[grayrest]

This isn't bad advice. In particular, when you see a piece of design figure out exactly what you like about it. Is it the color palette? composition? typography? copy? The goal is to learn the rules so you can decide when to follow/break them. It'll also help you figure out who's actually a good graphic designer and who's merely aping the trendsetters.

Just be aware that both graphic and interaction design are fields that are as deep as software development. I say this because I talk to a number of developers who want to do the same thing and they're really not prepared to put in years of effort to be good. If you think you're good after a few months, you're the equivalent of that guy who thinks he's an awesome developer because he knows VB6. Fortunately, simply avoiding absolutely sucking design-wise is enough to get you through as long as your content/app is compelling.