Where Do You Start as a Graphic Designer?
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, Will Pass shares his 10 years of experience as a graphic designer, offering a comprehensive guide for beginners on how to break into the field without formal education. He emphasizes the importance of reading books, surrounding oneself with inspiring work, finding a design process, understanding design principles, and building a portfolio. Will also highlights the significance of learning typography and recommends resources for further study. Sponsored by Squarespace, he discusses the benefits of using the platform to create a professional portfolio website.
Takeaways
- 😀 Start with the basics: Read books on graphic design to build a strong foundation in the field.
- 📚 Typography is crucial: 'Formal Communication' is a recommended book to understand the history and application of typography.
- 🌐 Explore online resources: Websites like Behance, Dribbble, and Instagram are great for finding inspiration and saving work that inspires you.
- 🎨 Develop a design process: Having a systematic approach to design helps generate ideas and ensures consistency in your work.
- 🛠️ Learn the design principles: Understanding principles like contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity, and appropriateness is fundamental to good design.
- 📈 Build a portfolio: Showcasing your work and problem-solving skills is essential for gaining client trust, even if you start with hypothetical projects.
- 💻 Choose the right software: Find a design tool that works for you and stick to it to streamline your workflow.
- 🌟 Surround yourself with great work: Save and study work that inspires you to elevate your own design skills.
- 🏛️ Understand the industry: Graphic design is about visual communication and making information orderly and understandable.
- 🔗 Utilize tools for briefs: Use resources like goodbrief.io and chat gbt to generate creative direction for projects when starting out.
- 📝 Learn and practice typography: It's integral to graphic design, and learning how to use it effectively can be done through free resources like Skillshare and YouTube.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is about how to become a graphic designer in 2023, especially for complete beginners and those who want to learn about graphic design without going to university.
What is the speaker's background in graphic design?
-The speaker, Will, has been a graphic designer for 10 years, specializing in logo and typography design. He is self-taught, having learned from reading books, doing online courses, and self-critique over time.
Which clients has the speaker mentioned working for?
-The speaker has mentioned working for clients such as James, Johnny, Adobe, and Instagram, with some other unnamed clients.
What is the first piece of advice given for learning graphic design?
-The first piece of advice is to read books about graphic design, with a specific recommendation to read 'Formal Communication' to understand typography.
What is the definition of graphic design according to the speaker?
-According to the speaker, graphic design is a visual communication that uses type or illustration to convey a message or information in an orderly manner, such as in posters or instruction manuals.
What is the importance of surrounding oneself with great work in graphic design?
-Surrounding oneself with great work is important as it provides inspiration, which is crucial for a graphic designer's creative process. It helps in taking inspiration and implementing it with other ideas.
What tool does the speaker recommend for saving and organizing inspirational work?
-The speaker recommends using a program called 'Milanote', which is a mood boarding app that functions like an online whiteboarding tool for saving and organizing inspirational work.
What is the significance of having a systematic process in graphic design?
-Having a systematic process in graphic design is significant as it helps in generating ideas naturally and ensures a consistent approach to creating designs, which is especially useful when working with clients.
What are the acronym 'CRAPT' design principles mentioned by the speaker?
-The acronym 'CRAPT' stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity, and Appropriateness, which are fundamental principles in graphic design.
Why is a portfolio important for a graphic designer?
-A portfolio is important for a graphic designer as it showcases their work and how they solve problems, which is essential for demonstrating their skills and gaining clients' trust.
What is the role of Squarespace in the video?
-Squarespace is mentioned as a sponsor of the video and is recommended by the speaker as one of the best website builders for creating a professional portfolio or website to showcase design work.
What are some ways to get creative briefs for building a portfolio without having actual clients?
-The speaker suggests using websites like 'goodbrief.io' and 'chat gbt' to generate creative briefs for various types of design projects, which can help in building a portfolio without actual clients.
Why is typography considered the king in graphic design?
-Typography is considered the king in graphic design because it is central to visual communication. It involves the layout of text, font size, placement, and grouping of text blocks, which are crucial for conveying messages effectively.
What resources are available for learning the fundamentals of graphic design and layout?
-Resources for learning the fundamentals of graphic design and layout include courses on Skillshare, YouTube channels, and other free online resources.
