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Teaching yourself graphic design (self.freelance)

submitted ago by ta876

Hi,

I'm a web developer, but I think it's time I start getting better at web design, too. I've bookmarked design inspiration places, like designspiration, but beyond a tutorial in GIMP are there resources you'd recommend? Good references on techniques, color choices, etc?

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[–]webstuf 2 points3 points ago

I haven't really done alot of web design or web development, but for design altogether, I have been reading sites like smashingmagazine, designmodo, abduzeedo, and hongkiat. They write articles about design theory, ui, ux, design tutorials, roundups, business tips for designers, and many other great things.

It helped me get a better grasp of many different design fields. Hope this helps.

[–]jackdempsey 1 point2 points ago

Take a look at this: http://bootstrappingdesign.com I honestly can't remember if I read just the free chapter or bought the whole thing, but what I did read was great especially if you're looking for design more than UX.

[–]morcou 0 points1 point ago

Start drawing. It'll help you a lot.

[–]moreisee 0 points1 point ago

Don't forget to check out /r/web_design

[–]Tainerif 0 points1 point ago

lynda.com (paid only)

tutsplus.com (free and paid tuts)

worth1000.com (the tutorials section)

Other then those tutorial sites: Learning about eyeflow and visual heirarchy is super important. Learning your color wheel is imperative as well as knowing when to use certain combos.

Basic color theory (emotions triggered by use of color to be precise) is important as well.

web specific design things:

use textures, all day, e'ry day. Shit's important.

Just like coding: don't reinvent the wheel. Theres no need to rebuild buttons and shadows and all that bullshit every time. don't do it.

I would suggest actually taking some legit classes on it, as thats where you're gonna get the actual methodology and the reasoning behind certain decisions. But, I would stay away from /r/graphic_design until you have a solid grasp on your different concepts. there are very, very few there that are worth the bile that comes out of their mouths.

[–]BonChicBonScott 0 points1 point ago

Lynda Weinman has books aimed specifically at people who don't know design and want to learn solid principles. They are "The Non-Designer's Design Book" and "The Non-Designer's Web Book" and they're very good.

[–]nom-de-reddit 0 points1 point ago

Those books are written by Robin Williams, not Lynda Weinman.

[–]BonChicBonScott 0 points1 point ago

Oh my god. You're right. I don't know how I made that mistake. I apologise.

[–]floatbit 0 points1 point ago

I'm currently reading Design for Hackers (http://www.amazon.com/Design-Hackers-Reverse-Engineering-Beauty/dp/1119998956).

I'm a web developer also, and was always curious why designers choose certain fonts for certain mediums - for e.g. I learned Garamond is the most readable typeface for printed media and is also 400 years old, Georgia is the most readable serif font for the web, Arial is nearly the same as Helvetica and is the most readable sans serif on screen, and everyone hates Comic Sans and the book explains why (kerning between letter combinations is not optimized for example).

These are probably common knowledge to practiced designers, but from someone that looks at if else statements all day long, it was a wow moment.

The book goes on in depth by "reverse engineering Impressionist painting, Renaissance sculpture, the Mac OS X Aqua interface, Twitter's web interface, and much more" and goes on to "color theory, typography, proportions, and design principles", which really speaks an engineer's language.