“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

You’ve probably seen that quote around the internet, attributed to various smart and inspirational figures, such as Eleanor Roosevelt. There’s no evidence she ever said those words, but she did write something similar: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Okay, maybe it doesn’t roll off the tongue, but I think Eleanor’s advice is better. The problem isn’t that we’re scared of stretching ourselves to learn new things; it’s that we think we’re incapable. So we give up before we really try. A lack of confidence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In this day and age, video production is an increasingly valuable skill for a designer to have. Maybe you’ve thought about giving it a shot. Maybe you’ve even installed Premiere and launched it, only to get overwhelmed by the intimidating interface and flee back to the apps you’re more comfortable with. But, my friends, if you truly want to grow as a creative, you must do the thing you think you cannot do. Never fear; Myra Ferguson will be guiding you every step of the way, not only in this month’s feature but in her series of articles and videos on learning Premiere.

Speaking of series, Nigel French concludes his How to Be a Better Graphic Designer series with the twelfth and final installment: “The Rules.” That title might sound a bit dry and dictatorial, but in reality, it’s more of a summation and celebration of the accumulated wisdom we get to partake of. Our predecessors learned some hard lessons, figured things out, and wrote them all down for us to benefit from their experiences. It’s a perfect finale to the series. As a bonus, we’re gathering all the installments together in one convenient ebook format. It will be available this fall as a member benefit.

If you’re feeling worn down by the endless grind of manually resizing InDesign layouts for multi-channel publishing, check out Amybeth Menendez’s look at the AI-powered CoDesigner plug-in by Fuga. It automatically adapts your design into countless formats and brings layouts to life with built-in motion graphics.

Don’t miss the podcast featuring Chris Carls and Sabine Lenz geeking out about the power of print. They share practical advice, inspiring examples, and plenty of reasons to believe that print really is better than you remember.

In the Community Calendar, you’ll find links to four big online events coming later this year, plus a pair of free webinars on fast fixes for InDesign problems and accessibility essentials.

Snippets has the dirt on where you can find an endless supply of free maps, scripts for prepping Illustrator and Photoshop files for print, and a clever trick for putting yourself on the InDesign splash screen.

Quick Wins has essential image-handling tips for InDesign users.

Recent YouTube videos include tips for transforming low-res logos to vector, applying paragraph rules in PowerPoint, colorizing photos with AI, and more!

Enjoy!