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

4.8
stars
17,983 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 6, 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!

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.

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2001 - 2025 of 4,607 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Tauhid S

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Jun 2, 2020

If you want to learn basic design theory this is the right course to enroll.

By Anupriya S

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Apr 21, 2019

Very focussed and Awesome learning experience for a person who knew nothing.

By Salem F A

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Nov 2, 2018

Awesome course with practical assignments, good teachers and good examples .

By Anastasiia Z

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Mar 6, 2017

This is exactly what you need for the basics of knowledge in Graphic Design!

By Lee C

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Jul 5, 2016

Opened my eyes on how to create art and different ways it can be represented

By DANA A R

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Jun 24, 2024

Me ha enseñado mucho mas simple los conceptos del diseño, buena metodologia

By Akram M

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May 31, 2023

The education is excellent with creativity! Thank you for the great course.

By Natalia S C

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Sep 11, 2021

very interesting course, helped to open my mind and reinforce my creativity

By Zeba K

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Aug 6, 2021

Brilliant course. Great Understanding and super simple to follow and learn.

By Ferr�n M

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Jun 16, 2021

i learn a lot about composition a good and solid ground to start designing

By TzuKai L

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Jun 1, 2021

I really learned a lot of basic concepts of graphic design from the course.

By Grecia R H

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Apr 8, 2021

Ahora tengo una idea más clara de lo que es el Diseño Gráfico, y me encanta

By Shahmeer A

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Feb 15, 2021

Amazing and exciting course with wonderful tasks and the concepts are clear

By Yinuo X

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Dec 27, 2020

It has been a very valuable lesson learned through interactive lesson plan.

By Muhammad H R

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Dec 17, 2020

This course indeed helped me in recognizing my skills in graphic designing.

By Siya B

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Aug 18, 2020

HAD AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! LOOKING FORWARD TO DESIGNING MANY MORE THINGS!!

By Abhigyan D

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Aug 3, 2020

learnt the very basics. and got a broader sense about it. much more to come

By Maryam A

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May 1, 2020

They guide you step by step with instructions that are very easy to follow!

By Thomas M

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Jun 11, 2019

Much gratitude for this course!. I am not very artsy still I learned a lot.

By Elsa P

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Nov 25, 2017

This is a great introductory course on the foundamentals in Graphic Design.

By Muhammad A B

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Oct 10, 2016

I have very useful feedback from the peer grade assessment from this course

By Max M

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Mar 16, 2016

Professor Worthington was awesome and I learned so much. Thank you so much.

By PERCY O

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Feb 25, 2016

Excellent course.. I love fundamental of graphic design. Highly recommended

By Madisyn t

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Mar 3, 2025

I love this course and how it is teaching me the way of a graphic designer

By Sarah Z

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Oct 3, 2024

the course is really useful and good , and the education system is great.