How to Learn Graphic Design: 7 Steps to Build Your Skills

Learning graphic design can be a helpful skill whether you want to find a job as a graphic designer or become a well-rounded communications professional. Graphic design is a broad creative discipline encompassing many types of visual design and communication, from designing brand logos to touching up photographs.

Companies and organisations use graphic design to communicate to their customers or users what they do and who they are. Various creative fields rely on graphic design, including brand marketing, government agencies that need infographics, and UX departments that need designers to create web pages.

Explore steps to learn essential graphic design skills and discover resources for kickstarting your journey.

How to learn graphic design

Learning graphic design starts with the basics, like understanding the principles of design, before mastering more complex tasks. The following steps can help you begin your graphic design career journey:

1. Learn the basics.

Graphic design uses visual communication to convey different messages to specific audiences. The basic design principles underpin how you represent your message. Graphic designers need to know colour theory, typography, hierarchy, composition, shapes, and layout and how these work together in an image, website, or poster to engage different market segments.

2. Build your skills with online courses.

Once acquainted with the basics, you’re ready to learn advanced aspects of graphic design. Building your skills with the wealth of online courses and resources available today is possible. 

Some courses to get you started include:

• CalArts’ Graphic Design Specialisation

• UC Boulder’s Graphic Design

• IE University’s Branding: The Creative Journey Specialisation

And some Guided Projects to build specific skills in two hours or less:

• Use Canva to Create an Interactive Mind Map

• Work Smarter with Microsoft PowerPoint

• Design a Pitch Deck with Canva

• Web Design for Everybody: Basics of Web Development & Coding Specialisation

Graphic design vs UX Design: What’s the difference?

Graphic designers often specialise in brand-centric work designing visual elements for companies. You can expect to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and other design tools to convey messages and ideas.

User experience (UX) designers work with product teams to design user-centric interactions using tools like Figma, Sketch, and Airtable. In recent years, UX design has gained popularity as a well-paid career path and is expanding from just tech firms to nearly every kind of organisation.

3. Master the ins and outs of design programs.

To truly learn graphic design, you’ll need to be proficient in graphic design software. Designers often use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for the majority of their work. 

Are you just beginning your career or hoping to dabble in graphic design? Canva may be a good match with its beginner-friendly design, which aims to help the average person deliver beautiful social media posts and resumes. You can peruse Canva to research trending aesthetics and designs.

As a graphic designer, you’ll want to create designs from scratch on Adobe and bring them to life using the talents you’ve developed. 

4. Create a portfolio of projects.

Since graphic design is a visual field, a portfolio is a great way to demonstrate your unique skills and work to potential employers. After you’ve mastered some skills, you may want to take on personal projects to build a portfolio. 

If you need help finding freelance projects, create your own. Give yourself a prompt, such as making a logo for a healthcare technology start-up that focuses on well-being or assisting in designing a series of social media posts to launch a cosmetics brand. In your portfolio, you’ll want to include the brief, the final designs, and any positive feedback you received. 

Tips for creating an impressive portfolio

Ready to start building your portfolio? Here are some tips.

1) Show your best work.

2) Express your personality through your designs.

3) Document the impact of your designs, such as increased brand awareness (with actual percentages and analytics.) 

5. Grow your network.

You’ll also want to grow your network as you build your portfolio. Connect with fellow designers at meetups or networking events. Search for design leaders on LinkedIn and ask for an informational interview. Think of an industry you may like to focus on, such as non-profit organisations or branding agencies. 

To grow your personal brand, you might even think about creating content and sharing it on Instagram, Pinterest, or another platform. Graphic designers often develop a style or niche over the years, and you may have more chances of landing a job if companies can get a general idea of what your designs will look like.

6. Get some work experience.

It may feel challenging to land your first job or consulting gig. Remember that you can volunteer or start with an internship to gain more experience on the job. Fiverr and similar freelance platforms can connect you with people willing to pay per gig for work like designing a resume or presentation. This can be a low-stakes way to gain work experience.

Networking can also help you gain contract or freelance work that will build your portfolio and allow you to continue expanding your skill set and experience.

Work from anywhere

Learning graphic design can be helpful because you can do it virtually anywhere. Graphic designers often have flexible hours, meaning you can work remotely or whilst travelling. Social media marketer roles also often offer remote options and sometimes involve a basic understanding of graphic design.

7. Continue to learn and grow.

Once you've mastered the basics, continue to learn and grow so that you can flourish in your graphic design career. You’ll always find new software tools to master and innovative design methods for brands.

As a graphic designer grows, you can take additional courses to learn a specific niche or align your skills with a particular industry. You can focus on mastering motion graphics or another user interface (UI) design field. Honing your craft and talent whilst being open to opportunities will help you move quickly in your career.

Learn graphic design on Coursera

Graphic design is a flourishing field that has a lot of opportunities. Building skills within graphic design is a crucial way to grow your career, whether you plan to work solely in graphic design or a wider creative field. Learn graphic design principles and skills like typography, image-making, motion graphics, interface design, and editorial design with CalArts’ Graphic Design Specialisation on Coursera. Get hands-on experience in the capstone project to add to your portfolio.