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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Fundamentals of Graphic Design by California Institute of the Arts

4.8
stars
17,882 ratings

About the Course

Graphic Design is all around us! Words and pictures—the building blocks of graphic design—are the elements that carry the majority of the content in both the digital world and the printed world. As graphic design becomes more visible and prevalent in our lives, graphic design as a practice becomes more important in our culture. Through visual examples, this course will teach you the fundamental principles of graphic design: imagemaking, typography, composition, working with color and shape... foundational skills that are common in all areas of graphic design practice. I don't just want you to watch a video of someone talking about design, I want you to MAKE design! If you want to be a designer you have to be a maker and a communicator, so this course will offer you lots of opportunities to get your hands dirty with exercises and with more practical projects. At the end of this course you will have learned how to explore and investigate visual representation through a range of image-making techniques; understand basic principles of working with shape, color and pattern; been exposed to the language and skills of typography; and understand and have applied the principles of composition and visual contrast. If you complete the course, along with its optional (but highly recommended) briefs, you will have a core set of graphic design skills that you can apply to your own projects, or to more deeply investigate a specialized area of graphic design. To succeed in this course you will need access to a computer. You can complete this course without one but it will be tougher. Access to, and a beginner's level knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite programs, such as Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign will help you, especially if you want to complete the optional briefs....

Top reviews

AR

Apr 17, 2016

very good introductory course. i enjoyed the assignments, they are not overwhelming, easy to start, and the optional ones offer great opportunity to dig little deeper into graphic design fundamentals.

GA

Aug 20, 2018

Very interesting, I liked the format. Easy to follow, nice excercises. It's actually good to cover the basics of design, even if you are not an absolute beginner, and especially if you are self taught

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2501 - 2525 of 4,586 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Ebba J

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Nov 8, 2016

I enjoyed the course and working on the assignments.

By Tiffany X

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Dec 6, 2015

This is a cool course, and helps me a lot! Thank you!

By Carol S

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Nov 7, 2015

Excellent. The best Coursera course that I've taken.

By Lauren F

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Sep 23, 2024

Genuinely instructive and engaging briefs. Loved it!

By M. E

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May 20, 2024

Excellent course, I really enjoy it and learn a lot.

By Lilit S

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Mar 7, 2024

Absolutely grateful for the very informative course

By Ntandoyenkosi D

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Oct 26, 2022

It is an amazingly comprehensive course. Thank you.

By Luis J L C

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Feb 2, 2022

A great introduction to the world of graphic design.

By Юлия П

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Aug 14, 2021

excellent course, a lot of practice, a lot of theory

By Maira M

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Jul 9, 2021

Excelente curso, he aprendido mucho, muchas gracias!

By Asad U R

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Apr 15, 2021

it is quite amazing experience studying online here.

By Sadaf T

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Dec 4, 2020

It was very great and a pleasure to get this course,

By yatrik v

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Oct 21, 2020

very easy to understand and learn, very good course.

By BRUK G

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Sep 28, 2020

It really is helpful program. it ave me huge lesson.

By Cheese J

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Aug 24, 2020

I've learned a lot from this courses! Great teacher!

By Marina T

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Aug 17, 2020

The course was really interesting and I learnt a lot

By Nahidul I

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Jul 17, 2020

I love this course. It,s very helpful for beginners.

By Regina J

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Jun 13, 2020

This was a great introduction to the specialization.

By Nik C

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Jun 8, 2020

Very informative and potential course for beginners.

By Armaan C

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Jun 1, 2020

very nicely organised and well explained in details.

By Tan Y H X

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May 23, 2020

very insightful and easy to understand for beginners

By ENRICO S O

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May 14, 2020

Easy to follow, even if your English level is basic.

By Dudka A

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Apr 29, 2020

I really liked it! Learned a lot of new information.

By Eimy B

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Mar 27, 2020

A very good way to know the basics of graphic design

By Tarik M

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Mar 10, 2020

It is a very interesting course, I've learned a lot.