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
17,037 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.

GA

Aug 20, 2018

Very interesting, I liked the format. Easy to follow, nice excercises. It's actually good to cover the basics of design, even if you are not an absolute beginner, and especially if you are self taught

Filter by:

1426 - 1450 of 4,402 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Steven E P

Mar 7, 2021

A great course, well explained, and constructed to introduce you to the building blocks of graphic design.

By Mary C

Sep 6, 2020

This class was a really great overview of Graphic Design! I learned a lot and and inspired to keep going!

By Rachel L

Jul 21, 2020

This was a very basic, easy intro to graphic design. I have no experience but enjoyed the course very much

By Itzel S C M

Jun 20, 2020

It is a very complete and useful course to understand the bases of graphic design. I totally recommend it!

By Grecia M G G

Mar 24, 2020

Es un curso muy completo, con actividades realmente importantes para el desarrollo de nuestra creatividad.

By Yuliia N

Sep 7, 2018

Well explained basics which will make everyone interested to go deeper and learn more! Highly recommended!

By Lisa J

Mar 2, 2018

I really appreciated Cal Arts' approach. This felt more from heart and organic vs. other typical courses.

By Alice Z

Apr 12, 2017

It helped me to learn the fundamentals of graphic design,it likes a key which can open the door of design.

By Lara S

Mar 10, 2016

It is truly a lot of fun to experiment and to find your own way of designing during this class. Thank you!

By Afnan A K

Aug 8, 2023

Great Course , there is a lot of stuff for begainner gfx designers to understand the gf designing basics.

By Anne M

May 28, 2023

Interesting lessons, and projects broke down the basics so nothing seemed overwhelming. Highly recommend.

By Roxy M

Jan 23, 2023

Really fun course to get a grip on what graphic design is about. I'm looking forward to the next course!.

By Yisak M

Aug 12, 2022

Thise course is amazing it helps me to creat a lot of desgines and i woulde like to thanke you for that.

By Sarah M

Nov 15, 2021

Great overview of the basic building blocks of graphic design, with fun briefs to start applying skills!

By Massoomeh E

Feb 20, 2021

It was very useful and comprehensive. The instructor was amazing and he had a very good teaching ability.

By Ebraheem M

Jan 16, 2021

I think this course is the best one for those people who think about starting a career in graphic design.

By Carlota M

Dec 19, 2020

Very instructive, easy to understand and follow. It opened my eyes into new perspectives of GD. Thank you

By Richard B

Sep 23, 2020

The course is a good place to begin making graphic design choices to avoid clashing messages and signals.

By Mercedes P

Aug 25, 2020

Thank you for let to learn all about this course!. it was very helpful and exciting! i want to lear more!

By Maria F

Jul 20, 2020

Amazing introduction to Graphic Design. Highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more!

By maaz m

Jul 6, 2020

Wonderfull course, as a beginner was able to get more knowledge and know the basics of graphic designing.

By 송혜윤

May 25, 2020

I could learn different ideas to do graphic design using various shapes, size, contrast and direction etc

By Eunice M

Apr 22, 2020

Un curso muy básico pero muy completo, excelente para adentrarse en el mundo del Diseño Gráfico. Gracias!

By 张辰希

Nov 26, 2019

I learned a lot of things that I didn't touch at least, which helped me a lot in my future study and work