My Design Adventure, and what you can learn from it
My design adventure started with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and its S-Pen. Playing around with my sister’s mobile turned into a surprise passion for digital art, making me dive into a world of learning and fun.
This is the story of how I learned various design tools and techniques, overcoming challenges and embracing the joy of experimentation.
Part 1: Creativity on a Digital Canvas
When I first started exploring digital art, I thought it was similar to traditional art — just picking a pen, pencil, and drawing. I didn’t watch any tutorials; I simply chose the type of pen, its size, and color and began drawing. It was an exciting process, and I felt the freedom to create. Sometimes, when I got bored, I clicked random buttons on the device to see what they did. It was like going on a little adventure, discovering new things along the way.
As I continued my digital art journey and moved into stop motion animation using Flipaclip app, I used to erase old drawings and backgrounds, and moved objects around on a single layer. [feels soo stupid when i think about it]
One day, I found layers which made me go Bruhhhhhhhh it could be that simple. Layers made my work so much easier. I could work on different parts of my drawing separately and make changes without affecting the rest.
Part 2: Canva: A Simple Design Playground
As my interest in art grew, I started exploring graphic design using a tool called Canva. The best part was that it was easy to understand without needing tutorials. I enjoyed clicking random buttons and seeing what happened.
I keep discovering more things as I experiment. Even just a few months ago, I stumbled upon a strange paintbrush tool. Curiosity took over, and I clicked it. To my surprise, I found out that when I clicked on two text boxes after using that tool, the second text box became like the first one in terms of style — font type, size, color, and spacing. Discovering these hidden tricks on my own made me feel like a genius.
Part 3: Figma: A New Design Adventure
I was ready for a new challenge and decided to dive into Figma, a design tool that reminded me of Canva. I started by drawing rectangles and shapes, but then I found upon something called frames.
Frames were special rectangles that could hold other elements. I found out that frames could even go inside other frames and be used instead of grouping elements together.
It was like building a puzzle, and each discovery felt like unlocking a new level. To learn more, I followed design pages on Twitter and Instagram, and I learned a lot from design memes and resources.
Part 4: Components and Variants
One day, I found something super cool in Figma — components and variants. I figured out I could make reusable design things, which saved me a ton of time and effort. What blew my mind was I could change one thing, and it automatically updated everywhere I used it.
Part 5: The Challenge of Autolayouts
Starting with Autolayouts got me all confused. I asked my brother, Prithivi, me design mentor. I told him I don’t like watching tutorials and prefer trying stuff out. He said sometimes tutorials are a must, though. So, I gave them a shot, but honestly, they made me a bit bored halfway through. Yet, I figured to really get autolayouts, I needed a mix of learning and messing around.
But once i figured things out, things became so easy and so much more consistent that I could finish things that would take hours in minutes. Literally.
Conclusion:
My journey from being a curious doodler to aspiring designer has been a wild ride filled with self-discovery and trying things out. Thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Canva, and Figma, I got the hang of digital art and design. I had a blast exploring tools like layers, frames, the Pen Tool, and even cool stuff like components and variants. Autolayouts threw me a bit, but I learned mixing structured learning with my love for experimenting is the way to go.
Now, I’m gearing up for more. I’m diving into Framer for web design, checking out the spline tool for 3D design, and getting my hands dirty with After Effects for motion design. It’s a whole new chapter in my design adventure, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me. Each experiment is just another step closer to unlocking my full potential as a designer.
