Graphics Design 101

maybe do a search for your area online? check out some schools. lynda.com has plenty of wonderful tutorials. my favorite magazine is creative arts and arts projects, you can pick those up at most bookstores.. best piece of advice is just do it... just jump in and play around in your programs and figure it out.. creativity is not something that can be bought.. (unless paying for a professional designer to do the work:-)

if you feel you are not naturally talented in the actual aspect of creating maybe look into being a art director, if you have good direction

I'm of the opinion (and it IS an opinion) that if you can't even draw on paper, you're not going to get much better via computer.

You need to learn to exercise your creative eye, and while software program tutorials and that sort of thing might assist, I think actually starting from the very basics could do you a load of good.

I would seriously start off just checking your local community college for a drawing class. And, if you're impatient (like me), ALSO start working with learning the software gradually through suggestions mentioned in the previous post. But learn how to draw with your hand on paper. Learn to use different mediums (pencil, ink, watercolor, acrylic, oils, markers, and even move on to 3D applications such as sculpting and jewelry making and that sort of thing.)

Trust me, if you've got a little creative kid inside of you SCREAMING to be released, you'll LOVE the non-computer classes as much as you'll enjoy the computer-based classes.

But if you get some formal training on the subject, your art will be all the better. Learn color theory, the rule of thirds, etc. etc. When you know your stuff on paper and canvas, you'll whip through it on the computer and really take off from there.

Good luck.

By the way, the field is called 'graphic design'. :) Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine how even employers with in-house creative departments can't figure this out, ha ha.

I recommend attending some meetings of the Los Angeles AIGA (http://aigalosangeles.org/) to see if you like what's going on. Interview folks doing what you want to do before you dive in. It's the best way to test the waters without committing too much too soon.

And keep checking out creativebits here. Lots of awesome discussions about pertinent design topics. Other sources are www.creativepro.com and www.adobe.com.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

Yes, Illustrator and Photoshop can teach you to draw. I could not draw by hand before I learned Illustrator and Photoshop. I can now.

If you can train your eyes to see what you are looking at, you can train your hands to draw what you see.

Illustrator’s Pen/Bezier tool taught my eyes to follow form and my eyes taught my hands. Further, Illustrator helped me develop an orderly approach to Illustrating what I see or imagine. Before Illustrator I would draw the eye and then draw the head around it.

Photoshop, a digital camera and a Wacom tablet will continue where Illustrator left off. Study photos (play with extreme colour adjustments). Work from form, to texture, to lighting and you will progress faster than if your go directly to pencil, marker or brush. Your ability to undue, layer and colour adjust, after you have made a mark, will increase your learning curve over traditional training.

If you are committed to long hours and WORK HARD you will succeed.

James

p.s. If all you want to do is learn Design go to the library, read Design for Dummies and then break all the rules they give you.

thank you all for the great advice! it's interesting to see how everybody has their own take on how to go about this.