I’m an account person but want to have a creative portfolio. I’m going to teach myself indesign and illustrator...nobody in my agency will teach me but heck I guess I can do it myself #leonardodavinci

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Find a class, lots of local universities and colleges have continuing education classes that teach Creative Suite and web design. Depending on the class, you may even be able to get it covered or at least maybe use as a tax write off.

Be mindful though about asking creatives at the job to teach you, most likely they’ve spent years studying and working to perfect their crafts and asking them to teach you may read a little “how hard can it be if you can do it?” Also, I’ve known a few account people who don’t necessarily treat creatives all that well and don’t know when to stay in their lanes (definitely just a few bad apples who picked up some bad behaviors) and I can understand some reticence to having to work with an account person claiming to “know Photoshop” and trying to get overly involved in the process.

Good luck though, trying to learn something new is always a good thing!

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Don’t worry about InDesign. Learn Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects.

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Just remember, tools and concepts are different things. A hammer doesn’t design a house, even if you need one to build it.

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Agree with the above, but do your homework about the class. You want something where you’ll get time with the instructor looking over your shoulder at times, available to answer questions, critiquing your work, and showing you how to do things not just more aesthetically appealing but also more efficiently and effectively. If you are ever going to do things for more than just yourself, you need to know how to create files, package files, et cetera. Also, try to find a course where you can focus in on any specific types of outputs you are looking to create. You don’t want to go to a print-oriented class if you just want to do digital, for example.

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Start with Photoshop.
It is the most useful tool for building a creative portfolio. Everything else becomes more specialized.

I’d learn basic editing in Premiere before touching After Effects. It is a better tool for cutting simple spec spots together. Unless you want to be an animator don’t worry about AE.

Illustrator is more design-y. It’s what you use to make polished logos, crisp designs etc. but most of what illustrator does can be matched in Photoshop.

There are millions of dollars worth of free tutorials on YouTube. Practice is the only way to really learn this stuff. Just start making

Good luck!

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Don't forget ideas...they matter.
You can learn all the fancy programs. But if you don't have a creative thought or idea - then you're just a design mechanic.

If you want to be a creative and not just a designer /editor - practice. You see the same briefs. Try to answer one. Work up a couple of one pagers against it.
Just words at first. Maybe a mood board, idk. And then maybe (if you are good relationship with your CD)- show her/him. Maybe not while their in the midst of theirs, but at some point. Get feedback. Go again.

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Programmatically Speaking: Photoshop first. Illustrator is way more nuanced a tool.

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InDesign is for LOSERSSS. jk but def Illustrator and PhotoShop

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Thank you all for sharing your words of wisdom ! Really appreciate it!

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