As mentioned in my previous post, I'm eager to share tips, tricks and bits of advice I've collected on my year long journey of becoming a self-taught designer. I recently posted about my favorite Skillshare classes and today, I'm launching the first of a series of posts about going from A) wanting to be the thing to Z) actually being the thing. The thing for me is a designer, I've dreamt of being a designer and working on creative projects for years now. I still have a long way to go, and my dreams have evolved a lot over the years - but the following advice has gotten me to this point and are things I still fall back on. Here goes:

DO THE WORK

Rome wasn't built in a day and the same holds true for everything.else.period. You want to be a chef? You have to learn how to boil an egg. You want to be a designer? You have to learn how to design things - by gaining knowledge and using the tools.

Read all that you can whenever you can. Read about logo evolution over the last century, read about the psychology of color, read about typography, designing with a grid, print versus digital design, product design. Read about it all. When I first became interested in design, I went to the college websites of the art schools I would have liked to attend and downloaded the curriculum to see what is being taught in graphic design programs. Then, I sought out books, articles, blog posts, free online classes - everything I could - about those topics.

The best part of this is that it's never ending. There are countless resources, in books and online, people publishing new interesting and helpful things everyday.



Figure out the industry standards for whatever it is you want to do - the tools, the processes - then learn them. Almost all designers I know use Adobe Creative Suite for their projects. Get a subscription for Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign - then learn how to use them. Adobe gives a 30-day free trial which is a great way to get started, plus their monthly payment structure makes it accessible for anyone. Take classes on Lynda.com or Skillshare. Tuts+ is a great resource for free tutorials.  Sign-up for local workshops.

One of the first things I did when I got Illustrator was take a short workshop at a local art studio here in Berlin. I think it was only two meetings and 50 bucks, but it taught me the basics of Illustrator, using the pen tool, outlining text, drawing with Bézier curves. Learning these things can be tedious, but it's imperative for building your knowledge and developing your skills.

IMITATE

Once you've done the work it's time to start practicing, and the best way to practice at first, is to imitate. It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I firmly believe this. But let me be crystal clear, imitation is not copying.

Seek out those doing the work you want to do and use it as a model to create your own work. At first, it will probably be very similar, too similar in fact for anyone's eyes but your own, but that's normal. Keep at it, keep imitating and eventually something new and different will come from it. Something you've created by yourself - without referencing the work of others. Then you're ready to show it off and call it your own.

People say there is a fine line between imitating and copying but there isn't. You've either created something new or you've copied it. And copying is not cool. One of my all time favorite creative inspirations is Rifle Paper Co. I love Anna Bond, her sense of style and how she has created a huge lifestyle product line that is original, beautiful and all her own. I've tried to imitate her work often - to understand her use of color, her digitising process, etc. It usually never turns out pretty, but once it did, really pretty - but that was that. It sits in my sketch book because it isn't really mine.

During a recent scroll through Etsy I found the shop of someone who also pulls inspiration from Rifle Paper Co., but in a very obvious (and illegal) way. I was curious about this and clicked a bit further, only to find out that she had posted in forums asking about how to do certain things like Anna does for Rifle. It's wrong and tacky to steal the work of others and quite honestly, who would want to? I don't even know this girl but I definitely do not respect her as an artist and would not order from her shop - and no one wants to be that person.

With that said, it's important to understand that everyone starts somewhere - even the greats. And it's by imitating what you aspire to be, that you can find your own voice and develop your unique style.

Austin Kleon wrote the book Steal like an Artist - it's a great reference for how to steal art without being a d-bag, or rather, how to imitate others' work that you admire until you've found your own voice to create original work that you love.

CREATE

After you've spent the time doing the work and uncovered your skills and unique point of view through imitation, it's time to start creating. Make stuff. Make lots of stuff.

Create posters, websites, invitations, magazine covers, cards, apps - whatever. Make up projects and run with them. Google design prompts and see what pops up. Go crazy. It's the time in your new design life that you can actually do this. Have fun with it and don't be afraid of what others say or think.

Don't be afraid of what you'll think. I'll be the first one to tell you that I hate a lot of the things I've made. My own wedding invitations are a perfect example of this. They were one of the first things I designed and printed and at the time, they were perfection. I mean, I seriously thought they were the most bomb wedding invitations to ever grace paper - but in hindsight, they were really really bad. But it doesn't matter - I learned a lot creating those hideous things and now I'm making seriously beautiful wedding stationery (that I'll probably hate in 3 months). It's normal.

By creating things - doing the projects you've longed to do, making the work you've dreamed of, you can only get better and better.

Well that's it for now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Do you have experience with the things above? Or other advice you live by? Let me know in the comments below!