Seriously Guys....How do you create such cool looking graphics!?

I'm not an amazing designer, im average, but from what I've learnt, most designers use adobe photoshop to do their designs.

And a great way to learn is by looking at tutorials online.. just google "photoshop tutorials"

Lots of practice. I've been using all Adobe products for around 10-12 years.

Also, what looks good to you doesn't look good to someone else. It's all relative hahah!

-Ryan

Just go to an outsourcing site and hire someone to do it for you for $100. These days design has almost become a commodity.

You might want to cut your teeth on Gimp which is free
and then graduate to Photoshop.
Like James has stated get videos tutorials first or you may become lost.

Sometimes overly fancy sites dont convert as well... It really varies from niche to niche... You can get rally nice sites done for $500-$1000 turnkey. If you want the links to some top notch guys who will do the work in that range, send me a pm and i'll give you their info.

Best investment I have made is lynda.com. I have learned a lot about graphics and design from this site. Only $25 per month and it pays for itself over and over again.

You need a better arsenal! A lot of the graphics you see are made by people, but some of them are just images that have been manipulated from a base image that they purchased.

I personally have cool looking graphics stored in my computer (that I purchased of course) so I can use them at any time.

Some Squeeze page packs come with pretty cool graphics.. As your journey continues you will perhaps come across some good looking stuff that you can save

P.S. It helps that I've been working with Photoshop for years as well :-P

For those who dont want to splash for Photoshop them GIMP is very good. Creating great graphics is as much about being creative as knowing technically how to produce them. I dont know how to build great graphics, but there are plenty of people out there who do. I've seen some great graphics created for a friends site, I think he only paid around $50 for the logo.

Here's my advice...

If you're planning on making a business out of design - then go for it, learn the skills and then make money from providing the services that people need.

BUT, if you're not planning on building a design business - you could be wasting your time and money.

Here's the logic...

You spend a year learning PhotoShop, in order to design your own ecovers & review pages etc. You are only doing this to save yourself money (by not hiring a designer). But, you've spent hundreds of dollars on PhotoShop - further amounts on CoverActionPro and whatever you've spent on courses etc.

All the while, you could have hired a designer - who would have created the page in a few days, and cost you maybe a hundred dollars... you've saved yourself a year, the cost of PhotoShop and CoverActionPro.

With your extra year, you could have learned marketing skills - written countless ebooks and made profit.

Spend time and money on things which will MAKE you money. So, if you think design will make you money, go for it... if not, save yourself the time.

Kindest regards,
Karl.

P.S. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to learn, but working smarter and not harder is the way to faster earning.

Seems like something which should be in a web dev forum. Unless you absolutely have to, don't learn how to design professional graphics. Outsource it!

The amount of time it would take to learn this could be better spent building a business.

Most designers use Adobe Photoshop, it's the best program out there. To become really good in it you have to do a lot of experimenting on your own, there is no clear road with step-by-step instructions how to do 'awesome' graphics. Though, there are some great video trainings to learn basics of photoshop on lynda.com

Outsource.

It is very cheap and you will get it done faster and at a higher quality than with your own efforts.

Internet marketing as you know has many elements. Copywriting, graphics, web design, article writing, SEO, PPC etc.

Trying to be a master of all of them will detract you from your main purpose i.e Making Money!

So I personally try to outsource everything and let people who know what they are doing do it. I could never be as good as them and nor do I want to be.

Imagine the CEO of General Electric trying to master all of the departments that function under Genereal Electric, or even if Donald Trump tried to get an Architectural Degree, Structural Engineering Degree, Marketing Degree, Helicopter Licence, TV Director Qualifications, Golf Course Design Qualifications etc.

If you are the CEO of your business, you are the "idea and action" person. That is all I would focus at being good at.

Bertil J

It seems like the overwhelming consensus is, when in doubt, outsource it! I completely agree with you guys, I would rather outsource that kind of thing. I am the type of person that would like to learn it so I could do it myself, but like many others said, I'll be spending all my time creating graphics.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

got to know from a warrior.

myecovermaker.com helps us make free ecovers, software boxes, and everything

cool stuff

Just try and be creative. Adobe photoshop and illustrator kick butt. Download some custom brushes, they really help make a cool effect!

I outsource design for professional projects. Design is a real talent and deserves to be appreciated. Remember American Idol with those vast number of deluded wannabes who couldn't sing, and only a tiny fraction who actually could? The same principle applies to talent and skill in visual design.

The tool is only as good as the person using it.

For me, it's all about finding all the right ingredients to get the point across clearly. The main message. Conceptualize first, then put the pieces together based on what the client wants.

Will the finished product make money.. or not? If not, keep working til it does.

Grant

You can do the best graphic design works if you spend time to play around with the Adobe Creative Suit 4. This is the best!

Great video tutorials are available on how to work on this software. Go to Lynda.com - Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers Creative Effects(Video Tutorials) [mininova]

Hope this helps you! Good luck!!!


Paul.

I can do killer design in MS Paint. It just takes a LOT longer.

Knowing how to translate what you've visualized in your mind into the steps in the editor to manipulate the image is the key. It's like building a house in a way. First you pour the foundation. Then you frame it. Then you do the mechanicals. Etc..

I used to be a graphic designer, it's a whole skill unto itself that takes hours of learning. Not just the programms, but the theory, the typography... understanding colour, shape, style, texture ...

Unfortunately, some have turned it into a commodity.

eve if i was the best designer in the world, i still wouldnt do my designs and graphics...

pay somone to do them for you

I use a cool little program called WebGraphics Creator.. Been really happy with it. Pretty versatile as well... of course it may seem limited in scope as compared to a full fledged Photoshop program but to do the basics I love It!!! You can get real creative as well when you start adding your own photos etc...

Roger

P.S. it's by a company called Digital River they are easy to find online....

I use Photoshop. It just takes practice to get the effects you want.