(for students just starting out) | Great Beginner program, A-Z MasterClasses, student community | More personal experience, with higher accountability, but you can't go at your own pace | Some really good instructors, but there is an overwhelming selection and no guidance whatsoever | No curation, learning good things in the wrong time may hurt your progress and motivation |
(for more advanced students) | Pro community, advanced webinars, creative projects | Much fewer advanced trainings, high chance of no added value | No real progression here just an endless library of promising course titles | If you find a good channel and already have solid grounds you may find great inspiration |
| You can tie your fee to your XP level paying month-to-month | Live, classroom-based training is the most expensive option by far | Marketplaces are cheap but there is little quality control | Nothing is really free, you pay in time of searching pieces of info |
Depth of knowledge you gain | Insider tips, design principles covered in great detail, by a highly accomplished designer and veteran instructor | Progress at the pace of the group, little time to cover more than how-to-do skills, | Anyone can upload a course on any subject, there are some really good teachers, but most keep their prime content to their own site | There is so much content it is hard to tell, you need to know exactly what you are looking for to find the gems |
Finding exactly what you need | Some niche application or exotic subjects are not covered, but all that a graphic- or motion designer needs | There is far less variety and levels, depending on where you live there might be none | These marketplaces have a huge library favor courses you might find exotic subjects also but it's not easy to spot bad quality | The opposite, you will be shown a great lot of distractions and click-baits that you don't need |
Getting help when you are stuck | Great engaged student community, fast email support | Live help during the training with some follow up, but you can't hold the class for long | Usually at this price there is little help in short answers if any at all | The search algorithm is your best bet, in smaller channels you may get short answers |
| Insider tips, career advice, portfolio friendly project briefs and exercises, student collaborations | For working in-house, sometimes the certificate from a reputable training center is enough For freelancing there is little help | You might find tips or content on the subject in general, but beyond that you are on your own | No credibility of a formal training, no curation or expiry date on content, very high risk of finding bad advice that take you off track |