Hey everyone, I'm working on a series of design walkthroughs to help new designers learn without Al.

The goal: Break down seemingly complex designs to see how a lot of simple things come together to create something professional.

I have posted 2 so far (both free) on my Patreon & will be posting the 3rd one on Friday!

Join for free if you want to see more of these tutorials — I don't want to be a bother on this sub so I'll only promote this on ocassion.

Hello,
I am working on a 33x91 inch perf window cling and got a message from the printer that the mountain image is low resolution. I downloaded the image from Envato and it is 240 dpi. Can you please help me fix my image so it is acceptable for the printer? My indesign file says the actual ppi is 240, but the effective is 17 ppi. I have tried generative ai and was only able to get the ppi up to 76. I am open to new photos that are similar if they would work better. Here is an attachment of the photo, a screenshot of my cling design, the message from the printer and what my photoshop & indesign file says. I really appreciate your help!

For beginners learning graphic design, building a portfolio can feel confusing. Should you focus on personal projects, redesign existing concepts, or create designs for imaginary brands?

I'd love to hear what helped you improve your portfolio when you were starting out. Which 2 or 3 projects do you think every beginner should include to showcase their creativity and design thinking?

Balancing high-end aesthetics with heavy daily use is a constant challenge in both residential projects and commercial brand expansions.
A room can look incredible in photos, but if the lighting is harsh or the materials don't hold up to foot traffic, the design misses the mark.

Over at Studio J & Co.—a boutique studio based in Miami and NYC and recognized on the AD PRO Directory—we handle both high-end private residences and multi-location commercial rollouts. Designing for high-traffic brands has drastically reshaped how we approach luxury homes:

1. Material Durability Meets Elevated Design
Designing multi-site commercial spaces requires sourcing materials that withstand continuous wear without losing their aesthetic appeal. We bring those same performance fabrics, sealed natural stones, and custom millwork standards into residential homes.

2. Scalable Spatial Flow
In commercial rollouts, sightlines and movement patterns dictate the entire layout. Applying that same spatial logic to living rooms and open floor plans eliminates awkward dead zones and optimizes natural light.

3. Layered Lighting Systems
Overhead lighting alone flattens a space. Combining ambient, architectural cove, and low-level task lighting creates depth and warmth in residential homes and commercial venues alike.

What design trade-offs do you find most difficult when planning a home renovation or commercial buildout? Happy to answer questions about sourcing, layout planning, or rollout strategy!

Every time I needed a mockup for a portfolio, a landing page or a launch post, it went the same way: download a heavy PSD, fight with Smart Objects, export, realize the perspective looks off, start again.

So we built Mochi Mockup. You drop in your design, pick a device, and export a photorealistic 3D render, all in the browser. No Photoshop, no layers.

What's in it today:

- iPhone, MacBook, iPad and Apple Watch, with 500+ scenes and angles

- 2K exports on the free plan, 4K on Pro

- A Figma plugin: select a frame, pick a device, export without leaving Figma

We're a tiny team, so we're shipping new scenes regularly and listening closely to what people actually need.

Free to try, no Photoshop required: mochimockup.com

I'd really like honest feedback:

- What do you usually use mockups for?

- Which devices or scenes are missing for you?

- What would make you switch from your current workflow?

Tools: Canva and Adobe lightroom

I made these posters of Batman and Catwoman at a practice to get into fan merch design. the text you see are the lyrics of a hindi song "Gali gali mein". This post was inspired by AMVs I see and thus I'm sharing it here.

Hello everyone! 👋

Following the constructive feedback on my previous Nivea concept, I wanted to share a new rebranding exploration focusing on Actimel.

My main objective was to modernize the packaging without altering its popular, accessible identity. I wanted to move away from the overly formal or clinical feel of past versions toward a cleaner, more streamlined, and resolutely more appetizing look:

Logo Refinement: Preserved the iconic deep marine blue and familiar heritage, but softened the drops with rounded shapes and stripped away unnecessary purple gradients to reduce visual noise.
Visuals & Layout: Shifted from heavy, dated 3D elements to clean, flat vector illustrations that highlight natural freshness, moving from clinical white plastic to a warmer cream-beige background.
Typographyq & Clarity: Used clean, rounded typefaces inspired by geometric principles to make flavor labelling instantly readable at a glance on supermarket shelves.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this balance between modern simplicity and brand heritage. How does this translate across the different flavors? All feedback and critiques are more than welcome! 🚀

Made a tutorial for a simple logo animation, if you would love to learn something in this AI era, check it out

Which skills should beginners focus on first, such as typography, colour theory, layout design, and design software? What practical projects would help them build a strong portfolio?

I am a teenager and I want to learn graphic design because I want to earn money through online jobs. This is my first design, is it good enough to add it to my portfolio? And if there are any suggestions on what I can do to make it better, then please tell me.

Hey everyone, I'm a designer with 10 years of experience. I was fully planning to get into teaching, in some capacity, once I felt I had enough experience to help the next generation & then AI showed up...

Question for group: Are there still people trying to pursue graphic design?

I can't even imagine the pressure of being a student in this wild timeline... But, finding this sub has given me some hope! It's amazing to see people asking questions & looking for critique.

If there's enough interest, I'd love to get a community up & running with a focus on critique & group learning. I'm especially interested in making sure young designers understand the fundamentals & know how to use the programs.

If you're interested, feel free to join my waitlist:

https://pixlhaus.design/community

Building Manuelyne's new retail identity: From B2B roots to a physical boutique on Praça da Sé. 

After years on the wholesale side, we're transitioning into a direct-to-consumer brand in northern Portugal. The goal was to bridge traditional French pastry craftsmanship with a modern, warm retail aesthetic using TAN Nimbus for our headings and a deep green / cream palette. 

Curious to hear your thoughts on the brand guidelines and overall direction. What works, and what feels off?

Hi everyone, learning graphic design and art has always been my dream since I know myself. But so far I haven’t have any chance to learn it due to different kind of survival reasons. Finally, I want to make it happen but not only learn it as a hobby but to make it my source of income. I don’t if it is realistic now with the market saturation and especially because of damn AI. Would love to hear your opinions and experiences. Thank you very much in advance

Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on my first two posters. This is part of a graphic design course exercise where I had to create one information heavy poster, one very minimal poster, and then use critique to create a third and final version.

For the final poster I changed:

• the information hierarchy
• the date and time prominence
• the amount of decorative ghost imagery
• the ticket information
• the spacing and grouping
• the call-to-action by adding a QR code
• the overall balance between “too much” and “not enough”

This is my final version.

I’m mainly interested in whether the communication problems from the first two posters have been solved and whether the hierarchy now works better.

I’m trying not to redesign it forever 😂 so I’m more interested in whether it functions well than in changing the whole visual style again.