How did you learn how to become a great designer?

How did you all learn how to design so well? I am actually trying to learn right now using various tutorials and such and seeing how that goes...

So how did you learn the tricks of the trade?

 

I don't think that I can call myself a master yet, but I recently started to use the grid tool for drawing, and it makes everything much neater.

 

Hey I didn't say MASTER designer I said a GREAT designer

 

I'm not that great, everything I learned is from e-books, tutorials and error and trial. Just try to mess with the program you want to use, you'll become better each time you use it ~

 

Hmm..I learn from my friends and from free tutorial on the net.

Azim

 

well for me it started off as a hobby doing skinning from 1999.. i got pretty popular on one of the best known skin sites i'm still ranked in the top 100 and have over 460000 downloads... i got board of all that and just 3 months ago happen to stumble on DP

i can see i have improved a lot in regarding style/layout for websites in these 3months already.... i have a few decent paying projects on hand.. so far all going good. all i can advise is to keep on designing... practice makes perfect.

 

it's not something you learn over night. over time you start to realize what looks good and what doesnt. what may look good to you now, really isn't good at all. wait 10 years and then look back at what you are doing now and compare it with what you will be doing then. some of my old stuff back from like 1996-1997 is pretty wack in my opinion. just like walking or riding a bike, it takes years to gain skill in a particular area. keep doing what you're doing and practice practice practice. do it because you enjoy it, not because you want to make a buck. in time, the money will come. but for now, concentrate on defining your skill and technique. trust me.

 

I learned it by myself but I am perfect. Its "practice that makes a man perfect".
Here is a question, why not woman? lol just kidding.

 

Learning does take time that is for sure, I have dozens of books around my office that I have read. Most about design some about net marketing and what not.

If I was just getting started I would choose a cms system and would focus on learning the system inside and out. This way you will be able to produce nice looking sites that are interactive (comments, feeds, comminity type stuff).

About 95% of the sites I create now are based on wordpress. Good luck.

 

One more suggestion, don't every try to use template. Do whatever you can design and see this will nourish your skills.

 

i think i was born a designer lol
i dont recall ever reading anything or attending lessons, i just experimented and it seems to work so far

 

Ah, I wonder what made me say Master? I swear I saw it somewhere....wierd

 

for now i'm now that GREAT..but maybe one day..lol..

for me, just concentrate on what you are doing.Practice make perfect.Try to do one or more design in one day..and try to estimate it by yourself first..also try to be humble..lol..try to accept killer comment from other GREAT designers..that's all..From that you will learned it..

also don't miss the tutorials on the net..that's really good for your design purpose

 

my number one source is tutorials posted online. i learned everything i know about design and photoshop because of tutorials. then, as everyone said.. practice is what makes someone great at what they do

 

Practice, practice, practice. Always try to improve your design style go through as many tutorials as you can. Atleast that's how I do it

 

I learned by screwing around with PS, and good-tutorials.com

 

I went to college and studied art & design, then graphic design, then got a job in an agency and realised the real world is completely different to college, then worked for myself and realised working for yourself is completely different to working in an agency... and so on.

At the end of the day it's all about experience. Get some design jobs, get some feedback, learn from mistakes, learn to appreciate other designer's approaches and don't criticize their work until you know what their brief was.

You can stick to your guns with design and tell the customer that you are right and that they are wrong, but sometimes, in the real world, you have to make 'some' compromises with your clients. Granted, if a client tries to change one of my designs, I'll compromise if I think the design may still work, but if I feel they are ruining the job then I'll refuse to work with them as it can be bad for your reputation.

Don't just learn software cos the software will lead your design process - you'll end up designing things because pressing F7 makes a nice effect. Read up on design principles and theory and look at everyday things around you for influences - not just other people's web graphics.

You've just gotta be a sponge and absorb everything you see.

Also - never ever go to sleep!!! - I have been awake now for several years because that's what designers do.

 

I learned from tutorials and posting my work on forums for critique. I wrote an article about it on my blog which may be of interest.

 

I do believe This :



is a template?

 

Practice practice! I started when I was 13, using the old photoshop 5 back then, I am still no great designer although, make sure you think about everything before you get it down.