How did you get started in Graphic design?

Want to get started in Graphic Design?

• Answer:

  Do you have any experience with graphic design? Do you know what in particular interests you or what you would like to do as a designer? Graphic design is a broad area and there are a lot of possibilities. A good way to get started is to do some research on graphic design, to see if it is actually something you want to do. You could do this be searching for design blogs (http://www.designworklife.com, http://graphic-exchange.com, etc.), checking out design magazines (HOW Magazine, CMYK, Communication Arts, Computer Arts, etc) and books. For equipment, professional designers use Adobe Creative Suite which includes Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator; those are the top 3 programs designers use. Since you're only 16 years old and probably don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for those programs you could start by using a free program called GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) or a relatively inexpensive program called Corel Paint Shop Pro (http://www.corel.com/). Although the software may have different interfaces, this will give you a good starting point in working with photos, type and general layout. Experience comes with time. It's easy to get frustrated, especially when you look at other people's work and your stuff just isn't up to par. Just keep practicing. There are tons of tutorials online for you to use. You could also try contacting a local design firm or a graphic designer you may know to see if they'll take some time to sit down with you to discuss what they do and if you have any questions for them definitely don't be afraid to ask. Good luck!