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

4.8
stars
17,036 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

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

CS

May 9, 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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3951 - 3975 of 4,402 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Rhina B

Apr 19, 2016

A great course to learn to design. It's not a software course, which is perfect. Just what I needed it. Unfortunately, it's too short.

By Hadeel D

Jul 20, 2022

The course will put you into the design map as it gives basic and fundamentla areas of design in an easy and straighforward approach.

By Ximena M

Jul 6, 2017

The last assignment could have been more interesting. I think the optional assignment would have been a better closure to the course.

By Alkothar

Aug 2, 2022

A useful course that I benefited a lot from. It is suitable for beginners and I like the diversity in ways of delivering information

By Jewell J

Jan 31, 2020

Online courses are challenging. I would recommend examples for the homework assignments. The videos do not detail what is expected.

By rak g

Jul 29, 2019

Simple concepts are introduced but taking this course allowed me to further my creativity and practice my skills in graphic design.

By Stephanie N

Oct 16, 2018

I really enjoyed it, but I thought some of the instructions were a bit vague and required some guesswork. Overall, a solid course.

By AnSo M

Aug 20, 2016

Very good introductory course to Graphic Design. A good staple to get familiar with the very basics before starting learning more.

By Leilani D

Oct 7, 2023

I think the course is well and all, and was taught some very useful things but the monotoned voice made it hard to stay motivated

By ISHFAQ A

Jun 23, 2020

Maybe if their were a few more required assignments that would be better but regardless, amazing course, learned a lot! Thank you

By Khan Z A

Jul 18, 2020

Great course on Graphics design and a good introduction to its basic concepts.I wish there was a part on which software to use.

By Varisha K

Aug 12, 2020

There should be more instruction given to people on how to use Photoshop or inkscape. It took me long to realize things myself

By Nhlakanipho M

Apr 21, 2023

it was a rgeat help and I got to learn numerous things from idfferent people as well as the other peers I had on the ocurse

By SAI S J

Oct 5, 2020

you really do get a knowledge of the basis of graphic design. I just wish the staff would have also reviewed the assignments.

By Dan A

Mar 1, 2022

This is very helpful and instructive introduction into the basics of design. It will certainly explain many basic concepts.

By Nupur S

Apr 25, 2020

Nicely explained by the tutor. Good practice assignments about every topic covered for better understanding of the concept.

By Kamalika S

May 3, 2016

The instruction videos are pretty good. The course gives a good overview of the fundamentals. It delivers what it promises.

By Michelle D

Apr 16, 2020

Great course overall, but you area really learning on your own. Hard to get critical/in-depth feedback about assignments.

By 窦晨

Jan 10, 2017

learn a lot of fundamental information about graphic design, and really do a great help for me to learn a designer's view.

By Jasmine A

Nov 15, 2023

It's good for beginner to acclimatize in the art of visual design and to try many different techniques that was required.

By Amatullah B

May 3, 2020

I really liked the course. I found it easy to follow and really helpful too. The assignments were also easy but helpful.

By Wesley M

Mar 18, 2016

Covers the topic very well, but keep in mind that it's only an intro. The focus is on introducing concepts and language.

By E. C C

Nov 19, 2016

Very basic introduction to the ground floor of Graphic Design. Get in, get it done, get out. I like how precise it was.

By Jack M

Jul 5, 2017

Good course, great for an introduction, hopefully more advanced courses from CalArts will cover more advanced features

By Cesar A T D

Sep 13, 2021

I really loved the course because you can learn different fundamental things to be able to make a satisfactory design