug. It is a free app for Firefox. Once you install it you can right click on any part of ANY website and see the coding for it. Awesomesauce!!!
And like I said earlier, working with Genesis and Child Themes is going to be the BEST way to design for your clients. Start with a theme that has the general layout you like, and then customize it!
When you can’t figure something out, Google it! I have found so many answers, even specific CSS/Html, just by Googling!
** Tip – I have heard from a few people that sometimes public libraries will have subscriptions to Treehouse. That would be a great way to save money and still take the classes!
Other Resources and Tips For Working With Clients
To keep track of my time I use Toggl. It is a free online time tracker. Super awesome!
Build a Portfolio and PRACTICE! My next piece of advice is to practice. You can watch tutorial after tutorial but you won’t ever learn to be a good designer unless you actually do the skills. Make pretend logos,cards, invitations, art prints, or anything!
I hope that this post has at least given you a starting point for learning how to be a graphic designer without getting a formal education. I know it’s possible. I have done it and I know you can too!
I hope to continue these types of posts and share more details about how I run my business, bill people, show mock ups with clients, and more!
I am in love with this post! Thank you for putting all of this information in one place. Graphic design has become a hobby for me, and I am completely self taught. I often wonder if the way I am doing something is the “right way.” You are right, that tutorials for almost everything can be found online. I would love to get to the place where I felt confident enough to actually call myself a graphic designer. Thanks for the motivation!
I found your site through a Pinterest link. I have a degree in Art, Graphic Design Concentration. I will say that getting a degree isn’t necessary to be a designer. I have always been a didactic learner. But I will say that the “skills” necessary to design aren’t Photoshop or Illustrator skills though they must be learned. The skills are really the basics elements and principles used in making ANY good design/art: how to USE space, color, shape, line, balance, unity, value, scale and proportion, etc.
I hope I am not lecturing (though I did become a teacher after working in graphic design for a short while). It’s just that my professors DRILLED into me that Photoshop (etc) are just tools. If one doesn’t know the basics, one’s design will show it.
Love all the tips. I need help with marketing my services and getting paid. My last job I ended up doing for free because she was my sister’s friend and I counted on her to say how much do you charge. Which she never did and before I knew it the job was done and no payment. I’m so bad at that!
I can definitely do a post about marketing and how I charge clients and send invoices! Thats a great idea! It’s always a good idea to discuss costs upfront :)
I wish I had this when I first started out. Such great resources here and you have such good taste in fonts and graphics. ThatÊ»s so true what you said about GIMP. Having to re-learn Illustrator after learning Inkscape could’ve been avoided if I had just coughed up the dough and bought Illustrator.
This is awesome!!! Thank you Kendra. Just this week my husband and I had been talking about and agreeing that it would be great for me to go to school for graphic design. I self taught myself alot of stuff years ago using photoshop cs3 and then life happened and I just didn’t further it. I have always loved graphic design, typography and web design. This is a great resource and helped remind me that it is possible for me to self learn without spending the time away from my home. Hmm, I have lots of things to think about. Thanks for such a great post! Have a great Thanksgiving!
Found this post through Pinterest and I just want to say that you made me cry from the overwhelming emotion that rushed through my entire body after reading this. I want to thank you because now, more than ever, I am 110% percent sure that graphic design is MY calling. I’ve designed invitations and stationary for a while now on a crappy scrapbooking software I bought five years ago. Ive always been intimidated by Photoshop and Illustrator thinking I would need some sort of degree or schooling on how to use them, but with this post I feel confident that I can finally make my dreams a reality. Open up my stationary business straight from home. Thank you again for taking the time to share your journey to success.
Wow, thank you for this post! I have no plans to quit my day job in line pipe sales, but I can appreciate a course and extra information on graphic design. This has become a hobby for me, something to do when my little guy goes to bed and I don’t want to watch whatever gory show my husband is watching. There is a graphic design course over on Jones Design Company’s website. Google her blog. It is for Illustrator. I mean seriously, I’m thinking I can make birthday party invites, home decor, anything really; the sky is the limit. I love the internet! So many resources to help one another. Have a great day!
Finally a starting point. I have been wanting to dive into graphic design forever. Like you I dug into Photoshop tutorials on YouTube. I soon got overwhelmed and discouraged putting it off for months even trying. But I did keep drawing and designing on paper. None the less, I’m glad to come across your blog post pointing me in the direction of some amazing resources. Your advice is realistic and obviously industry proven.
