Hi all, I am wanting to advance my graphics skills even further. Looking for tips on the best industry rated short intense courses?
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- @Darren HigginbottomThanks so much Darren, buzzing to be apart of it! :). That would actually be so helpful, I will privately message you.
- @Josie Jackson that is such excellent news! Welcome to the mad house! :-) I wish you all the very best of luck on the path. If there is anything at all I can offer in terms of assistance or mentoring - please do not hesitate to reach out. All the best. Darren
- @Darren Higginbottom I just wanted to thank you for the advice and encouragement here. I’ve just finished the course at Shillington and learnt all about the design theory as well as new techniques. I’m now OBSESSED with graphics and just want to experiment with purpose driven concepts all day long! So anyway thanks again.Merry Christmas,Josie
- @Darren Higginbottom and @Nicolas Rojas I SO appreciate your invaluable help and advice, honestly thank you so much. I totally agree with all aspects of what you are saying, it takes years of building on and there are no easy ways, just sheer hard work!Thanks for the book tips, i'm going to go and buy these now, they seem so great! Thank you! I appreciate your honestly and help. :)
- @Nicolas Rojas ... absolutely spot on in every aspect. Thanks for helping a grumpy - 'old school' designer feel a tiny bit better than he did about the state that the industry is in! There clearly are people out there that get it! :-)
- @Darren Higginbottom You're right, online courses by themselves fall short when providing a solid foundation for designers. They're useful when providing a chance to explore specific parts of the craft with a defined scope but the impact they have depends solely on how much a designer is able to translate that particular experience into different situations and projects.I agree with you that taking the time to learn to do things properly is the ideal way to do it and if one has the chance to take that path it's a must. Online courses, as any other resources, are a complement to this journey, not an alternative.
- @Josie Jackson Hi Josie,Shillington is probably a best bet of all of them. They do have a respectability that a lot of these online providers do not. You are miles better with a course that operates in person with people that are relevant in the industry.One of the key points of your learning curve here is absorbing the knowledge and good habits of those that do it well.The technical side of it, your software / base principles and so on, can certainly be absorbed with an intensive effort in a shorter space of time ... its like learning to drive really - you'll gain moire confidence in time and be able to work efficiently and quick.From there, that will give you the framework you need for further development ... understanding and listening clients and how to deal with them, the business side of design, taking a brief correctly, the right ways to approach a creative problem, adapting to different visual styles lateral thinking techniques and so on.The latter by the way ... lateral thinking, is worth its weight in gold, and a valuable skill that will grow as the years go by.Most designers can produce beautiful layouts that don't say much, but only the great ones can think laterally and incorporate that into commercial work.I can highly recommend a book called 'A Smile In The Mind' by Phaidon in this regard.A good book to get stuck into in terms of typographic rule is'Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works.Both ought to be available on amazon these days and will be invaluable to your leanng.Make sure by the way, that you get stuck into approaching agencies in London for internships / junior studio positions, and attend as many design related events down there as you can.It takes serious effort and time, and a resistance to rejection, but you will get there.Hope that helps ...All the best, and good luck.D
- @Darren Higginbottom thanks for this, I have been looking into the Shillington course which is a three month, in person, 9-5 intensive course, like a super intense masters in 3 months to learn the technical skills and then I can keep building on them. What do you think to this idea? As I feel like I need a foundation first?
- Avoid, avoid, avoid.Your best bet is to go down the legitimate route and take the time necessary to learn your craft properly.Online courses are ten a penny, and do you no good whatsoever in the real world of the indistry marketplace. They are a blight on the integrity of the industry. You will only ever be considered a hobbyist.There is no fast track tor quick fix for becoming a good designer I'm afraid. Put the time in, reap the rewards.
- Thanks so much i'll look into all of these, really appreciate all your help!I'll let you know what I land on :)
- I go for online courses almost maniacally and it helps a lot in the long run. They are easy to follow since you're working on a small project and, as long as you're disciplined, you can learn so much. I particularly enjoy some of the Udemy courses and a lot of Doméstika's (although most of them are in spanish, Doméstika has been improving their english courses, and even those in spanish are subtitled).
- I find that Linked-In Learning courses for design software such as Photoshop and Illustrator to be the most informative and useful from designer’s point of view. You do have to subscribe to them monthly at £ 24 approx and if you cancel within that year you have to wait until the following year to re-join. It incorporates the previous Linda.com tutorials approach to learning with 30 minute videos, exercise files, notebook and Q&A’s to assist you. Let me know if you try it...
- Have you looked at Shillington. The graduates work from that course is always amazing
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