All the logos and designs I'm able to produce look like they're from 2007, are heavily gradiented, and lack subtlety. I would like to be able to make more modern logos and designs. Are there any good websites or books for learning how to design elegant graphics and landing pages? I'm working in Photoshop CS5 by the way.
Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
1–10 of 14 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#2Hi, a good resource can be found on http://psd.tutsplus.com/ but you need to practice practice and more practice, and by the way logos are usually created in a vector program like Adobe Illustrator in order for them to be 'print ready'
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#3there are tons of awesome books on amazon - look for the bestsellers and highest reviews.
One that helped me with logos is: Logo Design Love
I also liked the Classical Effects in Photoshop. Foe websites: I liked CSS Mastery and on the cssgarden as well as reading alistpart.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#4there are tons of awesome books on amazon - look for the bestsellers and highest reviews. One that helped me with logos is: Logo Design Love I also liked the Classical Effects in Photoshop. Foe websites: I liked CSS Mastery and on the cssgarden as well as reading alistpart.
edits:For creating awesome websites: I liked CSS Mastery and I like reading cssgarden.com and alistpart.com for ideas.
I also like to take existing websites and redo them to make them better just for my own pleasure. And if I really am pleased, I send them to the company in case they can use it.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#5http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592532616/
This is a general design book, but one that is packed full of information and examples that you might find helpful. It's not a how-to book, but if you feel like you can recognize "good/great" design, but can't really produce it yourself: this is your book. You won't look at anything visually creative the same way again.
Otherwise, consider: "when all you have is hammer, you treat everything like a nail". People, myself included, tend to stick with what they know and are comfortable with. It's no surprise that all your designs end up looking similar: you're probably using the same tools in Photoshop and the same techniques. No tutorial is going to directly help you create "elegant graphics" in any meaningful way, but there are certainly great tutorials out there that will expose you to new techniques and skills which will broaden your personal toolbox.
Having a broader toolbox or skill-set makes new things possible that previously you might have not considered.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#6Try this site for inspiration: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#7http://www.dribbble.com is my favorite source right now for inspiration. Tons of extremely talented designers.
Some of my other favorite resource: http://www.smashingmagazine.com -- great showcases http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/ -- inspiration and tutorials http://twitter.com/#!/TheSash/designers -- a list of awesome designers on twitter
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#8good to know you got PS CS5 to play with. i suggest you google few hours for web2.0 design theories and concepts, like - how to create web2.0 effects with photoshop, glossy text/image effects, reflections effects, how to create nice gradients. watch videos, listen podcasts, go through listapart articles if you have time http://www.alistapart.com/topics/design/ tune up your design concepts first.
you can practice with vandelaydesign photoshop tutorials list. http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/photoshop-tutorials/ choose the one easy for you to begin with.
and once you master these basic skills, you can then search for "design inspiration" around the web to see how other designers are making web beautiful. when you understand the design principles, design tool becomes just a matter of choice. all the best.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#9http://www.dribbble.com is my favorite source right now for inspiration. Tons of extremely talented designers. Some of my other favorite resource: http://www.smashingmagazine.com -- great showcases http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/ -- inspiration and tutorials http://twitter.com/#!/TheSash/designers -- a list of awesome designers on twitter
I think the more someone looks at Dribbble, the more their work shows they've been viewing Dribbble too often. Sure, there are trends, and then there is good design, and the line is blurry in most. But, a lot of stuff on Dribbble is the same texture, pattern, noise, over and over. In short, I think looking outside of the web for inspiration can help designers not rehash the same design techniques over and over.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I improve my graphic design skills?
#10Is your problem not knowing what it is you want to create (or, what an "updated" version of that design would be), or do you not have the skill set to develop what it is you want to create? Or both?