Tips to Become a Better Graphic Designer

The graphic design business is constantly changing and it can be hard for beginners to understand just what it takes to become better at being a graphic designer. It's more than just knowing how to draw or being creative, it takes research and knowledge that sometimes is not known to a graphic designer if they do not study what other designers do.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to help expand your knowledge of graphic design and understand new perspectives. First things first, reading this blog will help. BEH-DUH-TINCE. But we will help you stay informed via blogs and social media.

Here are several tips for graphic designers:

1. Collect what you like. If you find a design on something that looks awesome and makes you think, "Wow, how can I do something like this?" Take the item home and put it in some sort of filing system for you to find later. Now, if it is illegal to take the item home, such as theft, then take a picture of it with your fancy camera phone and keep it that way. This is a popular thing for people to do no matter what industry they are in. I know a buddy who is in marketing and when he sees a great marketing idea, he collects something that he is able to refer to later when he is looking for some sort of inspiration. Taking lots of photos of things you like is a fantastic way to keep memories of the designs you think are fantastic. 
2. Be a reader. Read up on graphic design; find respectable sources of information on the subject such as magazines, books, articles, blogs, websites, anything. Other people will be publishing their ideas in some way or another and you can learn from their successes or their mistakes. The same buddy I mentioned who is in marketing follows quite a few blogs and social media platforms of renowned marketers. The tips they put on their blogs and social media are concise and helpful; the same concept applies to graphic designers. The great ones will be putting their knowledge out there for the masses to enjoy and learn from, you can be one of those people. 
3. While we are on the topic of design blogs, you can start one yourself. Blog your ideas and your insights and see how people interact with you. Perhaps your wisdom will reach someone who needs it and perhaps the interactions you have will those who read and comment on your blog will give you good insight and ideas. 
4. Let your creativity run freely and without constraint. You will often find that clients say what to do for a design of websites, logos, print material, etc. So, what you can do is create things for fun. Create websites, print materials, logos, etc for any reason when you have the time to do so. This helps keep the graphic design side of things more fun and help your creativity flourish. This is also a great way to implement the things you learn without pressure of it going perfectly. After all, practice makes perfect. 
5. Refine and refine. You have old projects that you finished but does that mean they can't be improved any more? Try refining projects that you have done in the past and see if you can't make them any better. 
6. Take in your surroundings. When you're in a place, especially one that you have never been to before, look at the designs around you and just soak it in. Malls and cities are great for this since there is so much graphic design around you wherever you look. Chances are, you will feel very inspired about new designs when you leave there.