This course is really helpful for understanding the objective of the graphic design.

Exceeded my expectation - diametrically different from what I expected. If there is one thing I took away from the course, that is take your time! That's it. You don't rush it to the end to get the certificate alone and then get nothing from the whole experience 'cause you're just too busy to actually pay attention and notice. And you're actually learning when spend your time taking a hard look at things and really just observe carefully and you can't do it when you're rushing. If in a brief and unimportant moment the teacher says you "should" find and take a look at historical patterns and dissect it, then go ahead and spend your next few days or weeks finding about that single thing! That actually led me to a great YouTube video analyzing the painting Madonna of the Meadow in depth and I was stunted by how much I don't know about art. That video just completely blew my mind and brought me to appreciate art even more. I was also reading the book "now you see it and other essays on design" and came across the chapter that has the most new words and so many confusing dialogues with perplexing and impossible-to-remember character names. Then I found out it was from the movie Mad Men and I don't know what it was either. Then I went and YouTube and searched for that specific dialogue and the result came out ep1 ss1 mad men. And I watched the whole 5 seasons this summer and it was one of the greatest movie I ever watched. So yeah, I just wanna say that just because the excuse is learning or doing something, it doesn't mean that the end is where you're going to. There is so many things to enjoy, to learn, to observe, to be found out in each moment along the way that rushing just makes me impossible to and only when I take my time can I fully experience what I am meant to experience. And taking my time is not enough, apparently. I have to put in the energy that came from eating well, sleeping well, meditation. I mean it is something like "deliberate practice". All the ideas I jotted down above is summed up in that phrase, and coincidently, that is the phrase I picked up when I was reading the book "Quiet" by Susan Cain while I was taking my time!

Great overview of graphic design. It takes you into the basics of different aspects of graphic design, and lets you play around with the exercises. You have the option to go deeper with non-graded exercises. The hands on exercises were quite valuable.

One recommendation I would have for the course organizers, is to give people a course or section about graphic design tools and how to use them. At least an overview of what's available and how it's used. There were a lot of people new to this and it would have definitely helped them to know some tools.

"Fundamentals of Graphic Design" this course is crucial if you want to learn graphic design. Each lecture is perfect, great job from instructor Michael Worthington, I had a great experience, for me, maybe week one can feel a bit light or slow but it's fine, it sets a mood and creates an atmosphere. Every lecture and assignment is worth it, in my opinion, what you will learn here you will use it trough out all your Graphic Design career.

Absolutely great course for a beginner.

Even though the course gave me some food for thought, I would call it overall a disappointment. I really loved the first week's assignment and the first week's content in general. CalArts team provided us with some interesting design techniques and some design theory. I expected the course to continue to be as thorough and demanding, but instead, the following three weeks were bland, banal and really shallow, not what you'd expect on an introductory course from such an institution.

The first week's assignment was really about creativity, but the fourth week's task was extremely boring and useless. The middle weeks' assignments were just tests! I don't exactly understand how you can qualify for a certificate in "Foundations of Graphic design by clicking on answers and not designing stuff.

Anyway, I expected the final task of the course to be something that would've combined all the previously learnt knowledge. Alas, it required 10 minute tops to complete and almost no creativity at all.

The last thing that I want to talk about is Peer Review. I realize that these courses are done purely for commercial purposes to promote an institution and to have more actual students enrolling. However, given that some people actually pay for the course, it is a shame that they don't have access to a professional review from the instructors. In my first peer-review assignment things went smoothly, however in the last assignment a person who clearly didn't understand the task gave me a low point, not providing any explanation for this mark. So I resubmitted the exactly same assignment and different people reviewed it and I passed.

I don't think it is a fair system to review design students, given that the course doesn't really give enough fundamentals. We only saw examples of good design during the first week and later only the theory.

I'd like to see the content of the rest of specialization, but I don't have high hopes for it.

Like some other reviewers said this is more of an art course than graphic design, at least from my perspective. You wont be learning how to use photoshop or anything adobe for that matter. So, for your assignments I recommend using something free, such as Canva, if you don't already pay for adobe. I hope that they upload more courses on adobe and have assignments such as making a business card or a flyer.

pretty much useless.

I have a whole degree in animation and I'm confident to say I have some solid art background. I do some graphic design freelancing but I never had any proper graphic design training so I wanted to learn properly and get a certificate.

now I got the certificate but I didn't learn a thing from this. would want my money back but it seems to be not possible.

the teacher's voice alone is so boring and makes me want to sleep when I listen to him. there are only 2 mandatory assignments and they are so easy and pointless.

don't want to come across rude but this is a waste of time and money. have an art background or not, avoid this course. ( i imagine people who are new to design and art would still finish this and didn't get much art and design education from it)

absolutely zero feedback and critique from experienced, professional graphic designer(s). an unreal number of "students" submitting files for assignments that are not even remotely close to what the course teaches.

Just plain boring. In every 10 min video, only 1 min was useful information. Also, I wanted to learn graphic design, not crafting, am no Martha Stewart.

