Chevron Left
Back to Fundamentals of Graphic Design

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.

Filter by:

276 - 300 of 4,539 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Simone E

Sep 9, 2020

I have never before had this much fun while learning something new. It actually made me look at the world around me in a different way; suddenly noticing lines, compositions, typography, colours, and more. The fact that you get to put what you have learned into practice make this course extra engaging. Great teacher as well!

By Preeti S

Nov 27, 2023

Although this course is for beginners, it is designed to force everyone out of their usual, comfortable way of doing things and to look at creativity and design in ways you may not have imagined before. The course delivery by the instructor is pretty candid and relaxed. The pace is also easy - I would recommend the course!

By Anastasia R

Aug 21, 2016

Briiliant course! It gives you very solid fundamentals for all other courses of the Graphic design specialization. The teacher is very passionate, loves his subject and can make all ideas very understandable. The course helps to believe in inner strenght and creativity. I loved it so much! Thanks for this amazing 4 weeks!

By Samantha M

Mar 22, 2016

This course was very easy to follow along with, making learning the fundamentals of graphic design easy and fun. The assignments required and optional challenged both your understanding of the material and your creativity. I loved every second of this course and I would recommend it to anyone interested in graphic design.

By Jennifer B (

Feb 9, 2016

This was my first attempt at a MOOC, and I think I'm spoiled. This is the just right format and just right medium for learning these skills. The class demonstration videos are simple enough to really demonstrate the concepts. The exercises are also well formulated to help get the concepts across effectively in this medium.

By Fred R

Jan 21, 2017

I found the lessons very interesting. I've read lots of design books and used Photoshop and Illustrator for a while in my job (web writer / marketer / developer) and this courses bridges the gap between all the information in my head and the hard question : how to use all that in a creative way ? I really appreciate it !

By Sherelle K L

Mar 9, 2016

I had an absolutely wonderful doing this course. I always wanted to do a graphic design course and this one sure did help me with learning all about the fundamentals of graphic design. I do hope to complete the entire specialisation later on. Great job, Coursera and CAL Arts! I look forward to your other art courses.

By AUDU E O

Mar 2, 2020

This is a great course for someone new to graphics designing and doesn't have a good background knowledge of design. It goes a long to explain a lot of things you see in professional design work without knowing the designer is using them. I will recommend it to anyone that wants to have good basics in graphic design

By Mary A V

Jul 10, 2019

Really solid foundation - The course is definitely what you make of it though, I often times felt like a lot of my peers didn't want to give any kind of feedback that could be perceived as negative, so the peer review wasn't as helpful as I had hoped. The actual course material and the professor were extremely good.

By Tilman H

Dec 27, 2021

This course gives a good introduction into image making, typography, color theory and composition. The tasks were fun and enabled me to perceive and think about a topic (basic household object) from many different perspectives - enabling me with new ways to come up with ideas for creative representation of a topic.

By Diana

Jul 9, 2020

Todo muy bien, me gustó bastante, las tareas me parecieron sencillas pero perfectas para entender lo que se estaba viendo en el curso. Los videos son muy claros, en ocasiones un poco pesados pero buenos y con buen contenido. Es recomendable pata aquellas personas que les interesa y están por comenzar en este mundo.

By Delania P d S G

Aug 25, 2024

This course exceeded my expectations! Although I already have knowledge of design, the fundamentals of graphic design are essential to realiar a work with greater property, I give emphasis to the proposed works that lead us to exarcitar creativity putting into practice the theory presented. Really good! Thank you!

By Tushar G

Feb 3, 2022

Awesome couse for anyone starting to learn about Graphic Design. This course will give you basic understanding of concepts like imagemaking, typography, contrast etc. The instructor is very ingaging and the peer-graded assignment is very fun. You will have a great time going through this course. Highly Recomended.

By BEN P

Dec 8, 2021

This course opened my eyes to Graphic design. Before now I thought graphic design is all about the use of adobe creative software's to create a compelling design, but after taking this course i realize that the use of software is just 30% of what graphic design is all about , the first 70% lies in the fundamental.

By Amr S

Apr 13, 2020

I really, enjoyed this course. I recommend it for any new learner as well as experienced graphic designers whom need to polish the foundation of their talent. Instructor is highly skilled, sincer and, organised. Course is built around a real life project, yet, lays the scientific background in a super easy method.

By Lesti L

May 27, 2022

This is a great course! Mr. Michael Worthington is a great teacher and takes the time to thoroughly explain the fundamentals of graphic design in the course. I enjoy taking these courses and have learned some valuable skills. I plan to take more of his courses to improve my skills. I highly recommend this course.

By Clare B

Jun 23, 2020

I had a really great time with this course. I graduated with an Associates Degree in Graphic Design a few years ago and took this course as a refresher, but I felt like I learned almost as much in four weeks as I did in 2 years at an Art School. I wish Coursera had been around then, I might have saved some money.

By Claudia U R

Oct 17, 2019

A wonderful introduction to Graphic Design. If you're interested in Graphic design, this is a great course to start with. The videos have so much valuable content and the assignments are well though-out. I would recommend everyone do the optional assignments because it's where you will apply the concepts learned.

By Dan E

Jan 8, 2020

I have been working in designing and mostly learning on my own, I always wanted to study graphic design but never really have the opportunity, I really liked the course and everything that it coveredt, it helped me to understand the basic theory behind the design and Im looking forward to take the second course.

By Florencia T

May 20, 2023

This course provides a solid, clear, and simple overview of how graphic design works. It shows you how to better understand and work with the elements that designers use while designing. I recommend doing all the "Briefs" to gain a better understanding and perspective of what is explained throughout the course.

By Maria L

Sep 26, 2022

I really liked the course because it not only provides basic knowledge of graphic design, but also teaches non-standard thinking and reveals creativity. I got the understanding that design is my path, which I should move. Big thanks to Michael Warrington! He is a professional, creative person and charismatic :)

By Pratik R K

Jun 21, 2020

Great way to start learning about Graphic Designing if you are a beginner or even have any level of experience in this field. This course covers all the basics which will serve as a great foundation for your future endeavour in this field. I highly recommend you all to join and take the most out of this course.

By Jeneen W

Sep 29, 2022

This course was very well done. The lessons were very well set out and each concept visually explained with adequate guidance for each physical assignment. The rubric for grading matched the instructions given thus making it hassle free to complete assignments. Im excited to continue in this series of courses

By Morgan G

Jul 22, 2020

This course was amazing! I love the ability to work at my own pace, it allowed me to learn so fast! I went from never having used a single digital design application to being very confident in three weeks!

The instructor was extremely clear and knowledgeable, the course assignments were clear cut and focused.

By Fernando J

May 20, 2022

Awesome course for learing the fundamentals of graphic design. Recommended for beginners, or self-taught designers looking to refresh and improve their critical thinking. Peer review is a little bit of problem because not everyone has the same comitmnet to the course, but the content in the course is great!