Learning design is no rocket science, especially if you focus on going with the latest trends. Consistent efforts to learn what's new and integrate it to your own work will help a great deal. Luckily, present age has a lot of things at disposal making learning a lot more fun such as online communities, tutorial sites, people willing to share their knowledge etc.
Listed below are some of the best techniques and methods to help you learn new things every day, and succeed in the field of designing.
Make sure you develop a habit of learning. It helps with establishing a consistent learning routine that allows you to supercharge your learning experience. It also helps with maximizing outcomes of efforts you put in. It is important that you allocate time on a daily basis to learn design. Create your own unique designing goals and work on it daily.
This will help you become better. Commitment to learning is important. You must set aside some time and show up daily. Try becoming at least 1% each day. This makes a dramatic impact on your progress in a year. Practicing does not mean repeating the same thing over and over again. Focus on learning new things. This will help you to gain benefit a lot.
You must emphasise on smart learning than learning all. Simply learning about tracking, typeface anatomy, kerning, varied measurement units will not make you a great designer. Focus on things that will benefit you in real sense and maximize the outcomes. The idea is to think about the end goal to be able to be a mobile designer (for instance). Here, you must learn about the mobile industry, principles of design, behavior of people, etc.This is better than learning every single thing about design that actually doesn’t apply to mobile design.
You require a trigger to be able to develop a habit. Additionally, you must also have a consistent routine and a reward. So start learning the first thing in the morning, which may make for your trigger. Thereafter, study for 30 minutes. After this, have a nice reward that pleases you. This can be anything from a favorite TV show or a piece of cake.
It is good to take up a challenge and publicly commit to a specific period of time. It helps you to create and show up daily. The process may be anything from a simple sketching challenge or even a tough one as a 365 photo daily challenge. Think of what you wish to learn. Now select a duration and deliverables. You must allow everyone to know that you are committing.
If you wish to learn something, try teaching it. So start teaching others about your skills and craft. Teaching will help you focus on the essence of the design. You need to understand and explain it in a simplest way possible. The process will help you to improve your analytical thinking.So start a log or even a YouTube channel and kick-start journaling processes for other individuals.
Keep aside some time and work on your passion. This means you can maintain and work on a side project that excites you. It should not constrain you excessively. Having side projects will help you experiment with things. It will also allow you to achieve much more progress.
Moving fast will help you to build more things and learn at a faster pace. Unfortunately, most people slow down after a specific progress as they’re more afraid of making mistakes. Breaking things down to the smallest pieces and getting to the essentials will help. Thereafter, you need to recreate it in your own unique style. Joint design community. It shares everything from the what’s, how’s and why’s of present age design. There's also an option of downloading free project files for advanced image editing software such as Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator many more.
Freebies are certainly a great way to find the best of designs to play with. The best part is that you don't need to pay for the same. Here's a list of some of the sources that offer the same:
- Freebiesbug
- Dribble Freebies
- Despreneur Freebie
Are you afraid of experimenting? Well, you must set yourself free. The idea is to get into a mindset that all of your creations are an integral part of an experiment. This very simple shift will let you take criticism easier. You will be inspired to try out new things without being afraid of failure. Being a designer, you need to keep playing around with the technology and tools you like to use.
As an artist, you should learn to be creative. Things are actually a clever blend of all that you consume. Hence, surrounding yourself with things you actually wish to absorb will help you get more creative. Stealing some great ideas is no sin. So don't get ashamed of the act. All you need to do is know the correct way ('ethic') of stealing. Each individual has a unique set of values that filter your thoughts. With ideas, you produce things of your own. Hence, studying designers and their work will let you come up with something that's great and 'you'. Instead of imitating, focus on transforming their work into something of your own. Adding your 'own' unique touch will make you even greater!
In a Nutshell
Hope this article has served as an inspiration for you to pursue a career in design. The post is also about learning how to excel in it. Investing some time and applying the above stated principles will help you reach the next level in your niche design direction. Happy Designing!
