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

4.8
stars
17,701 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

EJ

Sep 5, 2021

I had a lot of fun in this course. I learnt some extra bits of information related to graphic design and I think it's a great start for beginners as well as good practice for intermediate and experts!

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.

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251 - 275 of 4,539 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Niladri J

Sep 10, 2019

Though I had a few basic ideas about graphic design fundamentals, this course helped me go through some organized lessons on those fundamental concepts and some more that were completely new to me. Also, the course engaged me a lot, especially through the practice exercises. And now I can concentrate on a structured approach to graphic design.

By Jeanette j v R

Oct 20, 2021

I really enjoyed this course. I feel like it really opens your mind to think more about how images can be created and manipulated to make a larger impact. I have no graphic design background other than that I've always loved art, sketching and painting, but I really feel like this course was worth my time and that I have learned alot from it.

By Carmela O

May 7, 2020

Definitely learned the fundamentals and foundation of graphic design. I came into this course with a degree in B.A. and experience in digital art. But I knew I did not learn the proper foundations and rules of graphic design. This course was indeed informative and helpful in fulfilling that gap in my knowledge. Highly recommend this course!

By David U

Mar 7, 2016

I had a great time doing this course. Professor Worthington covers the theory in an interesting and useful way. The lectures are short and sweet. The best part of the course is the 9 creative assignments (2 compulsory and 7 optional, but recommended) that really force you to expand your technical skill set and get out of your comfort zone.

By Daniele T

Sep 15, 2016

I really enjoyed this course, I like how It is organized, I like the teacher too, I think that makes a big difference. Many times this course surprised me with things I believed obvious or things I didn't know at all. I would recommend this course to everyone interested in this subject. Thank you CalARTS and Coursera for this opportunity!

By David C

Dec 15, 2023

This course was great for a beginner and to learn a lot fast. I took it in about a week while I was off of work and I think that cramming it that fast was actually beneficial as I now have a base from which I can gauge the value of other graphic design work and understand the concepts incorporated in other artists' work. 10/10 recommend.

By Fides M

Jun 29, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this course! I am a beginner and I like that after discussing theory, we plunged right into action with projects that squeezed our creative juices! I only wish that I had a bit more experience using Illustrator before beginning this course. That said, it pushed me to start learning it, concurrent with this course.

By Kanak C

Apr 27, 2020

This course was amazing. It always kept me working and explore and brainstorm. It has given me a new perspective of looking at any hoarding, advertisement or business card or any typography. I would recommend that you should include more content and little deep concepts. I think this has been very basic. Thank you so much for the course.

By Lorenzo F

Jun 24, 2017

Amazing course! it gives you insights if u're starter as well as some creative input if you're already into this field. Looking forward to continue with other courses in this specialization!

Lectures and lecturers are very clear. The material is very fluent and if you pay attention you don't even have to watch it more than once!

Good job!

By Melinda N

Jan 25, 2016

Nice short course with the right balance of theory and practical assignments. Only two assignments are required for completion but there are several assignments that are optional and to get the full benefit of this course, the optional assignments are important, if you have the time for it. The course covers all the basics and it's fun.

By Sunan F

May 31, 2016

This was an excellent course that was well taught and offered practical and real usable assignments. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to learn about graphic design while learning how to apply concepts. The professors lectures were clear concise and very well organized and gave great examples for each concept discussed.

By Michelle R

Feb 6, 2022

Este curso me ayudó a aprender de una manera sencilla y estratégica lo básico del Diseño Gráfico, o al menos de una buena parte. Es excelente, y a todo aquel que esté interesado en comenzar en el Diseño les recomiendo 100% el curso. Es teórico, práctico y a parte tienes los consejos de compañeros en los proyectos que vayas elaborando.

By Kathryn

Mar 9, 2016

This was a great introductory course. I appreciated how much the lectures were chunked down--to make it easier to move through the information each week and that there was a good mixture of required and optional exercises. I had fun!

I also liked that this course did not require software such as Indesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop.

By Natasha G

Dec 27, 2016

Dear Teacher, I really enjoyed the first part (module) of the Graphic Design. It was more than introduction and i really loved the practical work at the beginning. I will recommend this course further. The start is very important and that's why i decided to enroll al 5 modules. THANK YOU!

Continue with you great work in the future!

By Erhan D

Feb 14, 2016

If you want to be designer, get your hands dirty on the job! I really liked this course. It really showed a new perspective for making designs and I have learned new terms and concepts during the course. I would like to continue different graphic design courses in following days in Coursera. Really appreciated it. Thanks for all :)

By Zayan L

Oct 21, 2024

I finished the Graphic Design Specialization by CalArts on Coursera, and it was a great experience. The lessons were clear, and the projects were fun. I learned a lot about typography, layout, and design basics. The feedback from other students helped me improve. It’s a good course if you want to build design skills step by step.

By Deleted A

Sep 16, 2021

Assalamualaikum. Alhamdulillah the course was really helpful for me as a beginner to graphic design. I am more confident than past to start doing projects on graphic design. It empowers you with necessary knowledge and practice to get started. It was totally a different experience doing course on graphic design. One of the best!

By Jennifer H

May 16, 2017

I very much enjoyed this course. I feel like I got alot out of the student reviews and the instruction was very well done. I can't imagine feeling like one had accomplished this course without doing all the recommended exercises, so I strongly urge any participant to do them all. I will be taking all the classes in this program.

By Hareem B

Jan 31, 2022

I like this course so much don't think that how much we have to learn, how con we do that I were so scared all about but It's so easy to learn I like it and the assignments were so creative it's so creative field L chose graphic design because I love to draw & create animation & The good thing is, this field has no any scope

By Prachi

Sep 24, 2020

Thank you California Institute of the Arts for making this course available online. Michael Worthington is a fantastic instructor. I was glad that the course covered the basics and that it was so well structured. It did not feel overwhelming at any time. I feel encouraged to continue with the next course in this specialisation.

By Chryssa M

Apr 9, 2017

As this was my first course on graphic design, I WAS FASCINATED! I learned so many things- which our prof. made clear-and for the first time I used the graphics and did things I had never thought I could do. Our Prof was excellent, no unanswered questions, a lot of creative work, it was really a great experience

Thanks a lot!

By Smriti K

Feb 24, 2017

Thank you Michael Worthington for this fun course! I loved the classes and all of the assignments we had to do, especially helps that they were peer graded. Getting these sort of insights help you make critical choices of you are as a designer and what is your personal style.

Looking forward to taking up more of such courses :)

By Karen M

Jan 18, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed this course. Excellent presentations and exercises. Just what I needed to start this creative journey--it's been a life long passion to become a graphic designer. I am excited to continue in the series of courses lined up. Thanks to all involved, and for making graphic design learning more accessible :-)!

By aritra g

Jun 21, 2020

It was indeed a very pleasant experience learning the fundamentals of graphic design. I was really excited to be a part of this course and in the meantime I learned a lot of new things. And the exercises were designed so well, that no one can ever feel bored. What I liked the most about this course is, the system of reviewing.

By Mag D

Jul 18, 2019

Excellent course as others offered in this specialization. It provided me with very strong basics of graphic design. The content of the course is very practical. I highly recommend all the courses in this specialization as moving on to the next ones will provide you with very good introduction to graphic design and its rules.