I have to ask what exactly means "just finishing the electronics basics", and how long did that take you to learn.
If you only know basic DC stuff, ohms law, thevenin theorem and the like, it will take you much longer than if you have a decent idea about ac circuits and transistors.
The most important thing in electronics from the point of view of circuit design I think is to have an intuitive feel for the basics, especially the behavior of components as the frequency increases.
How long this takes mainly depends on how many circuits you not built, but finally made work, because as you know the most you learn is from your own mistakes, and every kind of circuit has its own culprits. The time also depends on how good are your sources of knowledge, because it is radically different if you spend a month troubleshooting something on your own, or it takes you a day or two because you found it in a book, or googled it right, or asked in a forum like this. And to be good at finding the right answers you need to know what to ask, so basic terms and knowledge is a must to get a decent start.
I can´t recommend you any good books to start with, because I am almost entirely self-taught through internet, and a little from local magazines when I was like 10 to 15. But go to allaboutcircuits.com and go through the e-book, and say what parts you do/don´t know well, beacuse without any idea of your actual skills this is just a philosophical essay.