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

4.8
stars
17,916 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

CS

May 10, 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.

EC

Feb 2, 2018

Great opportunity to practice. Encouraged to make. First time using vector design program Abode Illustrator. Was hard to listen to all Contrast Section. It would be great if there was more diversity.

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4151 - 4175 of 4,597 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Adler A

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Aug 7, 2020

Um curso introdutório excelente para aqueles que desejam aprender um pouco de teoria por traz do design gráfico.

By Shammir B

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Jun 24, 2020

I liked the course it started with the basics of designing and brought a deep understanding of graphic desinging

By Carolina L L

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Mar 7, 2016

Maybe too basic sometimes. But the teacher explains everything in a very good way. The platform works amazingly.

By Graham R

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Apr 20, 2020

The only thing I would say is that clarity of instructions was sometimes difficult to follow. Otherwise, great!

By Hien N

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Aug 26, 2021

In addition to peer reviews it would be great to get feedback from a graphic design professor or professional.

By 13_ D S

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Jul 26, 2020

It was great experience. If you want to start from scratch its perfect for you. I would highly recommend this.

By kuanjung c

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Mar 9, 2016

The course itself was great. The only thing lacking is that all the assignments were reviewed only by peers.

By Brian A

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Apr 30, 2021

Great content. Only problem is the learner community isn't particularly active, and reviews are pretty poor.

By Fernanda L

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Oct 11, 2019

It is a good introductional course that starts our mindset to see how the graphic world is built around us.

By Jordan F

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Jul 13, 2017

It was great for fundamentals, I know it is a fundamentals course, but I would have love to dive in deeper!

By Camila L

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Feb 18, 2016

I would like if there was some instructor feedback. That would be great! I loved the course, really useful.

By Anton R

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Feb 11, 2018

I thought the exercise of 10 images was a good intro to thinking of different ways to represent an object.

By Iqra S

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Aug 30, 2020

i learned a lot. it was really helpful and it makes you think from different angles. to create something.

By Erick A R A d l S

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Jan 17, 2018

Basic but good course. The optional assignments should be required to rise the course level and feedback.

By Miranda J

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Jul 12, 2016

Some of the videos seem a little repetitive, but all in all it was a great overview of Graphic Design. T

By Melissa G

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Mar 27, 2020

Excellent beginner course for principles of design. Fun projects, informative and well presented videos.

By Natacha J

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Jan 24, 2016

I loved this course, even though (for me), some things were quite repetitive and unnecessarily lengthy.

By RITIK R

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Jul 12, 2020

nice course! I got to learn a lot of new thing through this. I highly recommend this to new beginners.

By Yang,Shang-Lien

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May 15, 2017

It's great. The course really helps me realize the fundamental graphic design theories and techniques.

By Mostafa H

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May 26, 2020

great!!!but whoever is doing this course should know that this is the very basic of graphic designing

By Maria M R M

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Feb 28, 2024

Muy buen curso, me cuesta un poco mas de trabajo pues esta en inlges y la traducción no es la misma

By Marina G B

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May 13, 2022

great course, however, unfortunately the peer review in the optional exercises was not so enriching

By Alexandra

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Jan 28, 2016

Although very basic the course helped my to discover the bases of graphic design. Willing for more!

By Liz H

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Apr 24, 2021

Started out strong but the end of the course some of the lessons were more dry. Good fundamentals.

By Viorel-Daniel S

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Sep 12, 2017

It was a well organized course, but it did not manage to get me very excited about graphic design.