Learning graphic design is hard. The software is overly complicated, and it takes so many steps to do the simplest things. Even when you get the hang of it, it’s so easy to accidentally mess everything up. Design isn’t about yelling at the computer—it’s about being creative and having fun.
That’s where this handy guide comes in. The act of doing each assignment will give you the skills needed to tackle the next one, giving you a smooth learning curve as you get comfortable designing things on the computer. I’ve included links to relevant tutorials as well as searchable keywords under the “skills” subheadings.
It’s a lot to learn, and not something you’ll get through in a weekend. Remember to be patient and go one step at a time. You’ll be flying before you know it. While there’s a lot more to design than just software, learning these fundamentals will free you to focus less on the computer and more on the design process.
1. Global Adjustments
Assignment: Edit a batch of photos using slider controls. Try not to rely too much on auto settings and presets. Go through each and every control and learn what they do.
Why: With all software, we’re basically creating and editing images with numbers. This can be unintuitive, especially if you’re coming from more hands-on mediums like drawing and painting. Learning how to edit your photos will get you used to controlling images with numbers, while building your sense of composition, color and lighting.
Skills: image organization, import / export, image adjustments (lighting / color / effects / details / optics), cropping, masking
Software: Adobe Lightroom mobile (Freemium) / Adobe Lightroom Classic/ Adobe Bridge (Free) / Darktable (Free and Open Source)
Helpful Links:
2023 LIGHTROOM MOBILE TUTORIAL | Everything you need to know
Lightroom Tutorial BASICS | Photo Editing Masterclass
Why Use Bridge Instead of Lightroom to Import Your Photos and Save time!
[Darktable] Basics: Developing a photo from start to finish & filmic rgb
Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash
2. Pixel Layers
Assignment: Create a photo composite by combining images with layers. Isolate your subjects with the selection tools and layer masks. Use the selection / mask refinement tools to cut out fine details like hair and clothing. Create a unified sense of lighting and color with adjustment layers, blending modes and layer effects.
Why: There are limitations to working without layers. We can’t combine images, it’s difficult to isolate and edit specific parts of the image, and every change is permanently baked into the image. Using layers allows us to stack edits, images, and drawings without messing up the original image. This is called a “non-destructive” workflow, and is used in photo compositing, digital art, 2D animation, video editing and motion graphics.
Skills: document settings, image / canvas settings, save / save as, export, layer ordering, adjustment layers, blending modes, selection tools, brush tools, color picker, masking
Software: Adobe Photoshop(Subscription) / Affinity Photo (One-time payment) / GIMP (Free and Open Source)
Helpful Links:
Master Layers – Photoshop for Beginners | Lesson 2
The Making of a Fantasy Photo-Manipulation using Stock Images | Photoshop Tutorial
CRAZY Perspective Bending Composite! Affinity Photo Tutorial
Make Yourself Float Photo Composite Manipulation in GIMP
Free Stock Photos, Royalty Free Stock Images & Copyright Free Pictures · Pexels
3. Vector Shapes
Assignment: Create a logo for yourself. Sketch out some ideas before building your design with vectors. Construct your logo by combining primitive shapes like squares, circles and polygons. This can be done by using Boolean operations (merge / subtract / intersect / exclude) or by using the Shape Builder tool (which is the same thing, but can feel more intuitive). Alternatively, use the pen tool to make custom curves. Feel free to experiment with color, but also make a version of the logo that is legible in one color (e.g black on a white background)
Why: While pixel-based programs like Photoshop are great for digital artwork and photography, the amount of detail is always limited by the number of pixels in your document. Vector programs like Illustrator use a coordinate system, meaning lossless detail at any scale. That’s why it’s standard practice to create logos, icons, and typefaces with vectors. Being able to precisely control vectors is essential for everything from logo design to 3D modeling and motion graphics.
Skills: artboard creation, object selection, node selection, shape creation, Boolean operations (pathfinder), shape builder, pen tool, bezier curve manipulation, color panel
Software: Adobe Illustrator (Subscription) / Affinity Designer (One-time payment) / Inkscape (Free & open-source)
Helpful links:
Aaron Draplin Takes On a Logo Design Challenge
Adobe Illustrator Pen Tool | Understanding How it Works
From Sketch to Vector – Affinity Designer Tutorial
Inkscape Tutorial: Motion Letter Logo Design
Brand Archive
4. Text & Image
Assignment: Create a poster by composing images and typography on an artboard. Choose a font (try to keep it to 1 font family—2 max) and use the type tools to refine your typography (font size / line spacing / character tracking / type on a path). For images, use something from the previous assignments, find some stock imagery online, or create something new. You can also put your logo from the previous assignment into the poster. Create a clear reading order by establishing a point of focus before leading the eye to the secondary and tertiary details.
Why: The ability to create a clear and pleasing visual narrative with text and images on a page is a fundamental design skill. By playing with the visual relationships between elements (size / shape / color / positioning), we create a coherent composition. Using type is also its own skill. This involves building your sensitivity to the visual qualities of different typefaces and manipulating them with the type tools.
Skills: image import, type tools—character panel, paragraph panel, type on a path.
Software: Adobe Illustrator (Subscription) / Affinity Designer (One time payment) / Inkscape (Free & open-source)
Helpful links:
What Makes A Good Poster Design? | Design Lesson
Graphic Design Tutorial: Typography Design & Art Direction pt. 1
Artistic and Frame Text Tools (Affinity Designer)
How the Type Tool Works • Adobe Illustrator Tutorial
Inkscape Explained: Text, Word Formatting and Installing Fonts
Butterick’s Practical Typography
5. Information Management
Assignment: Do all the previous tasks again as efficiently as possible. See what shortcuts and software features you can use to save time and effort. Create reusable chunks of information to avoid repetitive tasks. Make your layers and file organization legible and easy to work with.
Why: Beyond saving time, optimizing for efficiency forces you to truly understand a process. It teaches you how to manage complexity with creative systems. As your projects get more complex, information management becomes unavoidable. When collaborating, providing well structured and legible working files is good design-etiquette.
Skills: file organization, layer naming and ordering, photo editing presets, custom brushes, automating actions, text/paragraph styles, custom color palettes, vector symbols, keyboard shortcuts
Software: All of the above
Helpful links:
The Best Way to Organize Your Computer Files
How to Organise Layers in Photoshop
Make Hundreds of Color Palettes from 1 COLOR! – Design Tutorial
My NEW Adobe Lightroom workflow – FINALLY Understanding the Lightroom Library