How to become a graphic designer? Where to start?

Nowadays without a good graphic designer you can’t move. He will create the dream logo of your company, design a poster, wedding invitations, product labels, but also create cartoon characters for your children or create the world of your favorite computer game. All these things and many more are handled by a computer graphic designer. 

How to become one? Do you need manual skills for this? What specifically does his work consist of and do you need to graduate from any special school to be called a graphic designer?

Knowledge of graphics and design basics comes in handy at every step. You don’t have to deal with it strictly professionally to use these skills on a daily basis. All you need to do is deal with social media, work in HR and create ads, handle resumes, prepare presentations and even simple reports. What if you feel that you would like to deal with this full-time and it is with graphic design that you would like to associate your further professional future?

Do I need to finish any school? Or is a course enough?

When you want to become a graphic designer, you need to ask yourself at the very beginning whether you have an aptitude in this direction. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a keen aesthetic sense, have a problem with the basics of drawing or have never been good at art classes, your career, despite sincere intentions, may not come to fruition. Admittedly, computer graphics does not require a high level of artistry, but this one can make things a lot easier.

Don’t be discouraged at the very beginning. Of course, it is possible to become a graphic designer without finishing school or even a dedicated course. There are some great graphic designers who were self-taught or had innate talent and a great eye. However, working with graphics often requires knowledge of some basic principles, which you will just learn in school or during a course.

Remember that what matters in the industry is the courses you have taken, your skills, portfolio and experience, employers rarely pay attention to education alone.

Where to start?

Here’s some advice that will certainly come in handy at the beginning of your graphic design career:

1. If you want to become a computer graphic designer, familiarize yourself with the basic graphics programs that you will certainly work on later. The most popular are Adobe programs, among them the famous Photoshop, without the knowledge of which, unfortunately, it will be difficult to manage in the industry. Another would be Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Blender or 3ds Max used in creating graphics for computer games. Great free programs that will come in handy at the beginning of the journey include Canva and GIMP.
2. Peep the masters. You’re sure to have people in the world of graphics who inspire you. Familiarize yourself with their works. It will also be a good idea to watch various tutorials posted online.
3. Check out databases, image banks, graphics and fonts. Certainly in your work as a graphic designer you will have to use them on a daily basis.
4. Learn the rules for creating graphics. Network requirements, printing requirements, etc. This will help you avoid later problems or misunderstandings, through which you may lose credibility in the eyes of your future clients.
5. At the beginning, do not invest in expensive equipment and gadgets that you may think are necessary for the work of a graphic designer. It may turn out that you will not need them at all. Do you want to test your strength on a graphics tablet? Sure, but when starting out, choose one from the mid-range instead of one for professionals.

main photo: pexels.com/Vojtech Okenka