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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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651 - 675 of 4,555 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Emily G

Aug 18, 2021

Very informative for begginers, the course is easy to follow and a lot of necessery materials but they are broken down to make it easier for people who don't have a background in graphic design.

By Nicholas

Jun 23, 2017

Hands on interraction would be nice with course instructor. Everything else including community feedback is great.

Access or feedback from mentors for graded assignments would make better impact.

By Foteini F

Dec 1, 2016

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in learning or fine-tuning their understanding of the basics of design.

Very well structured and worth the time!

By keren k

Jan 3, 2016

great course for beginners in graphic design.

you get to know the basic and the tasks are simple so anyone can do them.

no previous experience is needed but its fun to try and make your own designs

By Vaishnavi G

Jul 22, 2020

For people who have no knowledge of how to start, it's a good basic course to get hands-on those stuff. And the people who have the idea this course is too basic for them. Although I enjoyed it.

By Huyen T N

Jun 15, 2020

The course is condensed and very applicable. I am a designer without an art degree, the course has provided me with many insights of the art concept that will help me a lot in improving my work.

By Syed Z R

May 15, 2020

It was very helpful. I learned a lot and explored my imaginations. It helped me grow even more. I've learned new things theoretically and practically. It is a great course for beginners like me.

By Дмитрий Б

Feb 19, 2016

This course helped me to explore my creativity. Although I've been working as a graphic designer for sveral years still I found a lot of interesting stuff that opened new horizons of creativity.

By Deleted A

Feb 1, 2021

How do i leave the course. It tells me to click on the 3 dots and choose leave course but it only comes up with this option to rate the course. I may take it again but I have no time right now.

By Philip A

Jun 1, 2019

Very simple, straight-forward and effective. Even for someone who has already done graphic design for a few years this is very enlightening as it covers very strong basics. Highly recommend it!

By Lisa H

May 6, 2017

I LOVED this course. Awesome teacher, every lecture made interesting and fun to watch. Great doing the optional assignments for learning!! Recommend this 100% to any beginner of graphic design.

By Labonya B

Aug 3, 2020

It's a very basic of graphics design, very well organise. It's very helpful for the beginners. I've learned through watching videos, doing the assignments and reviewing others work. Perfect!

By Stephen M H

Jul 11, 2020

The explanations were thorough, the visuals reflected exactly what Mr. Worthington was discussing, and the pacing of the videos was outstanding. Thank you for a beneficial learning experience!

By Ajmain A A

Apr 29, 2020

This course help me a lot in order to be more creative , and I have learnt so many basic things about graphic design. Thanks to the instructors . They helped me throughout the entire course...

By Pınar C

Apr 27, 2020

Such an enjoyable course! The basics are provided in a simple and clear way and the methods to use while designing is explained. Also, the instructor has a so encouraging tone, special thanks.

By Deleted A

Mar 18, 2019

Lots of Knowledge and Very Interesting Concepts. I wish I had more time to deepen more. I strongly reccomend it to every Graphic designer who wants either to learn or to fresh design concepts.

By Denis B

Jun 7, 2017

this is the great basic course for everyone who interested in design and art because it's the easy way to start. simple video materials and a lot of practice is exactly what I needed.

Cool-cool

By Zoe C

May 20, 2022

This course was really enjoyable, I particularly enjoyed doing the assignments. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about graphic design.

I will be taking other related courses.

By Lidia G

Aug 30, 2017

This course is a great way to begin any study of graphic design. I have loved the videos, the explanaitions and the brief we have to make are very well studied. I would strongly recommend it.

By Ana S B

Mar 13, 2017

El curso me ha parecido fascinante, he aprendido las bases sobre el diseño y con estas clases he logrado descubrir mi pasión por el diseño y buscaré adentrarme más en el tema. Muchas gracias.

By Lili C

Apr 13, 2016

Seriously great course. It was informational and fun. The assignments were engaging and the professor was as well. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in graphic design.

By Appolonia T

Oct 22, 2024

A spectacular and insightful deep-dive into the core of Graphic Design. I loved all the exercises where I got to make design and apply what I've learned! Thank you for providing this course!

By Carolina V

Sep 6, 2021

It was fun, clear and active. I believe that I have learne a lot of new things and also i can expand my portfolio with all the hardwork we have been made in class. Good teacher and material.

By Nicole F

Jun 1, 2020

I learned a lot about the fundamental things a designer should take into account when creating a composition. The exercises were fun to make and the videos were short and easy to understand.

By Karolina K

Feb 5, 2020

This course was really helpful, useful. Now I have totally different view to Graphic Design and really good start totally from fundamentals.

I was really enjoying and will continue to do it.