Is graphic design easy to learn? Can you learn without a foundation?

First, the understanding of graphic design

Graphic design is a process of performing some special operations on some digital images, which is a comprehensive content integrating computer technology, digital technology and artistic creativity. Generally speaking, graphic design is the use of art forms, through professional computer software (such as Photoshop) to complete the artistic creativity of specific content, such as designing logos, designing business cards, designing posters and so on. But if there is no printing technology, these can't be applied, such as business cards and posters in daily life, which are all processed by printing technology after design. Therefore, graphic design and printing technology are closely related. In the process of graphic design, we need not only professional skills, but also some printing knowledge. Some people call it prepress technology.

The scope of graphic design is very extensive. From the scope, everything used for printing is related to graphic design, and from the function, graphic design belongs to visual communication. Vision is what we see, and communication is expressed in some form, which is the functional definition of an image in graphic design. There are many categories of graphic design, such as business card design, logo design, font design, VI visual image design, CIS design, advertising design, poster design, leaflet design, sample design, album design, loushu design, annual report design, packaging design, book binding design, greeting card design, invitation design, typesetting design and printed matter design.

These classifications seem complicated, but they are not. They are not independent, but interrelated or subordinate. For beginners, you don't need to do everything, just learn a few of them well according to your own interests or work needs. Over time, you will gradually come into contact with more things, and you will be able to master various design categories. And as long as you pay attention to observation, in fact, graphic design things can be seen everywhere in life, such as the packaging of various items, the design of books and magazines, billboards on the roadside and flyers and posters in shopping malls.

Second, know your hobbies.

After you have a general understanding of graphic design, you should know yourself and determine whether you are interested in graphic design. People who study graphic design on a whim will feel little interest when they learn, or give up easily when they encounter difficulties, which will only waste time and energy and get nothing. So before learning graphic design, you must understand that learning graphic design is not a one-off event, and it takes a long and tortuous process. To do it well, you need interest to support it to a great extent. Mr. Li Yanhong, CEO of Baidu, was interviewed and talked about why Baidu can achieve its current achievements. He concluded that it is best to do what you like, interest can cultivate everything, and the other is to do what you are good at. (This should be that many people have similar feelings after success. )

It can be seen that interest is the best teacher for success. Even if you have no art foundation and no design talent, you can still do well as long as you are interested enough.

Third, master the basics of graphic design.

First of all, the art foundation. People in major art colleges have a certain foundation. They learn sketch, color, Chinese painting, oil painting, plane composition, three-dimensional composition and color composition. At school, they have a certain artistic foundation, and systematically studied VIS image recognition system, book design, packaging design, layout design, photography art and so on. But after work, you will find that what you have learned at school is far from enough. Entering the society is just the beginning, and you have to face new learning.

But there are many design lovers who have no art foundation, let alone systematically study graphic design. Some people even smile bitterly that they can't even draw duck eggs. What if they want to learn graphic design? But the problem is not big. If you are interested in being your teacher, you don't have to feel inferior even if you draw duck eggs into bullets. As long as you take time out from work and study, you can learn more about art, such as color knowledge, cultivate your own color perception ability and practice freehand brushwork, which is also necessary for graphic designers. If there is an opportunity, I suggest you systematically learn basic things such as sketch, color, plane composition, three-dimensional composition and color composition, which takes a long process. Some people may say that there are not many people who do graphic design without art foundation. But if you want to do well, you will realize the importance of art foundation.

Secondly, computer software technology. Graphic design software includes Photoshop, Coreldraw, Illustrator, Freehand, Painter,

InDesign, wait. It is estimated that many people will be dazzled and sweaty when they see this place. So much? What year and month should I study? But what I want to tell you is that few people can master all these softwares, and there is no need to do so. You only need to learn a few of these softwares. The first thing you need to learn is Photoshop (PS for short), which is a necessary software. Getting started is easy, you don't need to be proficient, but you must learn the basics systematically, and then you will gradually learn more job-related functional operations at work. (Generally, it only takes a week or two to get started, and you can teach yourself. You can watch related PS video tutorials online. ) and you need to learn vector software, choose one of Coreldraw, Illustrator and Freehand. In China, Coreldraw is the most commonly used vector software for general companies, followed by Illustrator. If you don't know which software to learn, decide what to learn according to what vector software your local print advertising company usually uses. Vector software can also teach itself, which is relatively easy to use.

However, I want to remind you that it is useless to learn the design software from the East and the West. It's just a waste of time to learn software functions piecemeal. It is useful to learn the basic knowledge systematically.

The remaining two softwares generally don't need to be studied if there is no specific work demand. Painter is a professional software specially designed for illustrators, artists and photographers. And InDesign is a special typesetting design software.

Fourth, master the basic knowledge and theoretical skills of graphic design.

The basic software is mastered, of course, the basic knowledge and theoretical skills of graphic design also need to be deeply understood. Some people think they can PS, so they think they can design. This is a wrong idea. Although everyone will have their own ideas about design, this idea is still far from the real design. In the eyes of some people, design is not arbitrary and unconstrained. It has specific uses and regularity, and many factors need to be considered in the design process, so as to maximize its commercial value. Therefore, it is necessary to master the theoretical knowledge and skills of related majors and know how to use them flexibly. It's like doing anything. If you don't understand the knowledge, you are often doomed to fail.

In addition to learning professional basic knowledge and theoretical skills, you need to read more design-related materials, books and newspapers to understand and learn graphic design. I suggest surfing the internet more and not letting you play games. Read more design websites, such as vision china, Design Online, China Design Window and many other websites, and read more famous works. There are many things you want on these websites.

Fifth, know how to imitate and learn to use for reference.

Beginners need a process to grow up, which naturally begins with imitation. We should read more excellent design works, learn more from others' excellent works, practice more, make continuous progress and improve ourselves.