Is 30 Too Old to Learn InDesign?

It’s a popular myth that you can only learn new skills when you’re college-age or younger, but psychology research indicates that this just isn’t true. In fact, learning a new skill in your thirties can prove beneficial to your cognitive health, making it as ideal a time to learn InDesign as any. Additionally, InDesign can be a valuable source of enjoyment and may even improve your career prospects. This article will investigate the advantages of learning InDesign in your thirties, review how long it usually takes, and offer tips to make learning InDesign faster and easier. 

Why Learn InDesign at 30?

InDesign is a fulfilling creative skill that comes with a whole host of benefits for over-30s. In addition to finding new avenues for creative expression, InDesign can improve your health and set you on a path toward a new career. 

Health Benefits

Learning InDesign after the age of 30 could even help you retain healthier cognitive functions as you age. Over time, learning a visually-oriented skill such as InDesign can even help decrease some symptoms of neurological disorders like epilepsy, dementia, and encephalopathy. By enhancing your visual processing skills, learning InDesign sharpens your short-term memory and reduces visual fatigue. 

Moreover, InDesign can help you find fulfillment in creating designs you can be proud of and connecting with a wider community. Having a creative outlet is well known to improve mental health symptoms like depression and anxiety. Moreover, InDesign can help you combat isolation by connecting you to a wider community. Whether through joining a class or utilizing InDesign’s online features, you’ll also gain access to a creative community that can lessen the effects of loneliness (now so familiar to the 20-35 age group). 

New Experiences

While popular culture may lead you to believe that you’re only likely to experience a midlife crisis around age 40, many millennials have been having them since their teens. If, like so many around you, you’re feeling unfulfilled by your current life, why not mix it up with a new skill? It’s easy to get downcast in the doldrums of a repetitive life routine, particularly if most of that routine is composed of work and caretaking. Burnout is a buzzword among millennials for a reason, and one of the best ways to recover is to prioritize having more fun. With InDesign, you can enjoy your downtime creating designs you can be proud of. 

Career Opportunities

Outside of being a relaxing hobby, InDesign proves a useful skill for professionals in many industries. As an important tool in fields like graphic design, InDesign can set you up for a career in design or publishing. However, keep in mind that you’ll likely need to learn additional skills before qualifying for jobs. If you’re tired of your current career, learning InDesign can also be the first step toward a rewarding career pivot. 

How Long Will It Take to Learn InDesign?

The length of time it takes to learn InDesign is highly individual, varying based on what you want to do with the software and a variety of situational factors. In general, you can think of InDesign as easy to learn, but challenging to master. As a result, it typically takes several days to learn InDesign basics, while mastering the program at a professional level requires months of study and years of practice. 

A big reason for this time difference is that amateur users may only need to learn a few InDesign skills to complete hobby projects while aspiring professionals will need to understand all of InDesign’s features to qualify for design jobs. In addition, professionals should know how to combine InDesign with other design skills, such as Photoshop and applied design. Although the technical aspects of InDesign can be learned in a matter of weeks, it takes years to develop a keen sense for how different design techniques should be applied to achieve the most professional results. 

Outside of goals, the second most important factor that can influence your learning timeline is how much free time you have at hand. If your schedule is jam-packed with activities, finding time to learn can be difficult, making it more likely that it’ll take longer to learn InDesign. On the flip side, having a relatively flexible schedule will allow you to not only attend classes more easily but also practice InDesign more often on your own, thus solidifying skills more quickly. In addition to having more free time, prior experience with design or other creative software can speed up your learning process significantly. 

Ways to Make Learning InDesign Easier and Quicker

You can learn InDesign more quickly and smoothly by attending a live class that provides instructor support for all your learning needs. In sharp contrast to the frustration of figuring out InDesign skills alone, learning in an instructor-led environment will allow you to quickly resolve issues and move on to more exciting things. In addition, classes offer hands-on activities that can help you learn by doing, rather than simply developing theoretical knowledge. If you’re someone who struggles with motivation when learning a new skill, having an instructor by your side throughout this process will ultimately reduce discouragement and keep you moving forward.