Outlines
📚 Becoming a Graphic Designer: Learning and Self-Education
In this introductory paragraph, the speaker, Will, introduces the topic of becoming a graphic designer in 2023, particularly for complete beginners. He shares his own experience of learning graphic design without formal education, through self-study, online courses, and self-critique. He emphasizes the importance of reading books, such as 'Formal Communication', to understand typography and its role in graphic design. Will also clarifies what graphic design entails, which is more than just drawing or using Photoshop—it's about visual communication and organizing information. He encourages those who are interested in graphic design to watch the entire video for guidance on how to start their career or hobby in this field.
🎨 Building a Graphic Design Portfolio and Typographic Mastery
The second paragraph focuses on the importance of building a portfolio to showcase one's design work and problem-solving skills. Will discusses the use of Squarespace as a platform for creating a professional website and portfolio, highlighting its customizable templates and the ability to set up a professional email and even an online shop. He also addresses the concern of having no clients by suggesting the creation of hypothetical projects and using resources like goodbrief.io and chat gbt to generate creative briefs. The paragraph concludes with an emphasis on learning typography, which is central to graphic design, and encourages viewers to utilize free resources like Skillshare and YouTube to improve their skills in typesetting and layout.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Graphic Design
💡Typography
💡Portfolio
💡Design Principles
💡Inspiration
💡Logo Design
💡Online Courses
💡Self-taught
💡Visual Communication
💡Mood Board
💡Squarespace
Highlights
Introduction to a guide for becoming a graphic designer in 2023 aimed at complete beginners.
The speaker has 10 years of experience as a graphic designer, specializing in logo design.
Self-taught graphic design through books, online courses, and self-critique.
Recommendation to read books for foundational knowledge in graphic design.
Specific book recommendation: 'Fundamentals of Communication' for understanding typography.
Definition of graphic design as visual communication, not just drawing or using Photoshop.
Advice to surround oneself with great work for inspiration.
Use of tools like Mural for creating mood boards and saving inspirational work.
Importance of having a systematic process for graphic design projects.
Example of a design process including mood boarding, mind mapping, and refinement.
Learning the principles and fundamentals of design as a key step in becoming a graphic designer.
Explanation of design principles acronym CRAP: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity.
Importance of a portfolio for showcasing problem-solving skills and design work.
Sponsorship mention of Squarespace as a platform for creating professional portfolios.
Tip to create a portfolio even without client work by using made-up projects.
Use of resources like goodbrief.io and chatgbt to generate creative project briefs.
Learning typography as essential to graphic design for effective visual communication.
Recommendation to use free resources like Skillshare and YouTube to learn typography.
Encouragement for viewers to subscribe for more beginner graphic design content.
Transcripts
hey guys what's going on it's me will
pass and today I'm going to be talking
to you about how to become a graphic
designer in 2023 this video is for
complete beginners anyone who is
thinking or wants to learn about graphic
design what it entails and how to do it
how to make it become a career choice
this is the video for you a little bit
of context I've been a graphic designer
for 10 years I specialize in logo type
design that's word marks I didn't go to
university to learn design I learned it
all kind of I oh I say all by myself but
it's not really but I learned from
reading books doing courses online
studying how to do it and obviously
critiquing myself over time I've worked
for clients such as James Johnny Adobe
Instagram and other ones that I can't
name right now but I will later so if
you're looking to become a graphic
designer but you don't want to go to
university or you just want to do it as
a hobby this video is for you okay so
number one read books sounds really
obvious but there are so many books out
there about graphic design that is
difficult to know which ones to read
I've made a video I'll link it down
below go and check that out it goes into
a bit more detail about the books that
you should read that will help you one
book I can tell you to go and read is
formal communication and that will help
you understand what typography is how it
was sort of created 6 000 years ago and
how it's implemented now it'll give you
a great foundation on what a type does
now and how you can Implement typography
correctly to make your designs look
great but what is graphic design to a
lot of my audience that's a silly
question because we already know but to
the Layman they may not really know do
we just draw pictures all day do we just
mess around in Photoshop yes and no
graphic design is a visual communication
that's kind of like the posters that you
see it's anything that uses type to
convey a message or an illustration that
conveys a message redesign information
which is normally chaotically in The
Ether or this idea and we make it
orderly kind of like in the poster on an
instruction manual number two surround
yourself with great work by that I mean
there are so many inspirational works
out there online there are websites like
bee hunt dribble design inspiration even
Instagram doesn't take a lot to look for
them but when you see one that you like
that inspires you save it I use this
program called Miller note which is
basically a mood boarding app it's kind
of like this online whiteboarding app
that you can use to collaborate with
