Graphic design, photoshop, Coreldraw, and Illustraor are all three software that you should be proficient in. These three softwares can be self-study and mastered by doing examples. The basics of graphic design are Photoshop and Coreldraw. To take the designer exam, you need to learn the four softwares of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign Coreldraw.
What software do you need to learn for graphic design?
0. Software: If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools - learn the software tools first, otherwise no matter how good your ideas are, Neither can be achieved. photoshop (ps), coreldraw (cdr), illustrator (ai), these are the mainstream graphic design software on the market now. PS Needless to say, this is definitely something you need to learn. Mainly used for image processing and image synthesis. The PS tutorial channel of Design Discovery Network also has many PS graphic design example tutorials. If you are interested, you can take a look. The biggest similarity between coreldraw and AI is that they are both vector design software. If you feel that there are too many softwares to learn, you can learn them selectively. Many designers use PS+AI to complete the design, there are also many designers who use PS+CDR to complete the design, and there are also designers who use PS+CDR+AI. It depends on the individual, as long as you can complete the design requirements, but Design Discovery Network recommends that everyone learn all three design software. Of course, it is definitely not possible to learn all the tools and commands. There are many tools that are basically useless. But remember one thing: software produces design!
2 Color matching: We all know that any design work requires the participation of color, whether you are graphic design, web design or other designs. Some people may say, can’t I rely on my feelings to match colors? I want to ask you: Do you feel very NB? Color matching cannot be achieved by relying on your fantasy. Color matching is rule-based and regular. We say you can be more willful when doing art, but you should be more "honest" when doing design.
What’s more, the art of painting requires learning colors, let alone commercial graphic design. For color, you need to master the basic knowledge of color, such as the relationship and matching principles between colors such as RGB, CIYK, hue, lightness, purity, similar colors, contrasting colors, adjacent colors, separated complementary colors, etc. There are also colors designed based on the product’s market positioning and culture, etc. In short: learn "RGB" well, and you can travel around the world with B! It's very important, learn it hard!
3. Format design: Like color matching, format design is also a learning subject that many people tend to ignore. What is layout design? It is the layout of the picture! In layman's terms, it is a means of reasonably arranging the elements (graphics, images, text, colors) in the picture. We have to consider factors such as composition, balance, points, lines, planes, priority, and hierarchy. Let the audience quickly, intuitively and obviously capture the themes and information that our images need to convey. Many of your creativity, thoughts, and product considerations will be reflected. You can understand it this way, between a person who goes out to put on makeup and a person who goes out without makeup or dress up, the person who goes out to put on makeup and dress up is doing "layout design"!
The person who goes out to dress up will think : This dress is more suitable for today's occasion, today's hairstyle is suitable for this coat, this dress looks a bit fat when paired with it, change it to another one, you can't wear these high heels today, etc... Of course, the layout design is not based on coolness. Dazzling and beautiful are the ultimate standards, although beauty is very important. The process of typesetting is a process of continuous polishing and continuous experimentation. Just remember that typography is what separates graphic designers.
@, Printing: Learning printing does not require you to become a printer. The purpose is to better express the design works on the computer into physical finished products that can be seen and touched. Many of the works produced by designers either have a color cast or do not meet printing standards after printing. Then there’s the problem of not knowing what material to choose, etc. For example, many novices who make flyers design the size to be 210*297mm (A4 size), while the printing factory uses the size of 210*285m. This will only increase the printing cost and waste money if it does not meet the standards. For example, when we design a business card, many people only know to use coated paper and four colors, but there are many other papers and techniques to choose from. Wait, learning pre-press and post-press knowledge can make your works more sophisticated and make you a mature graphic designer!
2. How to teach yourself graphic design with zero foundation
The first step to understand graphic design
As a novice starting to learn graphic design from scratch, the first thing to understand is what graphic design is. When you can explain graphic design to yourself, let people around you understand it. , you are basically starting to get started.
You also need to understand what basic knowledge and industry knowledge you need to master when learning graphic design, so as not to be confused and lose your way during the learning process. At this stage, you need to know and see What kind of books, what kind of software to learn, you don’t have to worry about whether you have high standards of aesthetics, but you need to know that at the current stage of development of human civilization, what are the basic things in the field of graphic design, and then let’s talk about it Learn how to learn faster and more effectively.
Software to learn: PS CDR AI ID, graphic software
The wrong way for newbies to get started is to read books. Novices here should not read books. If you have a very good foundation and understand design, you can read them. Some theoretical books can supplement brain knowledge.
Step 2: Determine the direction of learning
There are many classifications of graphic design subdivisions. Depending on the job responsibilities in your industry, when graphic design is implemented, you will Design the following different contents, and they are also intertwined, so don’t worry about classification!
Printing design: You need to learn some printing knowledge, such as: business cards, VIP cards, leaflets (also called DI sheets) ), posters, POP, etc.;
Outdoor inkjet design: store signs, light boxes, hanging flags, posters, stage backgrounds, etc.
(4). Image design: corporate VI, logo design, font design, this category requires a very skilled mastery of vector graphics software;
Web design: web design, UI design, Taobao store decoration, H5 page design, usually You will also learn about (5).
html+css3.
After understanding the above-mentioned graphic design content related to different industries, ask yourself which category is your favorite or best at, and then you can start your own learning journey. Of course, you may not know much about the above-mentioned industries, and you may not know what you like. You just like to play with photoshop to create some cool effects, like graphic design, and are eager to have your designed works appreciated by others. Then go for it. It couldn't be better.