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Maybe you just finished high school and want to try something new or maybe you have been working for a while and want a change. Graphic design has lots of possibilities waiting for you.
If you can get better at using your creative graphic design skills, opportunities await – even without a degree. Your hard work and practice – with a little bit of creativity and talent – can help you to find a career in this field.
So here are some of the best steps for you that help you to be a graphic designer and learn many things about the graphic design industry.
1. Learn about Design Basics
Design basics are like building blocks for becoming a successful graphic designer even if you don’t have a degree.
In this step, we going to talk about why knowing these things is important to become a graphic designer.
1.1. Know the Simple Parts of Design
Before you start doing graphic design you should know some simple ideas about this field.
Things like lines shapes, colours, textures and space are really very important for making things look nice.
When you finally know how these stuff work together you can make a design that people like and understand.
1.2. Explore Design Rules
Design rules help you to arrange things in a nice way. Words like balance, contrast, alignment and repetition help you to make designs that look good.
If you understand these rules properly then you can make some amazing designs that look neat. Also, it shares your message with the people very well.
1.3. Try Different Writing Styles
Writing styles are very important in graphic design and you can learn these from online videos and books.
They make your words look good and help people to understand your message when they read them.
If you learn about picking fonts, spaces between words and how to arrange words you can make your designs even better.
1.4. Use Colors Smartly
Colours have very special meanings and feelings and when you know about how colours work together then you can make designs that feel happy, sad or something else.
Learning how colours go together and make your work look deep and cool.
While learning the simple design ideas and rules you will be ready to start being a good graphic designer without formal education.
2. Learn from Graphic Design Books
You can learn about graphic design without a degree and one of the best ways to do this is by reading graphic design books.
In this step, we will see why it is good to learn from books and how it can help you to become a good graphic designer even if you don’t have a degree.
2.1. Take Knowledge from Books
Going to college is good for graphic designers but books let you learn in your own time. Graphic design books have tips from people who know a lot about design theory.
2.2. Explore Many Design Ideas
Books about graphic design talk about lots of things and you can learn about design rules, how letters look nice and how to make things people like.
These books help you learn a lot more. In fact, in schools or colleges, these books help you to learn about graphic design.
2.3. Build Your Own Design Library
When you collect design books you make a useful thing for people. Also, you can buy these types of graphic design books from the market.
They help you when you are stuck when you want ideas or when you want to know more. It also lets you know how other people make designs and you can learn from their ideas and use them in your work.
Basically, books give you more ideas and reasons to try new stuff and what you learn from books helps you to do better designs.
By using what you learn from graphic design books you will find many ways to learn. Also, this will help you to become good at graphic design even if you don’t have a degree from college.
3. Learn about Graphic Design Tools
You can become really good at making pictures and designs even if you do not have any degree from any college.
One of the most important things you need to do is learn how to use the special tools that other graphic designers use every day.
3.1. Watch Lessons on the Computer
The computer is like a door to learning about design tools even if you don’t go to school for it.
There are many websites available to learn about graphic design software such as Adobe Creative Cloud which has Adobe Photoshop Illustrator and InDesign and another website Canva.
These websites have many videos that show you how to use these tools so you can watch these videos to get good at using them.
3.2. Try Doing Things Yourself
It is good to learn the rules but it is also important to practice using the design tools.
Start with easy things and then try harder as you get better because we all know that practice makes you a successful person at using the tools.
3.3. Check Out Free Choices
Look into programs that you can use for design without paying money like GIMP or Inkscape. This program can help you learn without needing to spend money so get to know how they work to become a better designer.
If you learn on your own practice a lot and keep up with what is popular in design you can get really good at making pictures and designs even if you did not go to school for it.
4. Getting Better at Making Graphic Designs
You don’t need a special degree to be really good at making pictures or designs for things. The people who decide how things should look like posters or logos care a lot about how well you can do it and how creative you are.
If you really like making designs but you don’t go to a special school for it that’s ok. This is how you can get better at it and find a place for yourself in the world of design.
4.1. Teach Yourself
You can learn by yourself using the internet because there are many websites and videos that can help you understand how to make good designs.
Websites like Udemy and Skillshare have lots of lessons about designing. Also, they have easy ones and harder ones.
Spend time learning how to make design look good, how to use different types of writing, how colours work together and how to use computer programs for designing.
4.2. Make Different Kinds of Designs
Doing things with your hands is really very important. Make your graphic design portfolio of different things you made from yourself like logos posters and drawings for websites.
Try making things that people really use like posters for events or pictures for websites and this shows that you can change and solve problems.
You can work with friends or do jobs for yourself to build up a big design portfolio of work.
4.3. Talk to Other Designers and Get Help
Find other people who like designing too and go to meetings or talk online with them so they can tell you what they think about your work and that’s really very helpful for you.
When other people who know a lot about design look at your work then they can give you new ideas and ways to make it better.
You don’t need a special College degree to get a good job in design. You can get better at it on your own while learning to make lots of different things and listening to what other designers say.
5. Looking at Graphic Design Classes
You can be good at graphic design without getting a special degree from the school. You can learn on the online platforms and in real coaching centres with teachers so people who want to be good at graphic design can start to learn this way.
5.1. Online Classes
There are lots of places on the Internet where you can learn about graphic design. Some teach easy things about design and some teach hard things like using special computer programs.
There are lots of graphic design classes available for free on YouTube and Instagram.
The people who teach these classes no a lot about design. You can learn everything about graphic design from these people without spending money.
5.2. Coaching Classes
Sometimes places like schools art centres and design coaching classes have classes you can go to and understand graphic design concepts from these classes.
These classes let you use your hands and learn by practicals. You can meet other people who do design and talk to them. Also if you show your work then they can tell you what’s good and what you can make better.
So you don’t need a special degree to learn graphic design or find a job as a graphic designer.
You can learn on a computer or in coaching centres. Then you can get a good Graphic design job and make big graphic design portfolios of your work.
Final Point
At last, if you think about how to become a graphic designer without a degree. Then this article gives you complete information about it. The article talks about important things like understanding basic designs using rules, trying different writing ways using colours and getting good with design tools. Also, books can help you learn at your own speed. Doing things yourself and making different designs can also help you learn.
The world is changing and you don’t need a special degree to be successful in graphic design. This article says that working hard practicing and being creative can help you do well in graphic design. So keep learning and try new things and you can be a great graphic designer even without a degree.
FAQs
Q1. Where Can I Learn Graphic Design If I Did Not Go to School?
You can learn graphic design online on websites like Unacademy and by watching videos on YouTube. You can also go to places where they teach design in person like workshops or community colleges.
Q2. Why is It Important to Show My Work in a Portfolio?
A portfolio is like a book that defines all the amazing designs you made. It has people to see your scales and styles so put different projects in it to show you can do many things.
Q3. Is a Degree Essential for a Professional Graphic Designs Employment?
While a degree is good it’s not the only way because people care more about what you can do. Your designs and experience matter more than a degree.
Last Updated on by riyaspeaks
