Ways to Further my Skills?

is there any chance you can take some formal training? even if it's design classes in night school at a local community college? while i started out self-taught, actually taking the classes and getting a better foundation in the basics helped make a difference in how i designed. i often knew what i should and shouldn't do, but i didn't completely understand *why* i should or shouldn't do them until i'd taken some foundation classes in typography, color theory, page layout, etc.

Thanks for the tip. I'd really love to take formal college classes, but very expensive there! Also I'm scared because I know a lot of designers who said college was worthless to them. I know there are good instructors and bad ones out there and I'm scared to get a bad one (especially since it will be hard work just getting in a class).

I might be able to pull some strings with my family and some crappy scholarships I won back in high school to take a few classes, but.. what classes should I take if I do that?

honestly, the basics. typography, color theory, any class that teaches concepting, those were the classes that i appreciated the most when i went back to school. pretty much everything else you do uses some form of what you learn in these classes as a basis.

look around for designers who can give you recommendations for which schools have useful programs. i'm sure there are programs out there that just don't prepare you very well or that are focused on fine arts instead of communications arts. you have to do the footwork to find out which program(s) would suit what you want to do.

even non-credit workshops and classes that give you some of these basic skills would be useful. but if you may plan on getting a design degree eventually, you may want to go ahead and try to do for-credit classes.

No, no plans for a design degree. I just want to increase my skills, that will show in my work, I don't need a silly piece of paper for my efforts.

Any word on the Art Institutes? We just got one and I wonder if it's worth looking into. Definitely the only school around here that is specifically design oriented.

the one here in DC isn't bad. there are some good teachers there. i've seen a full range of quality of design from the portfolios i've reviewed there (they do an annual portfolio review for seniors and i've gone a couple of times). there's some very mediocre work and some very very good work.

just keep in mind that all of these programs are as useful as you make them. there are almost always mediocre to bad design students in most every program, ignore them and work hard and learn from the teachers (and other students who do good work).

I recommend www.designobserver.com. Great articles for not only inspiration but education as well. Oftentimes the words (and art) of a master can do much more than any teacher, book, or classroom ever could. Not to denigrate those learning options.

Art Institutes, I hear, are hit or miss. Talk to your other designer friends and get their recommendations.

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Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"

Cool, thank you very much for the link and the advice! I've already subscribed to Design Observer, I'll be sure to read a lot there!

I'm subscribed to some other design blogs as well, and I try to actually DO as much design as possible. But I've been designing, to some degree, for 10 years, and though my work is steadily improving, it doesn't look like it has 10 years of experience behind it. So I'm just getting a little worried, and wondering how I can accelerate that process!

Thanks again!

If you stare at the good guys for long enough, it begins to seep into you.

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