Listed below are some of the best techniques and methods to help you learn new things every day, and succeed in the field of designing.
1. Daily
Make sure you develop a habit of learning. It helps with establishing a consistent learning routine that allows you to supercharge your learning experience. It also helps with maximizing outcomes of efforts you put in. It is important that you allocate time on a daily basis to learn design. Create your own unique designing goals and work on it daily.
2. Practise Each Day
This will help you become better. Commitment to learning is important. You must set aside some time and show up daily. Try becoming at least 1% each day. This makes a dramatic impact on your progress in a year. Practicing does not mean repeating the same thing over and over again. Focus on learning new things. This will help you to gain benefit a lot.
3. Smart Learning
You must emphasise on smart learning than learning all. Simply learning about tracking, typeface anatomy, kerning, varied measurement units will not make you a great designer. Focus on things that will benefit you in real sense and maximize the outcomes. The idea is to think about the end goal to be able to be a mobile designer (for instance). Here, you must learn about the mobile industry, principles of design, behavior of people, etc.This is better than learning every single thing about design that actually doesn’t apply to mobile design.
4. Adopt Learning Habits
You require a trigger to be able to develop a habit. Additionally, you must also have a consistent routine and a reward. So start learning the first thing in the morning, which may make for your trigger. Thereafter, study for 30 minutes. After this, have a nice reward that pleases you. This can be anything from a favorite TV show or a piece of cake.
5. Accept the Challenge
It is good to take up a challenge and publicly commit to a specific period of time. It helps you to create and show up daily. The process may be anything from a simple sketching challenge or even a tough one as a 365 photo daily challenge. Think of what you wish to learn. Now select a duration and deliverables. You must allow everyone to know that you are committing.
6. Teach
If you wish to learn something, try teaching it. So start teaching others about your skills and craft. Teaching will help you focus on the essence of the design. You need to understand and explain it in a simplest way possible. The process will help you to improve your analytical thinking.So start a log or even a YouTube channel and kick-start journaling processes for other individuals.
7. Side Projects
Keep aside some time and work on your passion. This means you can maintain and work on a side project that excites you. It should not constrain you excessively. Having side projects will help you experiment with things. It will also allow you to achieve much more progress.
8. Break Things Down
Moving fast will help you to build more things and learn at a faster pace. Unfortunately, most people slow down after a specific progress as they’re more afraid of making mistakes. Breaking things down to the smallest pieces and getting to the essentials will help. Thereafter, you need to recreate it in your own unique style. Joint design community. It shares everything from the what’s, how’s and why’s of present age design. There's also an option of downloading free project files for advanced image editing software such as Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator many more.
9. Freebie
Freebies are certainly a great way to find the best of designs to play with. The best part is that you don't need to pay for the same. Here's a list of some of the sources that offer the same:
- Freebiesbug
- Dribble Freebies
- Despreneur Freebie
10. Experiment
Are you afraid of experimenting? Well, you must set yourself free. The idea is to get into a mindset that all of your creations are an integral part of an experiment. This very simple shift will let you take criticism easier. You will be inspired to try out new things without being afraid of failure. Being a designer, you need to keep playing around with the technology and tools you like to use.
11. Learn to Steal the Way an Artist Does
As an artist, you should learn to be creative. Things are actually a clever blend of all that you consume. Hence, surrounding yourself with things you actually wish to absorb will help you get more creative. Stealing some great ideas is no sin. So don't get ashamed of the act. All you need to do is know the correct way ('ethic') of stealing. Each individual has a unique set of values that filter your thoughts. With ideas, you produce things of your own. Hence, studying designers and their work will let you come up with something that's great and 'you'. Instead of imitating, focus on transforming their work into something of your own. Adding your 'own' unique touch will make you even greater!
In a Nutshell
Hope this article has served as an inspiration for you to pursue a career in design. The post is also about learning how to excel in it. Investing some time and applying the above stated principles will help you reach the next level in your niche design direction. Happy Designing!
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