How I made this graphic with no design experience
By: Terrain De Jeu
Tags: Graphic Design, Blog, Design, Art, Amateur

So here’s my dilemma: I’m in the process of creating my own blog and I need a simple graphic of myself for the website’s home page. However, I don’t have any design experience nor, do I have the budget to hire a designer to do it for me. What do I do?

I could take a graphic design course but that’s time-consuming and could cost me money that I don’t want to pay. There’s an easier solution and most of you reading already have all the knowledge needed to do it. The solution I’m proposing is working with shapes.

The overlooked solution: working with skills and resources that are already under your belt.

You read that correctly.

I used basic shapes and put them together in a way that led to the graphic above. Most of us, when we’re faced with problems (especially creative problems) we tend to fixate on the things we lack, instead of brainstorming a solution with what we presently have.

Now, I’m not saying that this is in any way an impressive piece of artwork. But it gets the job done and fits in perfectly with my website design for now. So how did I do it?

I created a Canva account

This step isn’t necessary, but I highly recommend it — it’ll make your life a lot easier and the best part is, you could do everything mentioned here using a free account. If not, using any application that allows you to work with shapes will do.

2. I used a photograph as a reference

Since I was creating a graphic of myself, having a photograph of, well myself, at hand to refer to, made the design process a lot easier. I recommend that you find a photo of what you’re designing or draw up a quick sketch before you begin.

3. I played a game of Tetris.

Now that you have an application to work on and a photograph/sketch to refer to, the rest will be figuring out a way to arrange those shapes in a way that would produce a larger, seamless graphic. Here comes your creativity; manipulate colors, play with sizes and different shapes, change the placement of those shapes.

It’s almost like playing a game of Tetris. You have no say in which blocks fall down at which moment, but it’s your job to problem solve and arrange them in a way that helps you win the game.

See how Swedish artist, Micheal Johansson, adopts this philosophy with his work in this article.

These are the shapes I used, outlined in different colors, to make my final graphic.

And there you go! You now have a graphic that you designed by yourself, with no graphic design experience. It might take a while to get the final product that you’re after but keep at it and look for ways to get creative.

Before I go, I want to leave you with a thought from Austin Kleon’s book, Show Your Work. In it he writes the following:

“We’re all terrified of being revealed as amateurs, but in fact, today it is the amateur — the enthusiast who pursues her work in the spirit of love (in French, the word means ‘lover’), regardless of the potential for fame, money or career — who often has the advantage over the professional. Because they have little to lose, amateurs are willing to try anything and share the results. They take chances, experiment, and follow their whims. Sometimes in the process of doing things in an unprofessional way, they make new discoveries. ‘In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities’ said Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki. ‘In the expert’s mind, there are a few.’”

So go forth, dear friends! Be an amateur, and do it proudly. Once we let go of the unrealistic expectations that we hold ourselves up to, we can finally begin to do the things that we love.