Learning basic graphic design in NYC

December 1, 2006 12:56 PM

I want to learn some basic graphic design skills to design postcards, fliers and posters for the organization I work for. I live in New York City and would be willing to pay money for a good class. I see that the New School has some "Adult Education Courses" in graphic design . Anyone have any recommednations or general advice?
posted by mfherman to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Here is the link to the New School Graphic Design Courses
posted by mfherman at 1:01 PM on December 1, 2006

That looks pretty good to me.

One quick general tip: Avoid any class that mentions "desk top publishing."
posted by edlundart at 1:17 PM on December 1, 2006

Avoid any class that mentions "desk top publishing."

oh, why? I have an option to take a course with that very title in my multimedia degree.
posted by b33j at 1:28 PM on December 1, 2006

I am guessing that Mr. Edlund does not recommend DTP in this case because a class on page layout for something so simple as a poster is not the best use of one's time. DTP and graphic design are, in my opinion, different skill sets. Graphic designers might be expected to have more of an art background, whereas DTP is more of a craft. I do DTP for a living, but am not qualified for more than the most rudimentary design job. I also know designers that I would not trust to sit down with InDesign and produce any publication of quality. Depending on what you want to do, one skill might be more helpful than the other, but they often overlap in real life.
posted by beetsuits at 3:06 PM on December 1, 2006

Avoid any degree with "multimedia" in its title. ;^) (Just kidding, couldn't resist.)

On the not-having-to-pay-good-money side of things, Scribus and Inkscape are two well-designed and well-maintained open source applications that are useful for desktop publishing. There are good tutorials available for both of them. Also, OpenClipArt.org has gotten to the point that it has lots of really useful stuff, though coverage of different types of clipart is uneven and searching's a pain in the butt (due to people not categorizing stuff very well when they upload).
posted by XMLicious at 3:15 PM on December 1, 2006

Bleh, I meant "useful for graphic design" not "useful for desktop publishing."
posted by XMLicious at 3:17 PM on December 1, 2006

I agree that you're going to be getting something very different out of a Graphic Design course v. a DTP course. But a DTP course seems more like what you want — software skills, general good-layout practices, basic background in typography (most likely; obviously check the description!). A Graphic Design course (in my mind) would start on a more arts-oriented course: making collages to explore things like "contrast" "leading the eye" and "negative space", sketching, deconstructing typography, etc. (been there, done that).

I guess the question is do you want to A#1) learn technical skills, B#2) develop your eye/aesthetic, or C#3) both. Also: if this is primarily for your current job, make sure that the software you're learning is the software you're going to be using. The intro GD class in your link only mentions Photoshop and Illustrator; if your office only has QuarkXPress you won't be getting the most out of your time/money.
posted by wemayfreeze at 6:02 PM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

A book I found immensely helpful when my work emphasis changed was The Non-Designer's Design Book. I had all the technical skills but no design sense (too many options, didn't know where to start) and this book fixed that for me.

I'd recommend the book -- your local library probably has a copy -- but you can get the gist of the principles it teaches by googling for crap. See e.g. here.
posted by cps at 12:45 AM on December 2, 2006