My biggest mistake with graphic design

in #work3 years ago

I've been doing graphic design for quite a while now. I started when I was around 14 years old, watching tutorials on YouTube and working in Photoshop version CS4 I think it was. I was amazed by how you can create awesome artwork using only your computer and all kind of (mostly) free resources online.

Since then I kept on working in Photoshop doing all kind of things, from photomanipulation, to abstract backgrounds and even photo effects. I even made some money using my skills.

However, I have always been extremely frustrated with graphic design and for a very long time I thought it was because I had no talent in this particular field. The biggest amount of frustration came from the fact that I know I have good imagination, and I know that my mind works mostly based on images, and because of that I always expected myself to be able to create amazing artworks.

But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't do it. I would stare at my empty white file and I wouldn't know what to create. Any attempt at putting something on that empty file would result in frustration and in me quitting soon after trying a few times.

After years of trying to work as a freelancer I gave up and I got a normal job for around two years, a job that consumed all my energy and left nothing for most of my hobbies, and that includes graphic design. All I did was focus on 3D modelling once in a while and nothing more.

I recently stopped going to that particular job, and until I'm starting at the next one, I slowly started picking up on my old work once again, such as writing, some more 3D modelling, and even a little bit of graphic design.

The interesting thing is that I expected myself to simply be able to go back to my work without any problem and be as productive as before. It didn't happen, obviously.

If you don't work on a particular thing for two years, you can't expect to simply go back at it and be as good as you were initially. You will not be, period. You'll be slower, it will take time for you to adjust again to the same workflow and progress will barely appear for a while. You will, eventually, get as good as, or even better than you were before, but it will take a bit of time and a bit of practice.

I had to write a few bad articles, struggling to put ideas on paper, typing as fast as I did before was difficult and and it took a while for me to be happy with my articles again. I had to try a few times, read several books, and edit the crap out of everything I was doing before I got back to writing articles in 10-15 minutes and actually publish them.

Same with 3D modelling. While I did work in Blender while I had my former job, the work was fairly simple, and I wasn't doing it for very long, mostly because I had no time and I was always tired. Once I stopped going to the job, and got back into Blender, it took a few weeks to get back into creating more complicated shapes, to working better with textures and learning how to create more complex scenes.

However, when it comes to graphic design, the fact that I wasn't as good as I was when I was 18 or 20 years old really frustrated me for some reason. I got quite mad. I was trying to do something in Photoshop and I just couldn't make anything. If I was making progress, it was too slow, and I would give up.

For some reason, when it came to writing and 3D modelling I was patient with myself and I was taking my time to get good enough again at those things, but with graphic design, I just didn't have the patience. I just couldn't understand why I wasn't just as good as before.

I can't really explain why, but I recently realized that I've been doing this, only with things such as drawing or graphic design, for as long as I can remember. Every time I would try to draw I would get annoyed because I wasn't immediately good at it, and I couldn't draw something good. Every time I tried to do anything in Photoshop or Illustrator and I would fail, I would give up and do something else.

I treated graphic design, drawing, and anything similar, as lesser forms of art, despite the fact that I have a huge respect for people who do those things. Either that, or I just expected myself to be good, immediately, with no justification.

And it's been around a week since I realized how stupid I was.

In order for me to write decently I had to spend years actually doing this thing, reading articles about how to do it better and reading books about all kind of topics to keep ideas coming.

In order for me to do 3D modelling I've been practicing for quite a while now, again reading articles, watching tutorials on YouTube and experimenting with Blender to get a much better understanding of how things work.

But with graphic design, I just expected myself to be good. I watched a few tutorials, read a few articles, and that was it. I felt like I already knew everything there was to know and that I should've been really good at Photoshop after learning some basic things.

My biggest mistake in regards to graphic design was the fact that I didn't treat it as a subject that was, and is, as complex as writing, 3D modelling, and any other thing out there. I didn't accept the fact that I need to watch a dozens of tutorials, to read hundreds of articles and to actually practice a lot in order to be good.

I just expected myself to come up with original work, that no one has done. But it's impossible. If I can't come up with original articles, more or less, unless I read a lot of books or articles, or watch a lot of interesting videos, and if I can't really create 3D scenes without having some reference images, without watching tutorials and without planning everything ahead, then I should expect to not be able to come up with original design ideas unless I consume a lot of content related to design.

I'll be able to create the things I want to create in Photoshop or Illustrator or any other similar software when I'll spend enough time consuming design related content, and when I'll actually be quite good at the skill itself. Masters are able to create amazing and unique work because they spent years, even decades, mastering their skill. I can't expect myself to create the same quality work without even putting the time into learning more advanced techniques.

I guess that the moral of the story is here to not underestimate the work required to be good at any skill, no matter how easy it may seem. You know, graphic design really seems quite easy when you go on YouTube and you see someone doing it, but it's only easy because someone who already knows a lot more than you do does it.

So, expect each skill to require quite a lot of work before you get really good at it. There are exceptions, such as people just being naturally talented at something, but that's rare. The norm is composed of a lot of work required + a lot of learning at all times.

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Graphic design or any other discipline is difficult to do if you have not practiced it for a couple of years. For graphic design you need to have a lot of visual culture and have general knowledge about many fields. Designers have to be so versatile as to be able to make a logo for a sad funeral home and then another for a colorful ice cream parlor in the same day. It's not easy to focus and change subjects just like that. We have all gone through moments in which creativity does not flow as it should and we do not have good results in a short time, but in graphic design you need to be constant and have a lot of skill in handling software, which is becoming more complicated and comprehensive. .
I think we have to be patient and enjoy the creative process and be realistic in thinking that it takes time for training and work to have good results. Just put on some music and enjoy the process. In a little constant time you will see things differently. Greetings and cheers!

Thank you, you put it really well. I've been ignorant about it for a very long time. I guess in a way I felt graphic design was easier because I could see every element that I was using, and I didn't think too much about how important it is to know a lot about those elements, like typography, colors, negative space, etc.

I've been making this mistake for years, but I'm trying to correct it. As you said, making an enjoyable process out of it is my best bet at learning graphic design properly.

Cheers!