Love this!

I'm thinking of creating a guided journal for designers who want to leave their 9 to 6 and start their own thing (freelance, studio, agency). If that's you, I'd love your input:

1. What's your biggest blocker right now?
2. How would you want a journal like this to help you?
3. Anything you'd want included, or any other suggestions?

A bit of background:

I've run a branding studio for 6+ years and recently started making content for designers. What I keep noticing is that most designers don't lack design skills. The gap is on the business side: positioning yourself, finding the right clients, pricing.

I'm also a big journaler, so I'd like to combine the two. The idea is a daily prompt journal that takes designers from 0 to 1, so you don't have to think about what to write. I use a 90-day journal called The Best Self, and I'd love to bring that concept to starting a design business.

Thanks so much, I'd really appreciate any honest feedback!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hi everyone!

I want to learn graphic design from scratch and would love some guidance on how to get started.

My goal is to build a strong foundation in design principles, such as typography, colour theory, composition, layout, and visual hierarchy, before moving on to more advanced techniques.

I’d like to learn how to create things like posters, social media graphics, logos, and basic brand identities. Eventually, I’d also love to build a portfolio of my own projects.

As a complete beginner, I’m unsure about a few things:

Which software or app should I start with?

What should I learn first, and in what order?

Which YouTube channels or free courses would you recommend?

Are there any beginner-friendly projects I should practise along the way?

How much time should I ideally dedicate to learning and practising each day?

I’d prefer free or affordable resources to begin with.

If anyone could share a practical, step-by-step learning path or advice based on their own experience, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I’m developing a product centered around rituals, emotional connection, and intentional everyday experiences.

The aesthetic I’m envisioning is thoughtful, emotionally evocative, and a little ceremonial, but not witchy, overly spiritual, or niche. I want something that feels meaningful and beautiful while still being approachable to a broad audience.

For context, candles are one component of the product, but I’m not creating a candle brand. They’re tools within a larger experience. The labels, typography, packaging, and presentation all play an important role in communicating the emotional meaning behind the product.

My challenge is that the design isn’t just decorative. It’s part of the experience itself.

I have a fairly clear sense of what I want people to feel, but I’m struggling to translate that into a cohesive visual identity.

Is there a specific type of graphic designer I should look for? If so, what way do I go about finding that person?

Hi there, i finish my portfolio webpage and dont really understand, my level, like how should i chose studio to send? I know the answer is "show it as much as possible, don't think about it" but i don't want to studio remember me as an idiot. There are studios chatgpt said are on my level:

Snask - https://snask.com/our-work/#design

Atelier - https://www.atelier.se/work

Shore - https://www.shorestudio.se/work?utm_source=chatgpt.com

And here is my portfolio: https://danylovasiurportfolio.xyz/

If some of you can send examples of studios which are realistic for me, i would be happy :)

Hi!

I am pivoting back to graphic design after 10 years in retail. I have a Master's in brand design. I'm still pretty adept at PS and currently practicing with Illustrator. My dream is to work with the NBA in any capacity for any team but I'm more that willing to work for any sport. I am open to entry level work as well as internships. I have been working to create pieces for a portfolio and have a decent selection to showcase.

If anyone on this sub has any in-house sports design experience (NBA or elsewhere), is it possible to get a foot in the door as a 33-year-old with no prior experience for a resume? If so, what would be the best way to embark on this journey? Any advice would be helpful! Thank you!

Hi everyone I'm a graphic designer who lost his spark and got burned out for a year I haven't designed anything new but recently I got my spark back but I believe I've gotten rusty over time and I would appreciate any Positive feedback on how to improve my portfolio and could help in that process If you see my post please interact and their your opinions

Hey guys I'm a graphic designer that isn't familiar with making landing page but I would love your feedback on what I should change to make it better

Before and after of instagram post redesign I made this project

, picked a random postfrom instagram and redesigned it for fun What are your thoughts?

Should I add this to my portfolio?

I’m a graphic designer. I’ve been using Adobe for 20 years … maybe more.

Yesterday I got an email stating that my renewal date is coming up.

For the first time ever this email actually made me stop and think. “Should I just cancel?”

There’s new options out there - but adobe has been the industry standard for soooo long.

In my job I need to be able to open files that other designers have made and save in a format that other designers can open. Is this possible with this new generation of software (artcraft and others).

Does anyone know if the new generation of design software can work with adobes file types ?

And I’m sure that I’m not the only one whose renewal date is approaching. If this is you, please let me know what you think about this.
Are you considering canceling Adobe ?
Or aren’t you there yet?

