I will give you a book list that I used and I’ll give you some exercises I did

Book 1/ Universal Principles of Design

https://arc345ergofactors.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/william-lidwell-kritina-holden-jill-butler-universal-principles-of-design-rockport-publishers-2003.pdf

Exercise 1/ Composition

Create a viewfinder out of a piece of paper. Cut out squares and rectangles of various aspect ratios. Go outside and “frame” what you see within the viewfinder. 

Sketch what you framed. Observe how your eye moves across those thumbnails. 

Take a pen or colored pencil and draw the line your eyes take in each composition. Note what you observe. Are you moving in an N, Z, Y, etc. Are you eyes getting tired or cross? 

Good composition brings ease to your eyes and allows them to take in the full picture upon viewing. 

(I realize this may take a while lmfao so i will add more occasionally)

how did you learn the fundamentals? i think i'm struggling to learn in a real way, i see random things here and there but no clear "curriculum"

To get good you need three things: 

- learn the fundamentals 
[composition, balance, unity, white space, contrast, etc]

- practice, practice, and practice [create studies around typography and images practicing various forms of the fundamentals]

- study from life, visit museums [design is everywhere, seek the fundamentals in everything]

i want to make good things and it feels like a missing piece

this, but imo starting with ‘try’

trying quickly [often immediately] leads to ‘ok fuck… whats similar that i like’

Free game: 

The secret sauce is intentional consumption first, then design. In my opinion based on time around you.

mimic to learn the tools, and then try different styles/things until u start to like what you see. if you worry about it being Good™️ this early in the game, you never actually give yourself the chance to develop the skill. lucky for u, u have good ideas, those are harder to come by and those can always be skinned in a number of ways design wise

https://dribbble.com/ is your best friend

99% of design is typography 

elements of typographic style by bringhurst is your guide

Filing this next to my annual “I should get good at Blender” goal

you seem like someone who could do it well intuitively