How to Become a Better Designer: 5 Tips that Will Improve Your Work

As designers, our job is to solve problems. We are often given a brief and expected to create work that solves it. It’s not always easy, but with practice, you will develop your skills over time. If you’re just starting as a graphic designer, you may feel like there are so many things that you need to know before you can even begin to call yourself a designer. However, don’t worry! You are exactly where you need to be to become the best designer possible and we’ve got some tips on how you can improve your work in record time! As graphic designers, we all face different challenges from project to project. Sometimes we might struggle with finding the right visual solution for our client’s brief. Other times we may find that our designs are too repetitive and need new inspiration for new ideas. We all have our ups and downs in this field and as designers, we often have several areas in which we could use some improvement.

Learn how to use color better

One of the most important aspects of being a designer is learning how to use color correctly. You will find yourself using color in practically every design project you come across, so you will need to know how to use it effectively if you want your designs to look their best!

When selecting colors for your designs, you will want to make sure you are using them in a way that is consistent with your brand. If you are designing for a company, make sure that the colors you choose match the branding that they have set up for themselves. Most importantly, make sure that the colors you use look good together!

You can use tools like Adobe Color Wheel or Adobe Color, which are helpful apps for designers that will show you color palettes and create color combinations for you!

Understand typography

The next step on the journey to becoming a better designer is understanding typography. Typography is essentially the art of lettering and choosing the right font for your design will determine whether or not your work turns out as great as you had imagined. The font you select will also say a lot about the brand or company you are working for. The right font will enhance the message you are trying to get across in your design, while the wrong font will distract from it.

There are many things to consider when choosing a font, such as the overall look, the message the font sends, and the amount of text the font can fit within a given space. Once you know the basics, you’ll be able to experiment with various font combinations for different designs and see which combinations work best for your work!

Build your portfolio

When you start as a designer, you might not have a portfolio that you can use to prove your skill set. Having a strong portfolio allows you to show off your best work and will allow potential clients to get a feel for what you can do for them. A good portfolio will also show how consistent your work is and how you progress in your design skills. Be sure to include a variety of projects and showcase your best work!

When choosing which projects to include in your portfolio, be sure to pick projects that are relevant to the audience you are hoping to attract. If you are designing for a branding client, be sure to include branding projects in your portfolio! If you are hoping to attract web design clients, be sure to include website designs in your portfolio. Having relevant projects in your portfolio will help potential clients see that you are capable of designing the project they hire you for. A portfolio will also help you to progress in your design skills since you will be able to look back at past work and see what areas you need to improve on!

Network, Network, Network!

No matter what field you are in, networking is one of the best ways to advance your career. Whether you choose to focus on people in your city or people across the globe, networking can help you to expand your creative network with people who can help you to grow as a designer.

There are many ways to network with people in your field, such as connecting with other designers on social media. Another good way to network is to attend events related to your field. You can join organizations related to your industry and attend events where you can meet other people who work in the same field as you.

Networking can help you to expand your professional network as well as your creative network. You can find other people in your field who may have skills that you lack, or you may be able to share your skills with other people in your industry and learn from them as well!

Practice your fundamentals

As you are learning new skills, it can be easy to get sidetracked and feel like you are moving too slowly. Sometimes you may feel like you aren’t making any progress at all. When this happens, it is important to take a step back and re-evaluate the core skills that you first learned as a designer. Doing so will help you not only become a better designer but will also ensure that you don’t lose yourself in the creative process.

Some of the most important skills that you can practice and improve on include typography, color theory, sketching skills, and the ability to conceptualize ideas. You can practice these skills by reading books, taking online courses, or even finding mentors who can provide insight into these core skills. Doing so will not only help you to become a better designer, but it will also give you the tools you need to advance your career.

Bottom line

Becoming a better designer is a journey that will take time and patience. As you work on improving your skills, don’t be too hard on yourself if you aren’t progressing as quickly as you would like to. Everyone progresses at their own pace and you will get there if you keep working towards it.

When you put these tips into action, you will start to see an immediate improvement in your work. As you improve your skills, you will find that you are more confident in your abilities and you will be able to create designs that are truly creative, innovative, and inspiring!