There are some awesome tips here! I love seeing how people made their path into this creative world (especially when it’s non-traditional!) I’ve been learning web design on Treehouse, Lynda, Udemy and Skillshare non-stop for the past 2 months! Here’s a little tip: check and see if your local public library offers free access to Treehouse and Lynda.com for library card holders! My Orlando library does, and even my hometown in Tennessee does, too– That’s been priceless!
I’ve been a blog subscriber for a little bit now and am so glad I came across this post! I love graphic design and now that I’m doing more with it, I keep wanting to do more and more. These tips are great!
Thank you for this post. I have recently finished a Web design program and I am now looking to start my business. This post has a lot of useful information. Thanks again!
There’s just NO better post out there than this one! You are So talented! I would love to be able to do printables with great graphics, but do you feel as though they all have already been done? Or do you feel like it is hard to make your own style since they are using about the same graphics and fonts? Is graphic design and digital design the same thing? Until I get a clue and figure out how to do this, I am printing out your awesome printable about what you teach at home being the most important :) Thank you for all the hard work you put into this post to help others!!!
Such a helpful post! Loved the links to the classes (although unless my computer is acting up the links might be bad). I did a TON of youtubing to get myself familiar with Illustrator. I loved TastyTuts, he’s so helpful. And I took a lot of skillshare classes. Both of those resources were absolutely priceless. So many notes! ;D
I REALLY love that gray chevron background on the invitation in your main image for this post. Could you tell me if that is a graphic I could find for purchase or download somewhere? Thanks!
I just discovered your blog post about self-taught graphics design and I have to say: Your journey impacted me very much. That’s because I am an internet-savvy and I think graphics design is cool. But I have two questions: Does a graphics designer need to know to draw realistically like a fine artist? Do you know how to draw? Well, I can draw — but in a style similar to a fusion of Sailor Moon, South Park and folk art. I am not a very good artist when it comes to realistic art. All my attempts to learn to draw realistically have failed. But I want to pursue graphics design as a hobby for relaxation. Do you have any tips for this?
Regards
Esra living in Germany
PS: If you notice any grammatical and orthographic errors …. That’s because I am living in Germany and speak German like a native speaker.
[…] a lot of questions about the fonts I use in my designs. I talk about the fonts I use in this post, Learn How to Be A Graphic Designer and also in these FONT […]
I am in love with this post! Thank you for putting all of this information in one place. Graphic design has become a hobby for me, and I am completely self taught. I often wonder if the way I am doing something is the “right way.” You are right, that tutorials for almost everything can be found online. I would love to get to the place where I felt confident enough to actually call myself a graphic designer. Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks for your comment! I’m glad you liked the post! And yes, I always google everything! Just keep working at it! :)
Hello,
I found your site through a Pinterest link. I have a degree in Art, Graphic Design Concentration. I will say that getting a degree isn’t necessary to be a designer. I have always been a didactic learner. But I will say that the “skills” necessary to design aren’t Photoshop or Illustrator skills though they must be learned. The skills are really the basics elements and principles used in making ANY good design/art: how to USE space, color, shape, line, balance, unity, value, scale and proportion, etc.
I hope I am not lecturing (though I did become a teacher after working in graphic design for a short while). It’s just that my professors DRILLED into me that Photoshop (etc) are just tools. If one doesn’t know the basics, one’s design will show it.
Love all the tips. I need help with marketing my services and getting paid. My last job I ended up doing for free because she was my sister’s friend and I counted on her to say how much do you charge. Which she never did and before I knew it the job was done and no payment. I’m so bad at that!
I can definitely do a post about marketing and how I charge clients and send invoices! Thats a great idea! It’s always a good idea to discuss costs upfront :)
That would be awesome! Love that idea. :):)
Love that idea!!!!
I wish I had this when I first started out. Such great resources here and you have such good taste in fonts and graphics. ThatÊ»s so true what you said about GIMP. Having to re-learn Illustrator after learning Inkscape could’ve been avoided if I had just coughed up the dough and bought Illustrator.
This is awesome!!! Thank you Kendra. Just this week my husband and I had been talking about and agreeing that it would be great for me to go to school for graphic design. I self taught myself alot of stuff years ago using photoshop cs3 and then life happened and I just didn’t further it. I have always loved graphic design, typography and web design. This is a great resource and helped remind me that it is possible for me to self learn without spending the time away from my home. Hmm, I have lots of things to think about. Thanks for such a great post! Have a great Thanksgiving!
