I learned a lot on basic design from:
http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/index.asp
Actually, I got her books a couple years ago.
But I found the online movie library very cool to learn things as I needed them.
The movies are easier to absorb than the books.
You are learning quite a bit at once.
The 1st site may seem to take years. The more you do the easier and quicker it gets.
There's no way around the general learning curve. One step at a time and all that....
