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.