To make learning more accessible, classes often come with complimentary access to the Adobe Creative Cloud tool set, meaning that you won’t need to pay for tools separately from your education. Additionally, many classes provide additional resources, such as Adobe Stock images, InDesign certification study materials, one-on-one coaching, and career advancement packages. 

Thanks to InDesign’s popularity, there are a variety of different class styles designed to suit different learning goals and scheduling needs. In addition to being available both in-person and live online, InDesign classes are available as short masterclasses as well as lengthier training programs with more content. 

Which Is Better: Short InDesign Classes or Bootcamp Training?

The class style you choose will depend largely on your schedule and how you plan to use InDesign. In general, short InDesign classes are ideal for casual learners who want to hone in on just a few skills at a time, while bootcamp classes offer comprehensive training in one course. You can complete most short InDesign courses in less than one week, making them a convenient option if you have limited time to commit to learning. InDesign bootcamps and certificate programs can range from about a week to a full year, depending on the topic and whether you choose to attend part-time or full-time. 

In terms of curriculum, short classes differ significantly from InDesign bootcamps. Short classes teach just a few skills at a time, meaning that you won’t waste time on skills that don’t interest you. Although most short classes focus on beginner skills, some short classes provide instruction on niche advanced topics like color printing, digital publishing, InDesign for social media, and combining InDesign with InCopy. 

In contrast, InDesign bootcamps cover as many InDesign skills as possible, often drilling every InDesign feature from beginning to advanced. These programs are oriented toward career advancement and often include broader training in design skills like Photoshop, Figma, design theory, and visual communication. Offering certificates as proof of your class participation, these comprehensive courses are a good pick if you plan to use InDesign extensively. As career training programs, they often offer additional services, such as career counseling, job experience, and portfolio development services. 

Which Is Better: Part-time or Full-time InDesign Training?

Most InDesign classes that offer part-time or full-time scheduling options fall into the bootcamp or certificate category, but short classes may also be seen as a subset of part-time training. It may not seem like a big decision at first, but choosing whether to attend class full-time or part-time can have a major effect on your energy and how quickly you learn. Understanding the advantages of each class style will make your decision easier. 

Because part-time classes were designed with busy lifestyles in mind, these classes are often the easiest to navigate if you (like many over-30s) are juggling lots of responsibilities. Alternatively, you can also take part-time classes if you don’t have much on your plate and simply want to spend more time practicing your InDesign skills outside of class, as their spread-out timeline will allow you to dwell on each skill for longer. Full-time bootcamps, on the other hand, are intended as accelerated tracks to career success. These classes cover material at a quick pace and demand a larger time commitment per week. 

Learn InDesign Skills with Noble Desktop

If you’re ready to start your InDesign journey today, you can get high-quality training through Noble Desktop. Their wide selection of InDesign classes includes options for all skill levels delivered live online or in NYC. Each class promises hands-on training led by an expert who can help you build skills and confidence in one. 

For a quick introduction that doesn’t require any former experience, sign up for the InDesign in a Day class. In just a few hours, this course can help you learn a new hobby, with tips and tricks you won’t find in an average tutorial. By the time you’re through, you have the skills to create simple layouts. 

If basics won’t cut it, Noble Desktop also offers an Adobe InDesign Bootcamp that will teach you how to use all of InDesign’s major features and then some. Designed to meet the needs of both beginners and more experienced learners, this class will teach you core essentials before building up to advanced features. Through experiential learning projects, you’ll get comfortable using InDesign to create beautiful layouts of all types, including advertisements, posters, and magazine spreads. 

Turning it up a notch, Noble Desktop can even walk with you through the stages of preparing for a design career when you sign up for comprehensive career training courses like the Graphic Design Certificate. In this bootcamp, In Design is just one of the numerous career skills taught. While completing multimedia projects, you’ll learn to work with Photoshop and Illustrator, apply design theory effectively, and even practice soft skills like teamwork and visual communication. In addition to helping you formulate a solid portfolio, these assignments offer real professional experience that can be applied to your next job. For maximum career impact, this course also offers one-on-one mentorship, job support, and access to Noble Desktop’s career services team.