Stop for a second and take the inventory, because it's easy to miss how much it holds. A few weeks ago you could tell when something looked off, without the words for why. Now: four arrangement rules you apply on autopilot. The Two-Font Rule and ten pairings. 60-30-10 and a palette built from a single colour. Photos tamed, icons matched, accessibility checked with actual numbers. Two tools — one fast, one professional. A pile of finished, real pieces. A curated five-piece portfolio, staged and captioned. The ability to ask for feedback and survive it. And a repeatable process for turning all of it into paid work. That's not "completed a course". That's a working foundation.
The four main roads
You don't need to choose a lane yet — a year of happy generalism is the normal, healthy path. But it helps to know the roads, because you've already had a taste of each: