Training to be a better designer:
- Spend: Time either making changes recommended on your tissues just to see what happens, or revise the projects completely (good practice to take same project and make it completely different).
- Find: Something you think is designed well and try duplicating it. Then have someone else look for the differences.
- Read: Some suggestions on portfolios: Portfolios
- Read: http://www.ilovetypography.com
- Search: Pinterest for examples of logos/letterhead/posters etc. and create your own pin boards of examples
- Subscribe to: Communication Arts magazine
- Take: A drawing class. I recommend asking if the teacher works from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
- Find: Another designer to work with and bounce ideas off of — working on your own is limiting.
Recommended Design Books:
Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practice of Graphic Design [Paperback]
David Dabner, Sandra Stewart, Eric Zempol
(A decent overview of graphic design)
The following are heavy-duty reference books that are perhaps difficult to digest — but consider that a challenge, not something to be afraid of; they are the gold standard for what they cover:
- The Elements of Typographic Style
Robert Bringhurst
- Grid Systems in Graphic Design/Raster Systeme Fur Die Visuele Gestaltung
(German and English Edition)
by Josef Muller-Brockmann
- Creating the Perfect Design Brief, Peter L. Phillips
[How to work with clients in a professional manner]
Reference Books:
These Real World books are not current, but are easy to read and thoroughly cover the programs.
- Real World Photoshop CS4
David Blatner
- Real World InDesign CS3
David Blatner
Web Design
Interact with Web Standards: A Holistic Approach to Web Design
Erin Anderson, et al.
