In terms of learning new skills, we live in a glorious time. The Internet is chock full of excellent, actionable design tutorials that go way beyond what a classroom environment or textbook could provide.
Incidentally, much of what I know about Photoshop comes from reading books and applying the techniques into my own work. (Aside: Scott Kelby’s “Photoshop Down and Dirty Tricks” and Matt Kloskowski’s “Layers” books are two excellent resources for hands-on learning.) This was in the days before YouTube, so options were limited.
While I’m very comfortable with many aspects of Photoshop, I’m using this summer to really shore up my Adobe Illustrator skills. I have a good working foundation of vectors, anchor points and the like, but I want to go beyond OK and become highly proficient.
Enter social media.
I use my Instagram’s algorithm to surface tutorials on Illustrator. The more tutorials I like, the more Instagram learns what I’m interested in. The Instagram format provides me a space where I can be exposed to a wide gamut of Illustrator techniques. Some of the more helpful instructional reels show two contrasting approaches, amateur and pro. Seeing side-by-side comparisons in this way, allows me to build on what I know and improve my skill. My only critique is that some of these videos are a bit too fast; I have to watch a video multiple times in order to absorb the technique.
When I watch a particularly useful video, especially one that includes accompanying keyboard shortcuts, I’ll take a screenshot of it on my iPhone and send it over to Apple Notes. I’ll then organize my screenshots into one Apple Notes file, for quick access. Because Apple Notes synchs across all my Apple devices, I have a collection of foundational tutorials that I can easily refer to when I’m at my Mac.
Viewing and capturing tutorials is only part of the learning equation. Practicing them on a new personal project helps reinforce what I have just learned. I also take the new skills I’ve learned and teach it on my YouTube channel. (The old adage rings especially true: “The more I teach, the more I learn.”)
Make no mistake, Illustrator has a steep learning curve. Go into learning with an open mind. I recommend going to YouTube to learn the basics. From there, I recommend watching one or two Instagram tutorials a week, to get slowly exposed to new workflow techniques. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
Practice what you’ve learned and find ways to inject that knowledge into a few of your own personal works, to build that muscle memory. Scaffolding what you know with what you are learning gives room for absorption and a sense of accomplishment; two traits that are vital to learning.
And lastly, don’t be afraid to experiment.
-Krishna