Are you after:
1. How do I better use the tools I have to produce compelling graphic
designs (sorry I wanted to answer this one)
2. How do I personally become more creative in my designs?
1. Remember your tools help to speed up the production of designs and
do not replace the creative inspiration required. They can however allow you
to 'play' with ideas much more efficiently and quite often can lead you into
other avenues of creativity you never thought of quite quickly. The more you
understand the tools the faster you can turn around ideas, however those
ideas should have sound foundation initially.
2. Becoming more creative is more personal and as others have said
takes experience and a passion to excel in and as a HCI professional I would
guess your designs should have a fair amount of purpose to them. Reverse
engineering is a good place to start:
a. Take designs that interest you, ask others what they think
of your choices (begin to understand whether what you like appeals to others
- if not ask them why - what do they like?);
b. Dissect designs, what makes them work, what is it trying to
tell you or help you achieve (separate the functionality from the form);
c. Take designs and recreate them. Then improve or modify them
keeping the same essence of the design - review it with others which do they
prefer, what elements of your design do they like or not.
I guess I can keep going, however there is a common trend here - good
design, in my mind, appeals to others and answers a need (be it graphic
design or any other design field as appose to art)- so constantly getting
feedback and understanding it (or getting hired is good too!) is a good
start. With greater experience you will need less confirmation of your work
as other let you get on with it and a personal style evolves.
Workshops and course can be good if they are not just about the tools but
help you develop your creativity and appeal to others. If they just let you
get on with it and the only feedback you get is from your tutor (no matter
how good they are) I feel you will get less out of the course.
Ray
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