How to Lifeschool? - Design

Why design?

Because when you appreciate good design, you naturally want to create things that have good design. It will help you create great products and services in fields of your interest. It will also ensure you appreciate well-designed products.

Developing basic design skills?

In the tenth grade I had absolutely no design sense. I never really observed too much of the design around me. I had attended a few classes on Photoshop in high school and these were very basic classes.

I learned how important design was, when I started working on my youth empowerment campaign and when I started designing the layout of my first book after high school. I had a Facebook Page for the youth campaign that I needed to constantly update with pictures, photos and posters. I was very dependent on a friend for these creations. But it was difficult to convince them to design simple posters and pictures regularly. So I decided to learn how to do it myself.

So I sat down with my sister and learned as much as I could about the design software and programs. She taught me how to use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign and Adobe Illustrator. After about a month, I could design and create my own meme’s, pictures and posters. I wanted to learn more

What Software to use on your Computer?

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustration and Corel Draw are good editing softwares to start with. Adobe Indesign is normally used to design books and newsletters. Here is how I learned this fourth software. I learned to use this software to prepare a project report in high school, but designing a book was a whole different thing altogether.

So I sat down with my sister and observed her design the first few pages of the book. Soon I got a hang of it and finished part of the project myself. Just like writing and speaking, the more you practiced designing good things the better you got at it.

What will design help you create?

1)  E-books, Manifestos, Brochures

2)  Social Media Pages

3)  Service Improvements

4)  Product Improvements

5)  Websites

6)  Products and Services

7)  Life Improvements
8) Products
9) Services

Design is not only about computers

You can look at the services offered by companies around (example:- insurance) and see how the whole process from first approaching the customer to finally making the sale is actually designed.

Go to a supermarket or mall and see all the products there. Now make a note of why you notice the design of some products and not the others. What stands out in one product? What could be better in another?

Look at design of stores at malls and see how every element of the store is designed to enhance the shopper experience. Also look at local stores in your street/neighbourhood and see how they display their products and services and create a good impression for the customers.

Other fields of design include:-

1. Product Design
2. User Experience Design
3. User Interface Design
4. Interaction Design

Ways to develop a good design sense?

1)  Keep a Design Notebook – I got this idea from Daniel Pink’s, ‘A Whole New Mind’. Note down all the things that you come across everyday that has good design and bad design.

2)  Study companies that design great products and services and understand their design process.

3)  Get basic photo –editing skills and learn how to use Photoshop,

4)  Learn how to use Indesign and Illustrator which are the design softwares and programs by taking a computer course or from a graphic designer.

5)  Find some friends that are designers themselves and learn basic graphic designing from them.

6)  Connect with the design community online.

7)  Improvement List – Look at the design of all the things around you, and see how you can improve their design

8)  Get some clay and start building and Designing things.

9)  Get a set of lego blocks and design things.

Let us Learn Together

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