You start by becoming a master in Photoshop or Fireworks. You look for tutorials all day and study deeply. You start creating things. You do not succeed in the first and second attempts, but on the third, you think: “ Wow! I’m the best designer in the world! “
Not quite! It is just the beginning of a long journey ahead. There are many things to be learned before you start making money from it. You will encounter difficulties, overcome differences, understand a lot of details about the design, and even so you will not become a successful web design professional.
The translation of this article is for all beginners in the field, and I hope these tips are really useful for everyone! I intend to leave tips so that you do not make mistakes that are common among designers and try to make you more professional and, yet, indicate a more accessible way for your development! Let’s keep on reading
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
This is a great universal truth that can be applied to any segment that intends to work. To be followed, to be able to accept the challenges you will encounter, you will necessarily need to know how to manipulate various software, such as Photoshop. There are still tons of tutorials and video lessons on various subjects, so you can practice your development and ideas.
The good thing about these tutorials – besides the fact that they are explained step by step – is that learning becomes, in a way, easy. You have free access to that content, and you can see what the process is to achieve a certain result. Start with easy tutorials, the ones that explain the basics and after that, go for the more complicated ones that require more knowledge,
BE A PHOTOSHOP MASTER
Photoshop is a source of creative possibilities to build something original and cool! Everything will depend on your imagination. Start by reading books about the program and you will see that it is not that difficult to become a master of creation!
THE SECRET IS PATIENCE
Remember, whenever you start something new, that something can go wrong or run away from your planning, but that cannot stop you! Keep in mind that quantity will become quality when you put your heart into it.
In 6 months you will be tough and you can create things quickly and in a year you can start to consider yourself a professional. All you need is to be patient and not let something that goes or went wrong discourage you – starts again and success will find you for sure!
DON’T LET GREED GET TO YOU
One of the most common mistakes among novice designers is this – everything you find on the internet and find cool, downloadable to the computer! This way, your machine will soon be asking for an update, as there is no more disk space to save all those brushes that you found and downloaded!
Remember, many of them are already incorporated into programs, and there is no need to download them again! Download just what you need!
SYSTEMIZE AND CLASSIFY
Once you’ve decided to download brushes or clipart, save them in folders with the correct names to find what you need in a simple and organized way. Or, you will have a congested desktop and without any organization, having to use the most diverse resources to find what you need, and thus, delaying your development and your projects! Once you’ve organized everything you’ve downloaded, you won’t spend hours searching for the file you want.
BE AN OBSERVER
Try to view the work of other designers as much as you can! This will help you to seek inspiration and you will learn a lot from people who are in the market for years, but who was in your place one day!
If you found a layout that you liked, try to follow the expressed trends – during the process, your ideas will emerge and you will put your style and who knows, make it even better!
OBSERVE, BUT DO NOT COPY
One thing you should always keep in mind is not to break anyone’s copyright. As mentioned above, you can use a piece of work as inspiration, incorporate some general elements of a website, but you should put your “finger” on the creation, and not simply copy what was observed.
ANALYZE
You found a website that served as inspiration. So, try to analyze how it was created – start by analyzing the background, which fonts were used, which brushes or gradients were developed to create a certain effect.
SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A DESIGNER
Try to visualize everything and analyze it with a designer look. This goes for anything – start with calls you see on television, magazines, folders, posters, signs, billboards, etc. You can find something very well crafted in television commercials that will give you an injection of inspiration!
MAKE A DIARY
I’m not talking about the ones you’re going to write about your day or your disappointments. I’m talking about a diary where you will put your ideas or impressions. It is practically impossible to remember everything you saw and interested in, and therefore it is interesting to have a notepad to put your ideas on paper. When you need to design a website, simply open your block and see if there is something you have already noticed that can help you!
DO NOT COVER IF YOU ARE UNMOTIVATED
One of the most normal things that affect beginners (and even the most experienced) is to blame yourself when a
INSPIRATION CRISIS
Sometimes the ideas don’t flow, we start to get discouraged and depressed at a certain point, wondering if the path you chose is the right one! All of that will change with experience – your inspiration will become much greater when you decide to start again and put your soul into service.
IF YOU WANT TO BE A DESIGNER, GET INVOLVED WITH DESIGNERS
A novice designer must communicate with more experienced ones whenever there is an opportunity. Never hesitate to ask your friends for any tips, because if they are professional, they will not ignore you! Also, try to visit several forums where you can find professionals even from other countries and you can communicate with them – you will be impressed with the amount of information you can get!
FOLLOW THE TRENDS
To succeed, you need to follow web design trends, or you won’t understand the point at which Web 2.0 has already become a thing of the past – and you don’t have to go through that.
DON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY THE NEWS
If you have found designers who have applied new things to design, don’t hesitate to use them too – make sure it’s a good time to use them and if the news fits your project!
CREATE TO USE
Once you’ve learned how to use Photoshop and started creating different things, don’t hesitate to make it usable for your project, otherwise, you will have a folder full of lost and unused work on your computer.
RESPECT COPYRIGHT
If you want to be a professional, you need to care about your image. You don’t want to be known for stupid things like breaking copyright. For example, in photos that you can use in your project. The safest way is to buy them from an image bank and if you can’t get them, make the authors’ credit clear or use photos that do not violate any of these Rights! If you do not know whether or not these Rights exist on a certain image, choose not to use them.
