I’ve been working at a sign company for about four years now and Corel Draw is the main program used there for our design team. I don’t plan to work there forever and I’m concerned I’m getting behind in my skills with more widely used design programs like Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, Figma, etc.
What education would you all recommend to freshen up my skills? Skillshare? Udemy? I’m hoping for something that will take me through different projects so I can build up my portfolio and sharpen my memory on those programs.
Has anybody used these learning resources and were they helpful for you?
Not trying to console you, but graphic design is not about Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign.
These are just the tools. It’s like the pots, pans, knifes, spoons of a chef.
Learning a new program is a matter of a two-three weeks to get the hang of it, and then google/youtube is your friend to surpass every obstacle.
But design is about knowing what you design, not how. If you can visualize it, believe me you will find the way to do it no matter the program.
If you don’t fresh up your inspirations, if you are not up to date with trends (which is not obligatory to follow) and if you’re stuck into designing the same thing again and again, then yes, you should be concerned if you plan to level up.
Everyone learns differently, and if you’re a visual learner who benefits from a step-by-step approach to learning software, I’ve heard good things about the courses you mentioned.
However, I take a more learn-by-doing approach to software and just dive right into it. That way, when I encounter problems, I need to figure them out or look up the solution. Doing this causes me to focus on the problems I encounter, which causes me to remember the solutions.
When I watch a tutorial, the information doesn’t usually stick unless the tutorial or video deals directly with the problem I’ve encountered.
Don’t worry about the tools right now. Using your imagination and creativity is more important. Think of a great idea THEN figure out how to get it into InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. later.