Number 23 is my most favorite number, I was born July 23 and literally all my sports jersey's number is 23 so I decided to make this chapter extra special (at least in my opinion this is special). Here are a bunch of things I wish I knew as a beginner in making graphics.

1) Don't stress about making the best graphics ever. This was the hardest thing for me because being a perfectionist I had this urge to make completed beautiful graphics, which let me tell you my graphics were far from pretty. As a beginner, you're still not used to the tools and don't know anything about making graphics so don't expect your graphics to turn out beautiful and look like it was made by a professional because I assure you it will not... unless you're some sort of prodigy.

Here's one of my old graphics just in case you need to see how horrendous I really was at making graphics... This isn't as bad as my really old ones but I'm pretty sure I deleted them to get the nightmare out of my head.

2) Get out of your comfort zone. I know I was terrified of trying to make any graphics I haven't tried before, I stuck to text slapping. I wish I would've tried new things earlier instead of being afraid.

3) You don't have to start making graphics in Photoshop start out small like free editing apps like Picsart then eventually upgrade to better editing apps/websites like Superimpose or Pixlr. I started out on Pixlr and I didn't start using Photoshop for a while and the only reason I did was because my sister had the program because she's a professional graphic designer and she let me use her program.

4) Get inspiration from other people's graphics and by inspiration I don't mean copying the cover. I was so bad at text placement and I still am but I have to say I have improve, thank the lord for that but I would look at other graphic designer's graphics and see how they placed the text and what fonts they used.

5) Google and Youtube are your best friends. I spent most of my day reading up on how to make graphics. I would watch speed covers for hours and they really did help. I researched everything from how to use the tools on Photoshop to how to have a cohesive graphic.

6) Speaking of cohesion, your graphic should have some sort of theme you don't want a bunch of random things that don't work together it's a headache to look at. Colors should work together don't go mixing 50 different colors on your graphic when none of them look good together because no matter how amazing your skills are cohesion can make or break your graphic.

7) Get feedback from people. It could be anyone family, friends, and even here on Wattpad. There are plenty of books on Wattpad that rate your graphics for you. Don't be afraid of criticism because that's what makes people better.

8) PSDs... lemme tell you without PSDs all my graphics would look like total shit (excuse my language). I'm serious PSDs save graphics they add this element to them that fix any problem. I feel like I'm missing something from my life when I look at my old graphics where I didn't use PSDs.

9) Join graphic contests. When I first started putting my graphics on Wattpad and really getting into the graphic community I saw graphic contests. They make you get out of your comfort zone and try new things. Don't get sad if you don't win because in the end the only thing that matters is improvement and I really did notice a difference in my graphics. I noticed that I wasn't afraid to get out of my box and try new things.

10) Your personal style is everything. Your graphics don't have to look like mine or any other person's because the best part of making graphics is that it's an art, express yourself with it. Go crazy and have fun with them, because this is your art.