Graphic design ideas: 50 projects to practise on

The best graphic design ideas for practice are small, specific and limited on purpose: a poster using only type, a palette of three colours for a fictional café, a week of social posts for a local shop. Each constraint forces you to solve one problem well, and finishing fifty small projects teaches more than starting five ambitious ones. Below are fifty briefs grouped by the skill they build, each designed to fit in an evening.

How to practise graphic design

Practice works when it has a rhythm and a finish line. Pick a project, set a time limit, make it, then compare it with good work in the same genre. Writing one sentence about what you would change is where most of the learning happens.

1. 1

   Read the brief and add one constraint

   If the brief says "poster", decide the size, the typeface and the number of colours before you start.

2. 2

   Sketch three versions fast

   Rough thumbnails on paper or a blank canvas. The first idea is rarely the best, and three forces you past it.

3. 3

   Build the strongest one

   Spend most of your time here, on spacing, sizes and alignment rather than effects.

4. 4

   Stop at the time limit

   Ninety minutes is a good default. A finished imperfect piece teaches more than an unfinished perfect one.

5. 5

   Compare and write one line

   Put it next to a professional piece of the same kind and note one specific difference to try next time.

Typography projects (1 to 10)

Type is where beginners gain most, quickest. Remove images and colour and you have nowhere to hide: everything depends on size, weight, spacing and alignment. Typography basics covers the vocabulary.

1. Set your favourite song lyric as a poster using one typeface and no images.
2. Design a book cover for a classic novel using only its title and author.
3. Make a business card in black on white with two sizes of one font.
4. Recreate a newspaper front page grid with placeholder text.
5. Design a quote card where the most important word is three times larger.
6. Make a wordmark for a fictional bakery using only letter spacing and weight.
7. Set the same paragraph five ways: tight, loose, centred, left aligned, all caps.
8. Design a restaurant menu with no decoration, only hierarchy.
9. Make an alphabet poster where every letter is a different weight of one family.
10. Design a gig ticket with the band name, date, venue and price.

Colour projects (11 to 20)

Colour exercises teach you to choose on purpose. Limit the palette in every one of these, and check that text keeps enough contrast. Color theory basics explains the wheel and the harmonies the briefs refer to.

1. Build a five colour palette from a photo you took this week.
2. Design the same poster three times: complementary, analogous and monochrome.
3. Make a gradient background using three colours that sit next to each other on the wheel.
4. Redesign a famous logo in a colour that changes its personality completely.
5. Create a dark mode and a light mode of one social post.
6. Design a palette for a fictional tea brand, a gym and a law firm, and compare them.
7. Make a poster using only black and one bright accent used once.
8. Turn a photo into a duotone using two brand colours.
9. Design a set of four seasonal backgrounds for one brand.
10. Make an accessible version of a low contrast poster you have seen.

Layout and poster projects (21 to 30)

Layout is about deciding what people see first, second and third. Visual hierarchy is the principle; these briefs make you practise it.

1. Design a poster for a local event happening this month.
2. Make a Swiss style poster on a strict grid with one image.
3. Design an event flyer where the date is the biggest element.
4. Lay out a magazine spread with a headline, standfirst, body and pull quote.
5. Make a film poster using one shape and the title.
6. Design a lost cat poster that would really get read from a lamp post.
7. Make a five page carousel explaining one simple idea.
8. Design a recipe card that you could follow with flour on your hands.
9. Make a timeline infographic of your own life so far.
10. Redesign a cluttered noticeboard flyer with the same content.

For project 22, look at Swiss design first; for something looser, Bauhaus design offers shapes and primaries to play with.

Branding projects (31 to 40)

Branding projects teach consistency: making many pieces feel like one voice. Invent a business, write a one line description, and keep every decision in a simple style sheet.

1. Create a full identity for a fictional coffee cart: name, logo, colours, cup.
2. Design a logo, then show it on dark, light and photo backgrounds.
3. Make a one page brand style guide for a friend's side project.
4. Rebrand your school, club or street as if it were a company.
5. Design packaging for a candle with three scent variations.
6. Create social templates for a podcast: cover, episode post, quote card.
7. Design an email header and signature for a fictional studio.
8. Make a brand moodboard from twelve images, then design one post from it.
9. Design a shop window sign for a florist that opens next week.
10. Create a menu, loyalty card and Instagram post for one café.

Real world briefs (41 to 50)

These have real content and, ideally, a real person to show at the end. They teach the part of design no tutorial can: working with what you are given.

1. Redesign a local shop's opening hours sign and offer it to them.
2. Make a week of Instagram posts for a business you love.
3. Design a wedding or birthday invitation for someone you know.
4. Redesign your CV as a one page design piece.
5. Make a YouTube thumbnail for a video you have watched recently.
6. Design a charity bake sale poster with every detail a visitor needs.
7. Create a LinkedIn banner for yourself at 1584×396.
8. Make a phone wallpaper at your screen's exact size that leaves room for the clock.
9. Design a band poster for a friend's next gig.
10. Pick your favourite project from this list and redo it from scratch.

Turning practice into a portfolio

After a few loops you will have pieces worth showing. Choose the six to ten strongest, redo anything that embarrasses you, and present each with its brief and one paragraph on the decision you are proudest of. Designer portfolio tips covers how to present them.

You don't need expensive software to start; free graphic design software compares the options. Gradiently is free to design with any unclaimed Mark and keeps up to three designs on the free plan, which suits a practice project at a time, and its backgrounds keep text readable while you are still learning contrast.