This article will discuss how to get into graphic design with no experience.

With over 10,000 talented designers sharing their portfolios in our portfolio niche, we think it’s a must-read for anyone with designs on getting into design for themselves.

1. Find a Mentor

Get involved in an online portfolio submission pool and look for any mentor posts you like. Find someone who designs for a popular website, looks like they have a great eye for art, works with many different kinds of designs, has a great design process, and is friendly and professional.

Try sending a couple of ideas your way. You’ll soon find the mentor posts are filled up, but there will always be some in the pile. Keep a list of artists you’d like to work with.

The Process of Airing out Design Ideas to an Ideal Mentor

As the list gets bigger, recruit friends, or workmates, and ask them to cast their votes on who they want to see from the pile. Send another 10 or 15 ideas your way to get the voting fever going.

Once the votes are in, ask the people who voted for your other ideas what they thought and what their top two or three design ideas were. This is where the magic happens.

You might be surprised at the wonderful work the artists have to show for it. Use your best judgment on who is the right artist for your project.

You should send your project to at least 5 different artists. Send them different kinds of work. Be creative with your portfolio, as a friend of mine puts it:

“You have to tell people, ‘Hey, here’s a person that’s really awesome, and this is what he does, and this is why you should work with him.’”

2. Join Graphic Design Groups and Deviant Art

Graphic Design communities are a great way to search for an artist. Being a part of a group is a good way to put yourself out there. Deviant art groups are one of the best ways to search for artists without competing for attention.

Deviant art is where artists post their personal work and artwork in which the work is of poor quality and is intentionally left incomplete.

3. Talk to Aspiring Artists Online

Take a look at Aspiring Artist, a group that showcases artists who want to make a career out of graphic design.

Final Fantasy Alum, a talented talented freelance artist, uses Tumblr to document her journey into the freelance graphic design field.

Kate Gray has a well-curated Tumblr with several talented graphic designers working from home as freelancers.

Mark Landau, also a talented freelance graphic designer, has his website on which he provides a directory of some of the best freelance graphic designers in the industry.

4. Make Your First Poster

One of the best ways to get into graphic design without any prior experience is to make a poster. Whether it’s poster for a local festival, display at a coffee shop or an advertisement, your poster is the perfect size, attractive and easy to sell.

Try to make it unique so that there’s no question about where it’s from or who made it. If you use common file typefaces (think Microsoft Office, Arial, etc.), you can get creative with your font choices.

5. Get Hired on a Small Project

Now that you have some experience making posters, head on over to your favorite online design company and ask for a small project. Give them a little background on your passion for graphic design and show them what you’ve created so far.

They’re usually pleased to get their own logo and company name out there, and are happy to place it on a small poster for you.

6. Sell Your Poster to a Local Store

If you’ve gotten a good reputation in your community for your poster designs, your local shop owner might be willing to hire you for a commission.

By selling your poster locally, you’re showing everyone in your town that you have your own business and designs.

7. Start a Blog or Start a Side Project

To keep a consistent flow of work, start a blog and work on your graphic design projects. Use your blog to display what you’ve made and explain how you did it, and introduce yourself to other graphic design aficionados.

If you have an interesting project in the works, consider listing it on sites like Behance or designboom. For example, one of the most interesting graphic design websites today, Design * Sponge, showcases and interviews designers in a creative and entertaining way.

If you don’t have a lot of time to blog, consider starting a side project. One of my favorite side projects of all time was my comic strip called Graphic Design Life.

It became so popular that one of my clients, Alexander Wilhelm, asked me to do a free poster for his blog to promote it. This project landed me a new client as well as a potential side project.

What are some great side projects graphic designers can take on?

Graphic design is not an easy career. You have to be dedicated, talented and creative.

But it also has a high possibility to make you rich! So I hope this blog post inspired you to begin your graphic design career or at least come up with a new side project to turn into a small business.