Honing Your Craft

Hello all,

Sorry for the delayed response; I have the pleasure of getting the wonderful sickness that's going around my office, so bear with me.

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While I am working on finishing the Publications Design program and working a full-time job (a job unrelated to the field), I often wonder what I can be doing to sharpen my skills in different aspects of graphic design, including technique, process and creative brainstorming. In previous classes, we have discussed where we pull our creativity and how that helps to lead into a project, but what happens when you come across an idea that you want to recreate, but you just don’t have the skills to recreate it?

For me this happens often, and I feel that this not only holds me back, but it shows how much is out there that I should be aware of. When I find myself struggling with a technique, I try to find YouTube videos to help walk me through recreating a technique that I like or to touch up on a technique that I haven’t used in a while. I've found another site that has step-by-step tutorials to recreate different techniques that I think will be beneficial to the class:

http://abduzeedo.com/tags/illustrator

I also like to use a site called Illustration Friday, which provides a weekly prompt, and your objective is to basically create something based on the prompt. Sometimes I will attempt to advance my drawing skills, but most of the time, I will look to trying new techniques in Adobe, particularly Illustrator or Photoshop.

In this industry, and I’m sure it is the same in every other industry, it is the responsibility of the individual to know/learn the latest methods and techniques. So much questions for the class is:

1. What ways are you furthering your skills in your spare time?

2. How has this benefit you as a designer?

3. Are there any sites you visit that help you sharpen your skills and techniques?
4. Any secret cures for the common cold? :)