Best place to learn about design?

gary223 · 01-02-2008, 08:39 PM

Hello,

How did you learn about general design? Or do you wing it and go with what looks good? Those who have read up or learned about design principles, can you recommend good books or websites for a neopyte like myself?

So far I've paged through Robin Williams' The Non-Designers Design Book.

Thoughts?

Telly · 01-02-2008, 08:41 PM

Personally, I'm horrible with graphics. My best designs are from combinations of tutorials to make a unique, yet doable design.

If it's tutorials you want, http://www.good-tutorials.com/ and http://www.tutorialized.com/ are my two favorites. As for the coding end of it, that I basically picked up after a basic HTML course in school. My style is completely tabled, a lot of people like DIVs and CSS, don't get me wrong, that have their uses, but I like to keep it organized and clean. ^^

As far as books go, I can't really recommend any for graphics design, they all went WAY over my head. :S For programming, depends on what level you're looking for. I've used books from elementary level programming to university level programming, which isn't very advanced...

Hope the tutorial sites are helpful, since nothing else I've said can be.

Elite By Design · 01-02-2008, 08:42 PM

I'm with Telly - I learned much of what I know through tutorials. Do as many as you can, even if the outcome isn't something you want to make. THe idea is to learn the ins and outs of all the tools in photoshop so that if someone comes along one day and asks how to pull of an effect, you can immediately recongnize what filters, tools, and layer styles you need to use.

infektsu · 01-02-2008, 10:27 PM

For me it was just practice and experimenting. I started graphic arts when digital abstracts first started becoming popular around '99 - '00. I would just kind of look at the images and try and replicate them. Would stay up for nights sometimes trying to figure out how someone did something.

alyCe · 01-03-2008, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telly

My style is completely tabled, a lot of people like DIVs and CSS, don't get me wrong, that have their uses, but I like to keep it organized and clean. ^^

I'm not a web-designer, but I know designers who would have chased you down the road and beaten you with sticks for saying that :P

If you talk about "best place to learn about design" then I'll reply with... "what is design?"
If you want to learn how to use photoshop to create pretty images then I'd say your better off with tutorials. If you want to learn graphic design with all that comes with that then you should pick up some books or see if there are any schools near you that teaches graphic design. =)

Agilius · 01-04-2008, 11:06 AM

Guys if you have any good sites that you like to share with the users of this forum please let me know via PM or go here and leave a post. Thanks.

greenline · 01-06-2008, 02:29 AM

I've learned most from :

www.good-tutorials.com
www.pixel2life.com
www.tutorialized.com

fumblies · 01-09-2008, 12:34 AM

^ Thanks for the links! The tutorials lookgreat! I'll have to try them soon.

Distill · 01-09-2008, 09:56 AM

It sounds like what you're asking is "how does one learn design principles?" (composition, balance, color, positive/negative space, et cetera). As someone who didn't go to school for design (majored in english), I can relate to your dilemma.

My recommendation would be to find a bunch of things that YOU think are well designed (photos, websites, magazine pages, architecture, anything . . .), and ask yourself WHY they are good. What is it YOU like about them? What do they have in common? What is YOUR style? Once you're comfortable with your own style, branch out and find the virtue in other styles.

It's always good to have context for discussion of why they're good/bad, so I would also recommend picking up a basic design book or two, just so you can learn the lingo and see what other minds think defines "good" design (this is a VERY subjective field, but most people can agree on the basics). I picked one up called "Universal Principles of Design" (Lidwell, Holden, Butler) that's a great resource for that purpose. As you read it, you'll recognize things you knew intuitively, but didn't have the words for. You'll also pick up some new ideas.

And, as everyone was saying, once you know what looks good to you, web tutorials are a great way to learn how to make it (i.e. the software or the tools). I've learned a TON from a pay-site, Lynda.com. It's like $25/month, but all-inclusive (they have a huge library of tutorials for all kinds of creative software). Lots of good free tutorials out there too--you just have to look.

Good luck!

