Learning just the basics of graphic design are almost necessary skills you ought to acquire whether you’re looking for a job, trying to take on new responsibilities within your company, or further the success of your own small business.
With the internet being the main avenue for shopping and advertising, it is now more important than ever to have not only a functioning website but one that is visually pleasing and aesthetically beautiful.
You can either hire a graphic designer for hundreds (even thousands) of dollars, or you can learn the skill yourself.
Fortunately, the internet is saturated with a wealth of information so that you don’t have to go to art school to master the use of photoshop.
So, if you want to learn how to change a photo from color to greyscale or how to design every inch of your website or do anything in between you should check out these sites for free lessons in graphic design:
1. Youtube.com/tastytuts
If you are looking to master Adobe’s range of creative software, you should take a peek at this YouTube channel.
TastyTuts has some seriously helpful video tutorials providing everything from tips and tricks to full breakdowns of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.
One of my favorite things is the break down of graphic design basics into a 45-episode series.
This series dives into Design theory which is crucial for understanding what is pleasing to the eye and what makes for good design and flow.
They also have other multi-episode courses on how to design for print and do photo manipulations in Photoshop.
This channel is updated often, usually weekly.
2. Youtube.com/creatnprocess
This other YouTube Channel provides a wealth of information on how to achieve certain effects in photoshop.
They go through techniques such as a color transition in animation, minimalist graphic design, and glossy text and give you step-by-step instructions on how to achieve this.
They also focus on designing logos and packaging for products which is helpful if you are designing for your own business or working on a product. They provide Logo design tutorials that are aesthetically pleasing in effort to provide you with some inspiration in your design process.
This channel is updated often, usually weekly.
3. Alison.com
If you are a less audio-visual learner and prefer things to be spelled out for you, look to Alison for free online courses in not only graphic design but in other fields too!
Type “graphic design” into the search bar and watch as hundreds of free lessons pop up.
These lessons are more lengthy than the aforementioned YouTube tutorials, but are totally worth it if you are used to a university lecturing style.
They are rated on their quality on a 5 star scale by previous viewers and you can view how long the lessons are along the bottom of the lesson card as well, so you know what you’re getting yourself into!
This site features lessons on product design and other practical uses for design, the kind of lesson you might get in a marketing or advertising class. They additionally provide lessons on other programs like Adobe After Effects, Flash, and SketchUp.
Learn more about graphic design from the video below!