Quality of Ingredients

When you're crafting anything, you need good ingredients — and you need the right tools for the job. If you're making a five-star meal, you need fresh produce and the finest meats — and knives sharp enough to cut through the toughest meat. If you're making a table, you need the straightest grained, knot-free wood and an assortment of hand and/or power tools. If you're making a couture dress, you need the finest cloth, notions, a dress form and a sewing machine up for the task... The need for quality raw materials and proper tools holds true for graphic design as well.

It's rare that you can download free fonts and free photos from the Internet and come up with a successful design. Downloading free fonts and photographs is like grocery shopping at 7-11. Bad, bad idea. As a designer, you're not expected to create everything yourself, but you are expected to shop wisely.