A fantastic course for me! I've been dreaming of learning design for years, but I didn't know how to approach it. After studying this course, I understand it is the process that is the most important in the design, which I think is rarely taught elsewhere. This course focuses on the basis and concept of graphic design. It almost didn't say anything about software, which make us think more about the principle but not technical things. However, I found I was struggling to do the assignments due to the lack of ability in software. It may be better if they provide some software instruction when needed. Although I can imagine that may make students' focus deviate from what's really important in this course. But I'll suggest learning Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign after completing this course. Then continue to learn this specialization.

Excellent course! I've taken other courses on Coursera, and this one really stood out in the way the information was structured and presented. It felt very professional, well thought out, and I really learned a lot. I highly recommend the optional assignments, I think without them you won't learn as much and the information won't stick. Iteration and generation really is key to learning a new skill.

I would recommend at least a little bit of prior knowledge with Adobe Illustrator/InDesign (or their free alternatives -- the course gives you links to these), because knowing a little bit about these tools helped me to be able to complete many of the assignments without the added headache of learning how to use the program itself. And, if you are serious about graphic design, you will end up using these tools as you move forward, anyway.

It was a very valuable course and helped me learn a lot about the fundamentals of graphic design. It aided me in perfecting my skills with graphic designing and the teacher imparted his knowledge with not just lectures but also with pictures and graphics. The teacher also conveyed his message through painting and using techniques to help us with our assignments. And concerning the assignments which were equally helpful in learning graphic design ourselves by imparting whatever we learned from the lectures. I would recommend this course for every single individual who wants to know the fundamentals of designing let alone graphic designing. Thank you coursera for helping me find this invaluable treasure.

First of all I will like you to thank you to Coursera Team for accepting my Financial Aid request for this course and letting me complete it without paying anything. Now coming to the course I have learned many things about graphics designing like what is Denotation image, different kind of image-making technique, color management, and in the last week of the course about the contrast was very interesting. I liked the way they have taken all the exams throughout the course. In the end, I will suggest everyone who is willing to learn deeply about Graphics Designing to take this course and get an extra skillset in your CV. Thank you very much, Coursera Team for all the support.

This is the best Graphic Design Fundamentals course I have taken so far. The projects are super helpful to developing perception of the principles of GD. Note : it is preferable to have basic knowledge of the tools of Graphic Design (Photoshop, Illustrator) in order to make the projects.

The only aspect I don't like in general is the peer reviews : please have a professional review our work and give us proper feedback. I don't want to spend hours on a project and have a fellow student not even open the file to check my work and just write "she did good".

This course of CALArt extremely inspire me to become a better version ! the lessons from Mr. Michael Worthington were very explicit to understand and could be use these precious experiences to expand more and more knowledges about graphic design ! I am so honored to be here and thanks to all of my peers who taking time to contribute for my projects ! And I really appreciate the kindness of Coursera to give me chance and support financial aid for me to begin my journey in graphic design ! Thank you very much !

Best course I've ever done for Graphic Design! The outcome of this course is unbelievable. I always thought designing things or creating an artwork is not my cup of tea although I always wanted to do that and took so many courses but this course really pull my own creativity out of me. Weather a beginner/intermediate or advance designer, I recommend this course to all. And also Thank you so much for making this course.

Absolutely loving it. I don't know what to say but this course really helping me into getting more understanding about graphic design. It's really good for someone who is new to the field. The tutor explain everything perfectly and i understand every videos easily, there is no rush so i can do it in my own pace. so thank you so much for the course.

This course offers a great introduction to the principles of graphic design. It covers all the basics, including image making, typography, and composition. A word of warning: if you are looking for a course to teach you how to use specific Adobe products for graphic design, this is not the course for you. It looks at design from an artistic pov.

Comprehensive and informative; a good balance of breadth and depth. Instructor uses a "show, not tell" approach in his videos, which greatly aided my understanding of design principles & how to apply them. The tasks were challenging yet manageable, and effective in consolidating my skills learnt during the week.

This course helped me to develop some of the fundamental skills to introduce myself to the graphic design's world with excellence in perspective, in observation - and that's priceless, that's what makes the point and brings hummanity to science, to knolowege. I'll be always thankfull for what I've learned here.

Amazing Course, such great insight and yet so simple. When I took this course I knew only the words Graphic Design and that I have to know a few creative suite softwares to learn graphic design. But this course has cleared my thoughs on the subject.

A must taka course for any one wanting to learn graphic design

I had a lot of fun learning basic Design Thinking, how to approach Design, Typography, Basics of Image Making and how to ideate and visualise different shapes and forms. I would recommend this course to anyone who is looking to unlearn what they know about design or art and learn a brand new way of thinking.

Fundamentals of Graphic Design is really an amazing course! It motivated me so much to keep going in this journey towards the Specialization! I would just say it is a bit of a shame that there is content after the last compulsory exercise, since motivation to continue is lost once you receive your diploma!

It was my first course in graphic design. I was quite unsure of how much I could learn from an online course but I am really happy and satisfied now that I have completed the course. I love the assignments and the peer review thing here which helped me learn so much. Finally thanks a lot to our instructor.