people take your work that you've seen
online or take that image that has
inspired you to do something and save it
on Miller note a lot of what we do is
graphic designers is take inspiration
and then Implement and mash it up with
other work or ideas so save your work
number three find a processor that works
for you and stick to it graphic design
can be daunting because we don't know
where to start but essentially we all
have a process that we go through
whenever a client comes to us for a logo
design we have a systematic process that
we hold to because we know it works it
generates ideas for us so if you're
worried that you're not creative enough
then don't be this processes that I show
on YouTube or my videos will help you
come up with great ideas naturally in
fact I've got a video down below which
I'll link that will help you understand
my logo design process and how we go
around creating logos and just about any
other design as well an example of a
good process might be taking a client's
email then mood boarding mind mapping
initial sketches refinement presentation
refinement from feedback final
presentation and then boom done that is
a great process this next step is
fundamental in learning graphic design
learn the principles and the
fundamentals there are between five and
seven design principles I Like This
Acronym crap C contrast that is how
bright or dark or how big or small
something is in its form on paper or
wherever it's used to repetition what do
we repeat in our composition or in our
design three alignment what should be
aligned where for proximity where should
groupings be in the design five
appropriateness is the design
appropriate for that industry or that
client for instance you wouldn't use
Comic Sans if you were designing a
poster for a solicitor firm it would
just look hella weird these principles
can be searched for online but I've got
videos that I'll link down below that
will help you understand each of these
principles the best Grabber designs that
you see in the world have spent years
and years training their eye and that
eye comes through experience what may
look good now will look good to you in a
few weeks time I can guarantee you if
you take this seriously you'll start to
see yourself improving at an exponential
rate the next bit of advice is to start
your portfolio a portfolio is a place
where you show off you show your work
and how you solved problems it's not
like a property portfolio it's this is
what I've done and this is how I can
help you if you clicked my website link
down below you will see our work and
that is essentially our online portfolio
now every designer and every person
should have a website to show their work
and their worth Squarespace is
sponsoring today's video because I truly
believe Squarespace to be one of the
best website Builders out there for
everyone with thousands of award-winning
fully customizable templates Squarespace
lets you design the best portfolio or
website that you need for you and your
design work honestly you can make a
portfolio page on that and a contact me
form it's all white label so they won't
know it's from Squarespace you can even
have an online shop on there to make a
little bit of side money if you're
selling design templates for instance
Squarespace is the One-Stop shop you can
buy your domain set up your professional
email from that domain on Squarespace
it's all one great big package and if
you're new to grab a design and you
don't have a portfolio yet you can go
ahead right now by clicking the link and
you can design the website for free and
you get a free trial too which is insane
and when you're ready to publish your
portfolio then that's when you get 10
off by clicking down below or using my
code so thank you Squarespace for
sponsoring this video and making it
happen now if you're saying to yourself
well I can't have a portfolio because I
don't have any clients then don't worry
because when I started my portfolio I
actually had no clients either I just
made up a client and made it very known
that it was made up if we strip back
what a portfolio really is it's a place
where you show how to solve our problems
and to show your work solving problems
is what we do and we need to show
clients that we can clients don't really
care too much about the degree that you
have or the fact that you've worked for
this this and this person they want to
see results on your portfolio of how you
actually do the work that you do that's
how you gain trust so there are two ways
to to get briefs or creative direction
for your project I would always use a
brief though because that's how you can
show a client that you hit and achieve
the goals that were set out in the brief
the first place is goodbrief.io this
place generates priests for you like
Tech briefs logo briefs poster breach
the ux briefs and secondly chat gbt you
can just ask it to create a brief for
you it does a pretty extensive job too
the next tip is to learn typography
typography is King that is everything to
do with graphic design it's all about
communicating you see the way that
people lay out type very important
graphic design is visual communication
learning how to lay out your text layout
type how big the fun should be where
things should be placed how to group
blocks of text together now the best way
is to learn how to use typography
correctly in the softwares is through
courses that you see on skillshare but
also on YouTube channels like and other
people that are linked down below you
can learn it essentially all for free if
you wanted to there are so many
resources out there for you to learn the
fundamentals of graphic design and
layout now if you did enjoy this video
and you would like to learn more about
graphic design let me know down below I
don't post many beginner videos so if
this did help you subscribe to the
channel for more and if you have any
questions leave them in the comments and
I'll do my best to get back to you see
you soon goodbye bye
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