4 Tips on Becoming a Designer

A friend asked me how I learnt to do ‘design stuff’. The truth is, I didn’t one day sit down and plan on learning design stuff. I just gradually got better at making youth group flyers. Quite a functional way to learn! Below is my response to my friend.

  1. Just have a go. If you want to design stuff, just start designing stuff. You’ll probably suck. That’s okay. That’s how you learn to do it better. Have you got Microsoft Publisher? Have a go. Have you got any of the sweet Adobe Design software? Have a go. Got nothing? Download GIMP for free and… have a go!
  2. Look for online tutorials. If you start to progress, you can then find stacks of free online tutorials. Just google them. You’ll find more than enough to keep you busy increasing your skills.
  3. Follow a design blog. Lots to choose from. My tip? SMASHING MAGAZINE. It has galleries you can get ideas from. Free fonts. Free backgrounds. Free tutorials.
  4. Comic Sans font should be illegal. Save yourself grief. Don’t touch it. It’s ugly.

This post might also be useful: Top 5 websites for making free church graphics

Any tips to add?

9 Replies to “4 Tips on Becoming a Designer”

  1. haha – just had a convo last night at a meeting about fonts that should be banned. comic sans, papyrus and curlz were the ones were our top 3

  2. haha – just had a convo last night at a meeting about fonts that should be banned. comic sans, papyrus and curlz were our top 3

  3. hey ruth – i don’t know curlz, and i have no intention of looking it up!! thanks for the blacklist warning

    mark – good luck! nice papyrus comic!!

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