I’m so glad you liked my post! :) Graphic Design is so much fun and a great job for moms! Have a great thanksgiving!
Kendra
So many great tips!!! I feel so Inspired and motivated right now :))))) Thank you, Kendra!
Thanks for your comment Daniela! I’m so glad you liked my post!
Found this post through Pinterest and I just want to say that you made me cry from the overwhelming emotion that rushed through my entire body after reading this. I want to thank you because now, more than ever, I am 110% percent sure that graphic design is MY calling. I’ve designed invitations and stationary for a while now on a crappy scrapbooking software I bought five years ago. Ive always been intimidated by Photoshop and Illustrator thinking I would need some sort of degree or schooling on how to use them, but with this post I feel confident that I can finally make my dreams a reality. Open up my stationary business straight from home. Thank you again for taking the time to share your journey to success.
Claudia- I am so glad you loved my post and it was helpful!! xo!
Hi – I just found your blog and I am enjoying reading your posts. This post has a great wealth of information – thanks for sharing!
Thank you for all the information…. Greetings from Indonesia..
Your welcome!! :)
Wow, thank you for this post! I have no plans to quit my day job in line pipe sales, but I can appreciate a course and extra information on graphic design. This has become a hobby for me, something to do when my little guy goes to bed and I don’t want to watch whatever gory show my husband is watching. There is a graphic design course over on Jones Design Company’s website. Google her blog. It is for Illustrator. I mean seriously, I’m thinking I can make birthday party invites, home decor, anything really; the sky is the limit. I love the internet! So many resources to help one another. Have a great day!
Finally a starting point. I have been wanting to dive into graphic design forever. Like you I dug into Photoshop tutorials on YouTube. I soon got overwhelmed and discouraged putting it off for months even trying. But I did keep drawing and designing on paper. None the less, I’m glad to come across your blog post pointing me in the direction of some amazing resources. Your advice is realistic and obviously industry proven.
Naomi D. Tate
There are some awesome tips here! I love seeing how people made their path into this creative world (especially when it’s non-traditional!) I’ve been learning web design on Treehouse, Lynda, Udemy and Skillshare non-stop for the past 2 months! Here’s a little tip: check and see if your local public library offers free access to Treehouse and Lynda.com for library card holders! My Orlando library does, and even my hometown in Tennessee does, too– That’s been priceless!
That is such a great tip about the library and treehouse! Thanks for sharing! I added that tip to my post! :)
I’ve been a blog subscriber for a little bit now and am so glad I came across this post! I love graphic design and now that I’m doing more with it, I keep wanting to do more and more. These tips are great!
Thank you for this post. I have recently finished a Web design program and I am now looking to start my business. This post has a lot of useful information. Thanks again!
There’s just NO better post out there than this one! You are So talented! I would love to be able to do printables with great graphics, but do you feel as though they all have already been done? Or do you feel like it is hard to make your own style since they are using about the same graphics and fonts? Is graphic design and digital design the same thing? Until I get a clue and figure out how to do this, I am printing out your awesome printable about what you teach at home being the most important :) Thank you for all the hard work you put into this post to help others!!!
Such a helpful post! Loved the links to the classes (although unless my computer is acting up the links might be bad). I did a TON of youtubing to get myself familiar with Illustrator. I loved TastyTuts, he’s so helpful. And I took a lot of skillshare classes. Both of those resources were absolutely priceless. So many notes! ;D
Thanks for all the great tips!! Love your blog!
Hello,
I REALLY love that gray chevron background on the invitation in your main image for this post. Could you tell me if that is a graphic I could find for purchase or download somewhere? Thanks!
This is super helpful and time saving! Thank you!
Hello Kendra,
I just discovered your blog post about self-taught graphics design and I have to say: Your journey impacted me very much. That’s because I am an internet-savvy and I think graphics design is cool. But I have two questions: Does a graphics designer need to know to draw realistically like a fine artist? Do you know how to draw? Well, I can draw — but in a style similar to a fusion of Sailor Moon, South Park and folk art. I am not a very good artist when it comes to realistic art. All my attempts to learn to draw realistically have failed. But I want to pursue graphics design as a hobby for relaxation. Do you have any tips for this?
Regards
Esra living in Germany
PS: If you notice any grammatical and orthographic errors …. That’s because I am living in Germany and speak German like a native speaker.