This article is written by Karen X. Cheng, a project manager at Microsoft Excel, who is now a self-taught designer. The self-study process described by her is detailed, meticulous and orderly. After reading it, you will find that it is quite different from what you imagined. For children’s shoes who want to learn design by themselves but don’t know where to start, they can follow her steps to learn.

Before we read, how does an 18-year-old genius in this country teach himself how to build his own website

Complete Self-study Guide for Designers:

I didn’t graduate from a design school, but I got a job as a designer.

I wanted to change jobs and become a designer, but I didn’t have four years and 100,000 dollars to go back to school, so I decided to study on my own. At first, I was rather doubtful that one could ever find a relevant job by self-study.

The answer is: yes

I taught myself design for six months while WORKING. Although I didn’t think I was ready, I interviewed with a number of companies and finally landed a job at Exec, a great start-up.

I know I am not better than many design students who graduated from specialized departments, but MY ability is enough to do my job well. I design a lot of things, like web pages, iPhone apps, email, social media and print.

First, learn to observe:

The biggest mistake a beginner can make is to jump right into Photoshop. Know that learning Photoshop won’t make you a designer any more than buying a high-quality set of brushes will make you an artist. Start with the basics.

First, learn a little painting:

1. You don’t have to squeeze into a studio to paint nude women with a bunch of artists 2. You don’t even have to be very good, just have a few basics to draw a sketch 3. You only have one thing, learn how to draw, I read many books on drawing, here is the best one: How to draw in 30 days, then spend half an hour every day to practice drawing, for a month, will have amazing results.

Learn graphic Design theory:

1. Start with “Picture This”. Although this book takes the fairy tale “little Red Riding Hood” as an example, it can teach you all the basics of graphic design.

2. Learn to use color, typography, and grids. If there’s a graphic design class nearby, sign up.

  • We strongly recommend that you also read our recommended below the classic article “Beginners to Learn color matching: Color matching expert Crash course”, will let you have a new understanding of color matching.

Review these great tutorials → psd.tutsplus every day, and of course you can also check out the Design section of Excellence every day

Basis for learning user experience:

There are many books on The street that talk about The user experience. I recommend these two books to start with: The Design of Everyday Things, PDF download, And Don’t Make Me Think, PDF download

Learn how to write:

Don’t fill the space with nonsense. As a designer, your job is not just to make beautiful pictures, you also have to be a good communicator. Think about all your past experiences and choose your words carefully. Remember to “speak in person,” not in the way you fill up your school report with bullshit.

1. Read “Made to Stick” → Chinese Version “Stick” PDF download This is one of my favorite books of my life, and it will teach you how to get your own dedicated reader.

2. “Voice and Tone” is full of great examples of how to communicate with users.

Learn to abandon your own work:

This is the hardest part. Be prepared for the possibility that you will have to destroy your work as if it were your child. The faster you can prepare yourself for this, the faster you will be able to start your work. Therefore, if you feel that the finished product is not good enough, cut back and retrain at any time.

Find an impartial second eye: Ask someone who knows how to design for their opinion of your work. If you don’t have such friends, meet them at a designer party or event.

Welcome children to join excellent QQ group, and a group of designers to progress together, even if blowing water! It was also a group of designers blowing water, what better than to find a team to laugh together! Add group details see about us

Also ask people who don’t know how to design what they think of your work. Let future users try out your web page or application. Don’t be afraid to ask strangers for advice. On a late flight, I used the opportunity to ask other passengers in the airport what they thought of the app I was designing. Most of them were willing to help, and I got a lot of great advice.

Listening:

Really listen to what others have to say, and don’t be defensive. When you ask someone for their opinion and they are willing to take the time and effort to give you an answer, don’t respond with excuses. Instead, thank them and ask them questions before you take their advice on your own.

Learn how to use Photoshop and Illustrator

Yeah! Now that you have a solid foundation in visual design and user experience, you can take the next step. In fact, I recommend starting with Illustrator and moving on to Photoshop. Designers often use Illustrator to create logos or ICONS, while InDesign is great for creating prints such as flyers or business cards.

Learn to use Illustrator:

There are countless books and websites on how to use Illustrator, and you can pick your own. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book: This Book is boring, but very useful.
  • Vector Basic Training: This book will teach you how to make really nice things in Illustrator.

