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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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601 - 625 of 4,554 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Giselle A R A

Oct 30, 2019

Fue divertido y aprendí mucho experimentando cada semana, totalmente recomendado. En ocasiones creemos que sabemos cosas, pero cuando aprendes el por qué de esas cosas es cuando realmente sabemos sobre ellas

By Tamara S

Mar 19, 2024

This was a super helpful and comprehensive introduction to the different elements of graphic design. The assignments reinforce the concepts and facilitate application and understanding. Informative and fun!

By Saleeha S

Jun 23, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring and completing this course. I learnt about being creative with my skills and techniques and discovered that it isnt always about perfection or at making your work look perfect

By Ar. S D

May 26, 2020

Waat a journey it was! Michael is a prolific teacher and educator. Amazingly explained, very clever and creative presentations. I enjoyed at its core. Thank you so much for making this course. Lots of Love.

By Efren A

Dec 27, 2018

This is a GREAT course, as simple as that. It is exactly the perfect first step into the world of graphic design, which is at least what I needed. Thank you so much for putting together such a great help!!!

By Arwa A

Jan 13, 2018

Everything is really amazing, from the first week to last. i wish i had more time to complete the optional assignments.

if there is one thing.. i think the last required assignment was too simple.

Thank you.

By Indra L

Jan 5, 2017

Este curso me ha ayudado a desarrollar mis habilidades en diseño gráfico. La brecha del idioma no ha sido una limitante y me ayudó a descubrir que me encanta el diseño gráfico. Agradezco a los instructores.

By Jied S

Jan 24, 2016

This course will open your mind to graphic design to a whole new level. It will make you "think design'. Highly recommend it. The assignments are well thought out too. You will learn-if thats what you want.

By Alpna P

Jun 28, 2021

I really love the technique how the mentor explain all the topics and also the assignment and quiz process this process is really help me to improve my skill. thankyou so much coursera for this strategies.

By Floor L

Jan 17, 2021

This was a great course! It's very nice to see the images and hear the Mr. Worthington's voice-over. The subjects are interesting and not too hard for people who know nothing about graphic design, like me.

By It’s E

Oct 5, 2020

A really useful course! I learn so much knowledge from this course, most important is that this course build a entire graphic design system for me. Really recommend for people who want go to design field.

By Philbertha A

Aug 9, 2020

This course opened my eyes to the graphic design world as an inexperienced person in design. I would really recommend this course to my friends who want to study a brief introduction to the graphic design.

By L. C

Nov 18, 2019

Great basic course! Information is presented systematically and tightly. There is no superfluous information and empty talk, all about the case. The materials are clear, interesting. Thanks to the mentors!

By Isaac B

Jun 9, 2017

Loved this course. It's so well structured and as a filmmaker I found this a really good primer to quickly getting up to speed on graphic design concepts that can be easily applied to multiple disciplines.

By Becoming M w E

Feb 9, 2016

I am enjoying the course as a beginner in graphic design, i am also taking practical classes on PS, Corel draw and In design. i believe strongly that this specialization will give me the much needed edge.

By Witenberg S R S

Feb 7, 2016

I really did enjoy the lessons, the assignments on different views of an object and last one on single contrasts indeed contributed to my creativity practicing. The lecture about patterns was impressive!

By simone f

Mar 25, 2022

Well explained and put together. The complexity of the essential elements in graphic design was taught in such a careful manner that it seemed to be a fairly simple subject. What I expected was delivered!

By Constanza V B

Mar 1, 2021

Excellent course!! Specially if you are a beginner but even if not you are still going to learn a lot of new things. Optional briefs are really helpful, and you will most likely make an enormous progress.

By Lasya G

Jun 5, 2020

The fundamentals of design that are essential for a beginner have been explained very well. However, further courses may be required for more details about their application in different fields of design.

By Matthew B

Sep 21, 2016

Perfect for beginning and intermediate graphic designers. The explanations of concepts and exercises are quite useful and makes the foundations of graphic design clear and accessible. Highly recommended.

By Tanguy L B

Dec 8, 2023

Really well explained and gradually in the processus, it helps to work our eye in graphic design and our skills. I highly recommand it for any beginner in this subject. Thank you to Michael Worthington !

By Luis D S M

Sep 9, 2021

This course helped me to understand the basic element of graphic desing. I'm impress how well structure is this program, I totally recommended and doing the excercises will enhance a better way to learn.

By Rebecca A

May 31, 2020

It teaches you the basics and the fundaments of graphic design, for those who don't know and want to start learning it's a good way to begin with and even those who know and want to go back and remember.

By Andie L

Aug 15, 2018

Great introduction into what Graphic Design is all about. It breaks down the complexity into bite size, tangible pieces of information that you can apply to your graphic design mindset. Highly recommend!

By Tianyin L

Feb 8, 2018

I feel that this course suits me, a complete novice to graphic design, very well. It covers the basics and key themes in graphic design, and the examples shown are very stimulating and thought provoking.