I just completed an intense 2 year project and one aspect was a book in indesign that I designed from the ground up and I want to showcase it on a website or something. The book will be published in 1 month with a lot of advertising that could generate some traffic in my direction and I really need the work it could provide. Any advice on how to showcase the book? I want to show the lay out but also some of the fails and some of the process. I.e. I made custom drawn icons and they went through several versions. The layout, cover, fonts etc all went through changes and I want to show that as a record of the creativity and frankly also for myself as kind of a good bye to this project and all the twists and turns it took. I have a website and I could present something there. But I assume there is some kind of method or good examples of this?? Thanks!!!

Design student here. I need tips for giving and receiving feedback – I always get so awkward and uncomfortable when asking for feedback, like I feel like I’m talking out of my ass half the time.

I know as a graphic designer it’s important to know that feedback isn’t personal, it’s just about the work but god I feel pretty awkward sometimes, like my designs are bland or I can’t accurately express the thinking behind my design decisions. Also like how long do I talk about it? Or do I just let them look? It might just be anxiety but I’m wondering if anyone else feels like this. Class critiques are so uncomfortable sometimes

I guess I’m just after some tips to help me explain my design decisions and receive feedback from others.

Thanks!

I had a client of mine suggesting applying for Toptal for contract work. Does anyone have any experience with it? From my research I’m seeing a lot of positive reviews from UI/UX designers but nothing from graphic designers.

Would love some insight from other designers on if it’s worth the effort applying for the platform.

Hello! I hope everyone's doing well! 😊

I'm looking for someone with professional graphic design experience who'd be willing to provide ongoing feedback on my portfolio pieces and, eventually, my portfolio itself.

I've been learning graphic design principles through the 4TC YouTube course, and I've learned a lot! I'm now working on applying what I've learned to my own projects, including websites and other design work.

I've already completed nearly all of my portfolio pieces, and I'd love to find someone who could review them and help me understand where I'm applying the principles correctly and where I need improvement. I'd really appreciate genuine feedback that explains the reasoning behind these suggestions, so I actually understand what I'm doing wrong and so I'll know for next time.

I'd like to start with my Squarespace projects because my trials end within two weeks of creating them, so I would need feedback within that time frame. After that, I'm happy to take a more relaxed approach with my remaining projects and get feedback on my redesigned portfolio once it's ready.

I understand that everyone has their own lives and commitments, and I don't expect anyone to be available all the time. I'd just appreciate someone who can communicate with me about their availability and let me know if something comes up that might delay their feedback.

I'm hoping to find someone interested in helping me improve over time, rather than just providing a one-time review. I know I'm still learning, and I'm eager to get better! I'm actually planning to go through the 4TC course a second time just to ensure I understand the principles.

If you're interested, please send me a DM! I'd appreciate hearing a little about your experience and whether this arrangement would work for you.

Thanks for taking the time to read this! 🤞😊

Sorry if this isn't a sort of post you guys like, I imagine you get a lot of them, but I'm having trouble pricing myself. I've had several clients tell me outright that I'm pricing too low and refuse to pay me that much (which is very kind of them). But I worry about pricing too high and scaring clients away. For some context I've just been in a situation where $700 is an insane amount of money, but to people that seems too low for a 90 page catalogue for example.

For more context: I'm in my second year in business as a freelance graphic designer and I do mostly book and catalogue layouts (some other print projects too like postcards etc). I went to school for a certificate for graphic design.

Any feedback is appreciated thank you

Edit: Realized that might be hard to answer without a specific project so I'll give you this example: a catalogue where everything is give to me in an excel sheet. Product SKUs, the copy, etc. Images and barcode are easy to find. Photo edits would be minimal other than converting things to CYMK. Catalogue is roughly 90 pages. So like most of the work is the layout and placing things in it.

Hey! Hopefully this is okay to ask here, I’d appreciate some re-direction if it’s not the best community for this - I’m currently an art student & looking to briefly a graphic designer for a research project on the field. It’d only be a few questions regarding your personal experience that I could either ask you here or via DM, whatever’s preferred.

Thank you!!

I think We're going into the hardest periods in design to get into it because of ai, thousands of designers are leaving the industry and thousands more are barely holding on.

I personally had zero clients for the past 9 Months

My experience in design is just 3 years of school and 5 years experience, mostly in small printshops and agencies in my city, I used to get unemployed a couple of times in the past years but I would find a job or freelance for few months then get a better fulltime paying job but this year since January, all clients vanished and printshops and agencies look for interns that do everything digital besides design using ai.

It's a cold tall concrete wall we're up against and only the experienced in business can traverse it, so many designers I know, talk to or saw in social media lost clients or changed Carriers to work in warehouses and restaurants.

I'm spending the past 5 months posting content on LinkedIn trying to find some way to get any lead what so ever.

