Tips for Graphic design

Use good ingredients

High resolution Stock photo (e.g. iStockPhoto :  a compromise between cheap and good)

You can't go wrong with the following fonts:
- Georgia,
- Helvetica,
- Segoe UI,
- Avenir, Bembo,
- News Gothic.

Experiment with the grid system and see what works.
Don't be afraid to use big type and white space.

Draw

Get half a dozen different kinds of pencils from an art supply store and a few flip pads.
Draw simple shapes and look where their shadows fall—learn to see areas of light and dark.
Draw faces from photography books.
Draw things you like and care about.
Make line-only drawings.
Make shadow-only drawings.
Go see an Impressionist exhibit.
Expand your craft, open your mind to new styles and arts

Get inspired

Look at great design work that you someday aspire to do, and try to make an exact duplicate.
This is how great Renaissance painters learned their craft, and it is immensely beneficial.


Design skill takes years, but it will make your head a better place to live. It will open your eyes.

No spec work

Tips from a Certified geek: Angry Designer (and for good reason):

"(This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.) Some will ask you to “submit work for consideration”.
They may even be posing as some sort of “contest”.
These are almost always scams.
They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the “contest”, or be “chosen” for the gig, and find what they like most.
They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest. 
The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads.
This is speculative, or “spec”, work. It’s risky at best, and a complete scam at worst.

I urge you to avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com."