Love help: Can Anyone Tell Me Specifically What Programs a Graphic Designer has to learn? - Help.com

I would also like to know

I use Photoshop,illustrator,Indesign,Flash,Corel Draw,FreeHand,dreamweaver mx(for web design)

With Graphic Design you can do anything really from Web Design ,magazines,Animations,Brochure,business cards,T,shirt Design, CD cover Designs and many more
and the steps to take are what you said pretty much

NinjaMonkey listed most of the programs that are typically used. When I work with a client I ask the client to share with me some designs from websites or pamphlets that they are particularly drawn to. I try to recreate something similar to the style they are most interested in (sometimes even a template quite similar to a design that works for them, while keeping their theme in mind.) I will create several layouts or compositions the client might be interested in, share them with the client and go from there. I charge by the hour, but some people work it out differently. I would also suggest looking into making up a contract if you are planning on contract work or working freelance.

The books I remember starting out with that helped me in making page layout and design decisions were Robin Williams’ “Non-Designers’ series…

http://www.ratz.com/robin/index.html

Books that helped me more with programs or technical aspects were Lynda Weinman’s books and some of the Visual Quickstart Guides (these are usually required readings for classes)…

http://www.peachpit.com/imprint/index…

Also it might be helpful to you if perused your local bookstore and spent some time in the graphic design or art section looking through books. Check out magazines as well - “How Magazine” or “Print Magazine” to maybe help give you a bit of direction and even more inspiration. “Lürzer’s Archive” is a foreign magazine, but gives you a broader perspective.

http://www.howdesign.com/GeneralMenu/

http://www.printmag.com/

http://www.luerzersarchive.us/product…

Depending what programs you are planning on using there are also some great, free tutorials online at various sites.

http://www.kirupa.com, http://www.flashkit.com and http://www.actionscript.org have all really helped me with some of my Flash work.

a good place to start is adobe’s creative suite, which includes many of the programs ninjamonkey listed.

there are so many different markets and working situations that it’s hard to say, “this is how it works–this is the workflow, this is the company structure, etc.” photoshop and illustrator are musts for someone in print. my field is television, and now the web, and i’ve never had to use illustrator. instead it’s been avid, final cut pro, premier pro, 3d studio max, and so on. my suggestion is that once you get into school you begin doing internships. you’ll get a better idea of whether you are drawn to (no pun intended) ad agencies, gaming, web design, architecture, broadcast or whatever. and you’ll start building your resume and a depth of experience that will make you versatile. good luck with your learning. and post some examples when you have them.

You’ll probably need a digital tablet, now they’re more affordable…go for a bamboo (by Wacom $100-200) you can use that in conjunction with all the listed programs and things like ArtRage2