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

4.8
stars
17,754 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

MN

May 18, 2022

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.

CS

May 9, 2018

An ok course for beginners. A bit too basic for someone who has already had experience in design, but is great anyway cause it breaks things back down to the simplest parts to help you remember roots.

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301 - 325 of 4,554 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Laura A J

Jul 25, 2018

i highly recommend this course for those who want to start their journey in Graphic Design and they don't know how to start. i love how the tutor tries to encourage us to experiment and try something new and not to be afraid of that. the assignments were fun and useful i am very glad for taking this course.

By Olga P

Dec 14, 2019

An excellent class that teaches you the basics of graphic design!!! Very thorough videos and exercises that get your creative mind evolving! The exercises are very fun to complete as the videos give you all the instructions needed to complete them. You will learn form, typography composition and much more!

By Madison R

Apr 26, 2022

This is a great course for understanding the fundamentals of graphic design. My only issue is that most of the time the feedback I received from other students wasnt that constructive, it was something along the lines of "looks good" which isnt particularly helpful. Otherwise, the course itself is great!

By Lois E

Nov 17, 2021

I really loved taking this course, it opened my eyes on the fundamentals of graphics design and i hope that in the near future, i will be able to continue with the other specialization course attached to this one. Thank you Michael Worthington for this thoughtfully drafted training videos and guidelines.

By Augoustinos K

Feb 19, 2024

Based in California, all the lectures of that school involve the essence of modern style in a variety nuances of creative ideas, under search of new imaginative perspective of reasons and outcomes. At the end of that voyage in the world of design a great result pleases and satisfies your artistic sense.

By Luisa M

Jul 27, 2020

The course is very interesting. It really teaches you the basics of Graphic Design, stimulates you to explore your creativity. I just wished our exercises were evaluated for at least one professional or more knowledgeable person instead of only our course colleagues. Overall I would highly recommend it!

By Lorna W

May 30, 2017

Really enjoyable course that was really easy to follow. The videos are great for visual learners, with transcripts that help with note taking, and the practical assignments help you learn by doing. Would definitely recommend as a starting point for anyone wanting to get into the graphic design industry!

By Eduardo G

May 15, 2020

Very well structured, lessons were clear, concise and very engaging and interesting. You build up on the assignments little by little but the concepts are powerful I recomment doing all the optional assignments since they are very fun to make and you learn and practice a lot. Thank you for this course.

By Nikola J

Aug 28, 2018

Being a self-learner in graphic design (photoshop, illustrator and so on) for more than a year, this course provided me with the necessary knowledge of design fundamentals, which I was lacking before. I am more confident to experiment and to think about my work from the theoretical perspective as well.

By John M T

Nov 20, 2021

I expected the course to just be a tip of an iceberg but, it is more than just a tip of an iceberg. This course is absolutely a very helpful tool in my preparation in Graphic Design journey. I will absolutely apply everything I learned from small to bigger principles if be needed. Thank you very much!

By Steven C

Jun 22, 2020

I found this course really useful for learning the basics of graphics design. The assignments helped me to think deeply about many of the design elements, e.g. typography, shapes, colors, textures & composition, which I don't usually do. It has given me a better understanding & appreciation of design.

By Jenny R R

May 27, 2020

I learned from zero this course. I am glad that at the end I got at least a piece of knowledge in Design. This is definitely my first motivation to keep going deeper into this wonderful world of Design. congratulations to Michael Worthington to be a nice and very clear in his videos, I learned a lot.

By Tracy B

Apr 27, 2017

Really enjoyed this course - very glad I saw it through to the end. Got a bit discouraged around week 3 because I don't have any experience with Illustrator or Photoshop yet, so I couldn't do those optional assignments. That's just a heads-up though, not a complaint. Would fully recommend the course.

By Mwa H L

Jan 26, 2016

Not so long ago i decided that I no longer wanted to practice the art of graphic design hazily since i was self taught. I wanted to know everything about it and this course has been quite helpful. For once i can now speak fluently about the fundamentals of graphic design. Thanks to the Coursera team.

By Валентина М

Mar 29, 2021

The course gives an idea of the different areas of graphic design and gives you the opportunity to try each of them in practice. The tasks are interconnected and this helps to understand the process of creating projects in graphic design. I liked the course, some tasks require knowledge of software.

By Archie

Jan 31, 2020

Excellent graphic design course. It has the perfect balance of content and the way it tests you is very effective and memorable. The way it is structured makes it an ideal starting point for any graphic designer, whether they already have some design experience, or if they are starting from scratch.

By resta a

Jan 11, 2021

very good and very useful, here it is taught in detail a basic graphic design with different methods, not only for computers but taught skills with our own hands, moreover changing the mindset of what design is like and how. I highly recommend this course for all levels of bass or for professionals

By Michele R

Feb 26, 2023

Très bon cours, tout est dans le titre. Beaucoup de thèmes sont abordés, et cela donne envie de poursuivre avec les autres cours de la spécialisation.

Very good course, it's all in the title. Many topics are covered, and this makes you want to continue with the other courses of the specialization.

By Stephen M F

Jun 30, 2020

The peer reviews are great to take advantage of and you should definitely do the optional assignments that way you will learn the most. In some ways I don't think they should be optional and make sure to get your assignments in as early as possible otherwise you may be waiting a while for a grade.

By Nikoletta

Jul 19, 2018

Love the course, it was amazing, I think that starting at the fundamentals even if you have some experience, or are self-taught or talented is a must, you just learn the most obvious thing that you forgot while trying to make your designs better.

I learn so much, and I recommend this one to all.

By Guilherme A B

Jul 3, 2021

The course goes into the theorical basics with some sprinkles of pratical work. I really liked it, as a complete begginner I found it really easy to go along and the exercises were fun to make. I would say that knowing how to use the basics of some graphical design tools will really help you.

By Megumi N

May 1, 2020

Disfruté mucho del curso. Fue muy didáctico y pude entender mucho de los conceptos básicos de diseño. Sugeriría que puedan ser un poco más específicos en las tareas y comentar que es algo muy sencillo puesto que muchas cosas se pierden en la interpretación. Muchas gracias por todo el esfuerzo.

By Veena V

May 9, 2016

This course is excellent. Being very informative and fun, it is a great introduction to the design process. All of the assignments are well thought out and are very interesting. This course provides a lot of scope for learning and discovery of new techniques for image making and composition.

By Ephram D

Jan 28, 2021

I have taken three courses from Coursera, all courses are straight forward, enjoyable, and with strict followup. I feel excited about this course and others. After I finished the course I feel as I can do it in the practical world. My trust is increasing in my capabilities, Thank you so much!

By Chirag J

Aug 26, 2018

This was one of the most fantastic course since I got the basics of not only art but also contemporary designs. Visual Literacy and how forms, contrast, typography works and the most important aspect to think like a viewer or the viewer's perspective. I recommend this course to all my friends