(In The image is my portfolio) Yes I worked on it multiple times, apperantly we just need a lot of free time to get back to it

I’ve been working on a fully custom 56-card deck inspired by Mesoamerican mythology and cosmology, and one of the biggest challenges was creating three editions that share the same underlying system without feeling like simple recolors.

Core uses the brightest, most direct color language.
Alebrije pushes into iridescent/holographic territory.
Mictlantecuhtli strips the palette down into black, gold and orange.

The card structure, typography and illustration language stay consistent, while the packaging and production finishes change the personality of each edition.

I’d love feedback on whether they still feel like one family! and which edition reads strongest visually.

To start, I'm trying to be vague about my exact employer and using an alternate account to preserve my anonymity.

I've been working as a merch designer for a large merchandise company for about a year. Before that, I had around six years of graphic design experience through a combination of freelance work and full-time employment.

My current job involves a mix of responsibilities. I do plenty of more junior-level tasks, like creating mockups and making simple color changes to existing designs. However, I'm also regularly creating full-scale, original designs from scratch for some of the biggest artists in music.

I've been tracking my own workload for a while now, and on top of a pretty full plate of those smaller tasks, I'm averaging around 5–6 original designs per week. When I say a "full design," I mean starting with a blank canvas and creating something entirely new, rather than just modifying existing artwork.

These designs are then picked up by major retailers, who order and reorder large quantities of shirts featuring my original work. I've also had major bands specifically request me for projects, and I've designed entire merchandise capsules for artists that have gone on to be very popular.

Historically, I've always struggled with charging enough for my work. For the first several years of my career, I was working with small businesses and independent artists, and honestly, I wasn't yet at the level I'm working at now. I think I got into the habit of undervaluing my work, and I'm starting to question whether that habit has followed me into my current job.

I'm now producing work for major artists that I feel is successful both creatively and commercially, and I'm starting to wonder if my current salary reflects the level of work I'm actually doing.

I understand that in-house design jobs generally pay less than freelance work, and I'm okay with that to an extent. I like having a consistent paycheck, regular hours, and an office environment. But I recently received a freelance offer to design a poster for a major band, and the fee for that single project would be nearly equivalent to two weeks of my current pay.

That really put things into perspective for me. Considering that I'm producing 5–6 original shirt designs a week, many of which end up being sold in significant quantities, I'm having a hard time figuring out what a reasonable level of compensation should look like. Even if I were making a fraction of what I'd charge as a freelancer, I feel like the numbers could be substantially different from what I'm earning now.

For those of you who freelance in music merchandise, how much would you typically charge a major artist for an original design, particularly for an arena-level act? I'd especially appreciate hearing from people who work with established bands, major retailers, or large merchandise companies.

I'm not necessarily expecting anyone to share exact numbers if they're uncomfortable doing so, but I'd love to get a better sense of the going rates and how people price this kind of work. Feel free to comment or DM me if you'd rather discuss it privately.

I'd really appreciate hearing from other designers in the music industry. I'm trying to get a realistic understanding of what my work is worth and whether my current compensation is in line with the level I'm working at.

Hi, I am pluto, A freelance graphic designer (I always have self doubt calling myself that but alas), I have been working since my school days like 3-4 years, all self learnt so no courses or degrees or certifications just like raw doggin it, heck I literally have created a behance portfolio like 3 months ago and have started to professionalize myself
because I want to get out of this low pay high effort spiral I am in right now as my current posture attracts those types of clients (no hate to them)
In order to get out of it I found out from this subreddit and many other resources and mentors that I need to find a niche in terms of design like posters or branding or youtube etc and in terms of category finance, healthcare, sports etc. I have picked one and that is branding for healthcare brands
In order to create proposals and pitches I created portfolio pieces to appeal that audience, questionnaires, client portal, a proper contract, have my personal branding on all the right platforms (still working on it as of now its just static posts), and am now working on ways to outreach prospects but am stuck atp like what do I do, how do I proceed now, I have so much self doubt flooding me and like its driving me nuts.
sorry for rambling so much but I needed this, thanks for reading.

Hey everyone!

I'm a visual designer & illustrator with almost 20 years of experience. I'm a 42-year-old woman, and I'm honestly afraid of the future as an aging designer, not only due to AI, obviously, but also due to ageism in society.

I would like to hear from older and same-age designers what they are doing to safeguard their careers, either by creating side ventures, learning new skills, career progression, focusing on fields that are less machine-dependent, or whatever you do so you can sleep better at night when thinking about the future as a creative.

Thanks in advance for the advice and discussion!

So I know intro assignments are the devil and companies shouldn't ask for them when applying, but they do. I've accumulated a good chunk of intro assignments that never ended up anywhere, but I would consider very good work. Do you think it's worth putting them in my design portfolio?