Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?

5 points by Banekin 15 years ago | 13 comments

All the logos and designs I'm able to produce look like they're from 2007, are heavily gradiented, and lack subtlety. I would like to be able to make more modern logos and designs. Are there any good websites or books for learning how to design elegant graphics and landing pages? I'm working in Photoshop CS5 by the way.

komlenic 15 years ago |

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592532616/

This is a general design book, but one that is packed full of information and examples that you might find helpful. It's not a how-to book, but if you feel like you can recognize "good/great" design, but can't really produce it yourself: this is your book. You won't look at anything visually creative the same way again.

Otherwise, consider: "when all you have is hammer, you treat everything like a nail". People, myself included, tend to stick with what they know and are comfortable with. It's no surprise that all your designs end up looking similar: you're probably using the same tools in Photoshop and the same techniques. No tutorial is going to directly help you create "elegant graphics" in any meaningful way, but there are certainly great tutorials out there that will expose you to new techniques and skills which will broaden your personal toolbox.

Having a broader toolbox or skill-set makes new things possible that previously you might have not considered.

Banekin 15 years ago | |

I just got this and it's phenomenal. This is exactly what I needed, thank you so much.

mariust 15 years ago |

Hi, a good resource can be found on http://psd.tutsplus.com/ but you need to practice practice and more practice, and by the way logos are usually created in a vector program like Adobe Illustrator in order for them to be 'print ready'

thesash 15 years ago |

http://www.dribbble.com is my favorite source right now for inspiration. Tons of extremely talented designers.

Some of my other favorite resource: http://www.smashingmagazine.com -- great showcases http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/ -- inspiration and tutorials http://twitter.com/#!/TheSash/designers -- a list of awesome designers on twitter

dsawler 15 years ago | |

I think the more someone looks at Dribbble, the more their work shows they've been viewing Dribbble too often. Sure, there are trends, and then there is good design, and the line is blurry in most. But, a lot of stuff on Dribbble is the same texture, pattern, noise, over and over. In short, I think looking outside of the web for inspiration can help designers not rehash the same design techniques over and over.

Rhodee 15 years ago |

I use all if not most of the sites folks mentioned. But I took your question of learning to mean interacting with others (forgive me if I am wrong). I came across P2PU 'School of Webcraft' that might be worth a look-classes pick up again in April.

Here is the link to the school: http://www.drumbeat.org/p2pu-webcraft

and to courses: http://p2pu.org/webcraft -- good luck!

bo_Olean 15 years ago |

good to know you got PS CS5 to play with. i suggest you google few hours for web2.0 design theories and concepts, like - how to create web2.0 effects with photoshop, glossy text/image effects, reflections effects, how to create nice gradients. watch videos, listen podcasts, go through listapart articles if you have time http://www.alistapart.com/topics/design/ tune up your design concepts first.

you can practice with vandelaydesign photoshop tutorials list. http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/photoshop-tutorials/ choose the one easy for you to begin with.

and once you master these basic skills, you can then search for "design inspiration" around the web to see how other designers are making web beautiful. when you understand the design principles, design tool becomes just a matter of choice. all the best.

dsawler 15 years ago |

Is your problem not knowing what it is you want to create (or, what an "updated" version of that design would be), or do you not have the skill set to develop what it is you want to create? Or both?

Banekin 15 years ago | |

Both. For instance, on a lot of the YC and newer startups (I can't really cite them from memory) you see these really nice background patterns on landing pages, however, I have no idea how they are made. I have very little formal training as far as graphic design is concerned, so while I might be able to make a pretty logo following a tutorial I'm afraid the fundamental structure of the page will be bad.

Someone on this thread recommended a book called Design Elements, and it's great and just what I needed actually.

dsawler 15 years ago | | |

So, I think reading about design is a great way for you to learn the basics and principles (I highly recommend The Non Designers Design Book).

Once you read that, then I would suggest to start reading some well known web magazines, maybe like Smashing or VecTuts/PSDTuts to go through some tutorials and help you understand just how people use noise on a button, or a drop shadow on a button, etc. Then again, I think these things are sometimes over the top and used because it's trendy. But, you can make your own decisions.

A lot of people just use Photoshop patterns made by someone else for those background images (http://patterns.ava7.com/tag-beige.php,http://designm.ag/res...). Find a pattern, fill > pattern, tada!

naithemilkman 15 years ago |

Try this site for inspiration: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com

farout 15 years ago |

there are tons of awesome books on amazon - look for the bestsellers and highest reviews.

One that helped me with logos is: Logo Design Love

I also liked the Classical Effects in Photoshop. Foe websites: I liked CSS Mastery and on the cssgarden as well as reading alistpart.

farout 15 years ago | |

edits:For creating awesome websites: I liked CSS Mastery and I like reading cssgarden.com and alistpart.com for ideas.

I also like to take existing websites and redo them to make them better just for my own pleasure. And if I really am pleased, I send them to the company in case they can use it.