So I decided to add graphic design to my portfolio and using the wisdom of the crowd, I went with mastering Adobe Illustrator. Over the last three years I have picked up skills that required the use of software and other tools but what makes this special to me is that its the first time I will be learning solo. I can't help but wonder how long it will take me to come up with something as beautiful as those I often admire but as they always say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.
Did I pick graphics design out of the blues? or was Adobe Illustrator recommended simply because I asked to learn?
NO, and NO
Before settling for this skill, I did a thorough reconnaissance of my work and off work life to find something that could both assist my work and also be done for fun. I love to create, I love to start a thing and watch it grow to what I see only in my minds eyes and think it's a great privilege to be born in a time like this. Am terrible with pencils but I so look forward to perfecting that with my mouse.
I needed a tool that could enable me to create icons for websites or mobile apps and if possible enable me to mock up interfaces. I needed something that can create graphics capable of scaling infinitely without any penalties as screen sizes differ and I wouldn't love icons looking blurry or pixelated simply because they are displayed on larger screens. That is exactly how I ended up with Adobe Illustrator, according to the experts, they called it a vector drawing application.
The Journey
Installing the application was the easiest part, deciding on a learning plan and which online tutor go with was the tougher decision. Luckily for me, I stumbled on an article on learning and mental models which exposed me to a lot and helped me make that decision much faster. I settled with Justin Seely from Lynda.com which I think is doing an amazing job already and as for my learning plan I have decided to use my peak periods which is at night when all is quiet and it feels as tho I exist in a world for two(me and whatever I am interacting with at that time). Will use a fire brigade approach to get me up to speed with the basics but would not recommend this for anyone else who is trying to learn something new. Find and implement a system that works for you, a list of how-tos might fail so ensure to find what works for you.
Any Challenge
LOL!, the mere fact that am doing something new is a challenge but am sure to get over this one with time but the biggest challenge is time management. Fitting work which I take home a lot, content creation for my steemit blog and reading, all of which I enjoy doing within my peak period is my biggest challenge. Am guessing I have to find a way to get things done outside of my comfort zone, I heard its how people succeed but in my opinion utilizing ones comfort zone could boost productivity but since am not an authority in the field of psychology that is solely my opinion.
Dreams?
Hopefully, my blog will be my portfolio a few months from now, will be littering it with some of my best works and possibly a nicely written essay that explains my inspiration for that particular art. Not doing this for the money but for fun and a new perspective and possibly save some bucks creating my own logos, icons and whatever graphic needs I have.
Finishing Up
So that's about it, If any experienced graphic designer has some advice for me, am very much ready to listen.