Ready to take the plunge and learn graphic design, but university isn’t a good fit for you? This guide is a substitute: a way to bootstrap your own education for a fraction of the cost, retaining as many benefits of a college experience as possible.
You won’t find much here yet; I’m just starting to put it together. If you want to get in touch, or have a note or suggestion, you should be able to leave a comment on this site using a free Notion account. Look for the button in the upper right corner.
The guide is and will always be free. However, it recommends many paid materials. Books, of course, you may be able to find at a library. Online courses are typically paid, but services that share them often offer free trials.
What I’m trying to say is: to get real value from the Open Design School, you do have to spend money. Still, even spending thousands of dollars a year (for example, for regular meetings with a mentor), the savings compared to some universities can be around a 20th of the cost.*
That’s not to say that design schools don’t have benefits—they certainly do. One is learning from fellow students, being a part of a group that studies and grows together. There’s also no substitute for a cadre of good teachers; you might find someone who inspires you and changes your life direction, as some great designers have experienced.** Another is accountability: grades and deadlines within the structure of a set course schedule. And finally, a formal degree can make it easier to find work.
How many tens of thousands of dollars a year are these benefits worth? It’s hard to say. But if you think you can overcome these drawbacks and are self-motivated, this guide is a good alternative.
One exception that I found is The Graphic Design School in Australia, which offers a year-long course in graphic design for around $4,000 AUD. I haven’t tried it myself—I created this instead—but the reviews looked good and I was considering it as an option.
If I could have found a graphic design resource as rich and professional as the New Masters Academy is for art, available for a monthly subscription, I probably would have just used that.
See How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer, by Debbie Millman: an enjoyable series of interviews with famous graphic designers. I loved the one with Milton Glaser.