Sono Juventino · 02-09-2008, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telly

My style is completely tabled, a lot of people like DIVs and CSS, don't get me wrong, that have their uses, but I like to keep it organized and clean.

Divs and Css are even more organised and is coded with less lines of code. Table should be used for just tables - not design matters. I bet I could use 20 lines of code on a page you'll use 200 on.

01-02-2008, 08:39 PM	#1
gary223 Intern Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 17	Best place to learn about design? Hello, How did you learn about general design? Or do you wing it and go with what looks good? Those who have read up or learned about design principles, can you recommend good books or websites for a neopyte like myself? So far I've paged through Robin Williams' The Non-Designers Design Book. Thoughts?

01-02-2008, 08:42 PM	#3
Elite By Design Designer Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: USA Posts: 84	I'm with Telly - I learned much of what I know through tutorials. Do as many as you can, even if the outcome isn't something you want to make. THe idea is to learn the ins and outs of all the tools in photoshop so that if someone comes along one day and asks how to pull of an effect, you can immediately recongnize what filters, tools, and layer styles you need to use. __________________

01-02-2008, 10:27 PM	#4
infektsu Designer Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Tallahassee Posts: 80	For me it was just practice and experimenting. I started graphic arts when digital abstracts first started becoming popular around '99 - '00. I would just kind of look at the images and try and replicate them. Would stay up for nights sometimes trying to figure out how someone did something. __________________ INFECTING YOU ALL ONE AT A TIME ™ www.infektsu.com (coming soon)

01-09-2008, 09:56 AM	#9
Distill Designer/Copywriter Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: DePere, WI Posts: 84	Learning Design It sounds like what you're asking is "how does one learn design principles?" (composition, balance, color, positive/negative space, et cetera). As someone who didn't go to school for design (majored in english), I can relate to your dilemma. My recommendation would be to find a bunch of things that YOU think are well designed (photos, websites, magazine pages, architecture, anything . . .), and ask yourself WHY they are good. What is it YOU like about them? What do they have in common? What is YOUR style? Once you're comfortable with your own style, branch out and find the virtue in other styles. It's always good to have context for discussion of why they're good/bad, so I would also recommend picking up a basic design book or two, just so you can learn the lingo and see what other minds think defines "good" design (this is a VERY subjective field, but most people can agree on the basics). I picked one up called "Universal Principles of Design" (Lidwell, Holden, Butler) that's a great resource for that purpose. As you read it, you'll recognize things you knew intuitively, but didn't have the words for. You'll also pick up some new ideas. And, as everyone was saying, once you know what looks good to you, web tutorials are a great way to learn how to make it (i.e. the software or the tools). I've learned a TON from a pay-site, Lynda.com. It's like $25/month, but all-inclusive (they have a huge library of tutorials for all kinds of creative software). Lots of good free tutorials out there too--you just have to look. Good luck!

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01-02-2008, 08:41 PM	#2
Telly Intern Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 12	Personally, I'm horrible with graphics. My best designs are from combinations of tutorials to make a unique, yet doable design. If it's tutorials you want, http://www.good-tutorials.com/ and http://www.tutorialized.com/ are my two favorites. As for the coding end of it, that I basically picked up after a basic HTML course in school. My style is completely tabled, a lot of people like DIVs and CSS, don't get me wrong, that have their uses, but I like to keep it organized and clean. ^^ As far as books go, I can't really recommend any for graphics design, they all went WAY over my head. :S For programming, depends on what level you're looking for. I've used books from elementary level programming to university level programming, which isn't very advanced... Hope the tutorial sites are helpful, since nothing else I've said can be.

01-04-2008, 11:06 AM	#6
Agilius Designer Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 78	Guys if you have any good sites that you like to share with the users of this forum please let me know via PM or go here and leave a post. Thanks.

01-06-2008, 02:29 AM	#7
greenline Watching n Learning! Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 17	I've learned most from : www.good-tutorials.com www.pixel2life.com www.tutorialized.com

01-09-2008, 12:34 AM	#8
fumblies Designer Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 49	^ Thanks for the links! The tutorials lookgreat! I'll have to try them soon.