Fun to come, go to the following free learning sites to see how much you have learned! Here are two of my favorites: logos and Scenic Landscapes.

Learn to use Photoshop:

There are thousands of teaching sites on the Internet, but many of them suck. Fortunately, there are many high quality teaching sites, such as PSDTuts. If you want to learn how to make iPhone apps, there’s a great tutorial; If you want to learn how to make web pages, look at this website.

Children who are not good at English can directly learn to optimize the PS tutorial

If you squeeze in an hour or two a day to review these lessons, you will make incredible progress.

Three, learn professional skills

Do you want to design an application, a web page, or an infographic? I suggest that after you’ve tried everything, choose the areas that interest you and delve into them.

Learn to design logos:

1. If you want to learn how to Design trademarks, please read “Logo Design Love” → Chinese version “Beyond Logo Design” PDF download.

2. Reading Designing Brand Identity if you want to learn how to use your website and business cards together.

Learn to design applications:

1. Learn the visual design of applications from this tutorial. 2. Read Tapworthy, a book on iPhone → Touching People’s Hearts: Designing Great iPhone Apps. Download this PDF to show you how to create beautiful and useful apps. 3. Study the apps on your phone. Which side do you think is great and which side is terrible?

Learn to design web pages:

1. Read Don’t Make Me Think to learn how to Make easy-to-read web pages. 2. To make great Web pages, read The Principles of Beautiful Web Design. 3. Make a list of the pages you find beautiful and find out what they have in common. SiteInspire has plenty of good examples.

Here’s the conundrum: Do you have to know HTML or CSS to be a designer? My answer is, it depends on the job, but knowing that is definitely a plus. There are many resources on the web for learning HTML and CSS:

4. My favorite free site is Web Design Tuts. 5. My favorite paid site is Treehouse ($25 per month). If you’re starting from scratch and want someone to explain everything to you, go to Treehouse’s teaching classes.

4. Build your own portfolio

You don’t need to go to school to become a designer, but you do need a portfolio. That being said, if you’re just starting out in design and haven’t studied in a relevant department, where do you come up with a portfolio? Here’s the good news: You don’t need to have actually worked on a project to build a portfolio. You can list the following:

1. Your crazy T-shirt design. 2. Redesign an ugly website. 3. Design an iPhone app. 4. Participate in the design competition → Baidu input method three years of skin competition: youth! 5. Find local nonprofits that offer free design services.

Also remember:

1. Don’t put everything in your portfolio, just the best ones. 2. Find inspiration: Don’t worry about originality first, just like when learning a new musical instrument, you must learn how to play others’ songs first, and then learn to write your own songs. 3. You can also check out the Cool site recommendations column on YouTube for web design inspiration.

5. Get a job as a designer

When I first started studying design, I went to a designer workshop full of experienced designers who were looking for work, several of whom had 5, 10, 15 years of experience. The thought of having to compete with them terrifies me. A year later, HOWEVER, I managed to land a job as a designer. I think I have one key advantage over other designers: I know how to work with software developers.

Learn some interactive design, or basic HTML and CSS syntax! Tech designers (interactive devices, web and application designers, etc.) are in high demand and well paid. If you have no experience working with developers, attend Startup Weekend or Hackathons

Finally, tell everyone around you that you want to be a designer! Anyone could be the person to help you find a job.

Keep learning even after you get a job

I have been working at Exec for one year and have learned a lot from this job. I would learn from more experienced designers, find other design courses, like TutsPlus and The Design Excellence section, which are great online courses, and even browse the design books in bookstores. There are still many things I can learn and improve. Remember to hone your skills and keep learning.

Karen X. Cheng

(techorange) (techorange)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = nets about optimal set = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = “optimal set uisdc.com” is a Shared web page design, design of the wireless terminal and PS tutorials dry site. PS etiquette manual: WEB designers must practice internal skills, but also indispensable WEB design guide hao.uisdc.com/ps/. Design micro blog: with 560,000 fans of the popular micro blog @excellent web design, welcome to pay attention to get web design resources, download the top design materials. Hao.uisdc.com ——————————————————— – Want design tutorials, experience sharing and all kinds of unexpected “perks” on your phone and in bed? Add excellent web design wechat: 【youshege】 You can also quickly add by scanning the following TWO-DIMENSIONAL code:

Review images