Learning Graphic Design On Your Own
Javen Joerger
When I first arrived at the University of Illinois as an Advertising student, I did not know the first thing about graphic design, how to make a logo, a banner ad, or anything else creative you can make with your computer. However, I knew I wanted to learn as much as I could. I didn’t even know where to begin and that’s when I met my friend John, a junior in Advertising. John had transferred out of Economics after freshman year to follow his passions in social media and creativity. The College of Media was the right place for him. He worked on a variety of professional social media accounts, as well as some freelance work on the side. John told me about Adobe Illustrator and the fellow Creative Cloud applications that I needed to be familiar with in order to get my feet off the ground and dive into the world of design. He was my mentor and really helped me get my foot in the door. Now I’m here to spread the knowledge I have learned in order to help you get the ball rolling.
First off, you are going to need access to some sort of design software, ideally Adobe Creative Cloud. This includes Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and pretty much all the powerful tools you need to make stunning creative work. However, this is an expensive software. It is definitely an investment. But fear not, because you can get Adobe CC with a student discount to knock the price down to $20 per month for your first year from the Adobe site. Still sounds expensive? Well, the Illinois WebStore sells Adobe CC for an even larger discount in the Fall semester if you are willing to commit for a full year or whatever is left in the year before July rolls around. I ended up paying in the $100 range for a subscription of about nine months. Right now, it is listed at $92.50 for access until July 1, 2019. If you want to get started right away go ahead and use the Adobe student discount, otherwise wait it out and buy from the Webstore in the Fall.
Of course there are free design programs that you can download such as Inkscape, Crita, Canva, GIMP, etc. If you want to try out Adobe CC before making a big purchase you can access it for free from many of the University computer labs. The basement of Gregory Hall has a couple of labs that College of Media students can access. If you aren’t in the College of Media, the English building has an awesome computer lab in the basement as well. You can find more information on available Computer Labs at this link. You also get a seven day free trial from Adobe.
The first resource I want to point out is Lynda.com. Lynda has a ton of tutorial videos set up like an online course that can teach you how to use the different features in the Creative Cloud apps. This is a subscription based site, but it is covered by the University of Illinois! You can go to this link to find out how to get free access. I also recommend using YouTube when you have a specific question on how to do something. Almost everything you want to know how to do on Illustrator can be found in a video tutorial.
Don’t know what to work on? Well join AAF. In almost all the client teams I have worked on, there has been creative work that is ready for the taking. There are a lot of great agencies that are working with real local clients. AAF also offers Ad Lab, which is a student led meeting that teaches you how to make logos, photoshop pictures, create promotional flyers and much more using Adobe.
Obviously, the Advertising community has a lot of student designers that would love to answer your questions. AAF is also a great way to make friends that can help you out. Sometimes having someone actually show you what you’re supposed to be doing is the easiest way to understand how to use a tool.
I hope the stage has been set for you to get started in design. All of these skills can only be developed with practice, so make sure you are finding new projects to work on.