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

4.8
stars
17,005 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

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.

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

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226 - 250 of 4,397 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Chana M H

May 28, 2018

I enjoyed the course. This style of learning with peer feedback works well for me. I am a paper crafter and my main goal is to learn more about graphic design to enhance my ability to produce better projects. I get the sense that this specialization will provide me with the tools I need to grow in my hobby and maybe make a little money along the way.

By Matt A

Feb 10, 2016

I found this course extremely engaging and interesting. The fundamentals are basic but that's what the outline states. It's good for beginners or graphic designers who need a refresher on the basics. You can execute the course at your own pace, following the timeline or completing assignments and lectures ahead of time. I'd highly recommend this course.

By Vivek R

Apr 20, 2016

Brilliant Course. It gives you a good theoretical understanding of modern graphic design. At the same time, it also gives you ample opportunity to make graphic design through its multiple peer reviewed assignments. Personally, I came out with some of my best poster works during this course as it pushed me to experiment beyond what I had done till then.

By alexpazsoldan

Feb 15, 2016

Better than most courses why? because you are forced to create things a feature i have not seen in many MOOC's. Yes there is the ocassional programming assignment (mostly consisting of prewritten code and clear rules) in which you get to create something but that is not really creating something new. That's what you are stimulated to do in this course.

By Rashmi P

Apr 8, 2021

Great course! Learned so much about Graphic Design Fundamentals. There are helpful videos to understand different topics that are discussed. Short course but packed with lots of information. Assignments that are in the course are very helpful for application of your knowledge. I recommend this course to anyone who want to know what is Graphic Design.

By Marissa P

Jul 28, 2020

This is a great opportunity to refresh and re-learn the basics of Graphic Design. It opens up the way to study further and take more lessons as it encourages the designer to explore the many aspects of a growing idea. Thank you for this free online class even during these trying times where people need to be socially distant and staying safe at home.

By Olli V

Nov 30, 2017

Thank you for an awesome course Michael! You've really made learning into an engaging and practical experience. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and learned a lot by way of pushing myself to learn new skills with digital image-making and processes. You're an excellent teacher. I thoroughly recommend this course to anyone interested in graphic design.

By Tracy N

Apr 4, 2022

The course give you knowledge related to graphic design from the most basic level. To complete all the tasks and assignments, you should know how to use AI basically. The course is more of knowledge and theoretical. But by learning that, you can apply in your artwork in AI. With a completely new learner like me, the course is extremely appropriate.

By Juan S G R

Apr 17, 2016

This course is the best option to know or review all the graphic design essentials and how to combine them to make a good piece of communication art. I really recommend this course in which you will find an excellent structured program to learn from the basic concepts all the way through the very pillars of the graphic design thinking and creation.

By Nguyễn H L

Mar 1, 2023

I am very excited to receive this news, thanks for everything and above all for allowing me to take such a wonderful course like this, it has greatly improved my observation and finding skills Outlining the main points to focus on in a design, a big thank you to Mr. Michael Worthington from California Institute of the Arts: CalArts, and Coursera.

By Muhammad I

May 24, 2020

This course was a mind-changing for me. Before this course, I was just a copy cat and tried to make the design what others are doing. It urged me to think differently and make my own unique style and workflow. It's a wow for me. Especially, the typography which I have come across for the first time. It is really the fundamentals of graphic design.

By Johanna H

Apr 27, 2016

It's a great course to start the Coursera Specialization for Graphic Design giving you a basic understanding of the principles. Depending on your own motivation, it is time consuming or not. In my opinion, it's a great course, I learned a lot and am waiting for the next one - Typography - to hopefully be able and complete the whole specialization.

By George E B J

Jan 14, 2016

Great course, awesome professor! The course is great for all, even people who currently work in graphic design. I especially recommend this course for those of us who either have no formal training/education or those of us who have been in the business so long that a refresher course just adds value to what we already accomplish on a daily basis.

By Lori S

Feb 8, 2019

Before this course I was a bit afraid of graphic design, but this course broke it down into parts I could understand. It became less scary and more of a game of playing with shapes and text. I feel like I got a glimpse into the language of graphic design and started to learn it. Hopefully I will grow further as I continue to take the courses.

By Ariana B

Oct 2, 2023

I had a good travel through this course, I have to say a learned a lot of things that I have no idea about graphic design, I just started without knowledge and now I have a good based solid. Also the practice with every asssaigment is the key to star to make my portafolio, and I liked all the expirience, you don't loss anything in this course.

By Kristina G

Feb 24, 2020

Nice course to learn basics. The main part of the course is a practice which is great! If you want to learn something for real then be ready to spend enough time completing tasks. In general, I spent 2-3 hours on each task (there are about 2 tasks per week) and I am happy to have real results :) After the course I feel motivated to learn more.

By Niladri S J

Sep 10, 2019

Though I had a few basic ideas about graphic design fundamentals, this course helped me go through some organized lessons on those fundamental concepts and some more that were completely new to me. Also, the course engaged me a lot, especially through the practice exercises. And now I can concentrate on a structured approach to graphic design.

By Jeanette j v R

Oct 20, 2021

I really enjoyed this course. I feel like it really opens your mind to think more about how images can be created and manipulated to make a larger impact. I have no graphic design background other than that I've always loved art, sketching and painting, but I really feel like this course was worth my time and that I have learned alot from it.

By Carmela O

May 7, 2020

Definitely learned the fundamentals and foundation of graphic design. I came into this course with a degree in B.A. and experience in digital art. But I knew I did not learn the proper foundations and rules of graphic design. This course was indeed informative and helpful in fulfilling that gap in my knowledge. Highly recommend this course!

By David U

Mar 7, 2016

I had a great time doing this course. Professor Worthington covers the theory in an interesting and useful way. The lectures are short and sweet. The best part of the course is the 9 creative assignments (2 compulsory and 7 optional, but recommended) that really force you to expand your technical skill set and get out of your comfort zone.

By Daniele T

Sep 15, 2016

I really enjoyed this course, I like how It is organized, I like the teacher too, I think that makes a big difference. Many times this course surprised me with things I believed obvious or things I didn't know at all. I would recommend this course to everyone interested in this subject. Thank you CalARTS and Coursera for this opportunity!

By David C

Dec 15, 2023

This course was great for a beginner and to learn a lot fast. I took it in about a week while I was off of work and I think that cramming it that fast was actually beneficial as I now have a base from which I can gauge the value of other graphic design work and understand the concepts incorporated in other artists' work. 10/10 recommend.

By Fides M

Jun 29, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this course! I am a beginner and I like that after discussing theory, we plunged right into action with projects that squeezed our creative juices! I only wish that I had a bit more experience using Illustrator before beginning this course. That said, it pushed me to start learning it, concurrent with this course.

By Kanak C

Apr 27, 2020

This course was amazing. It always kept me working and explore and brainstorm. It has given me a new perspective of looking at any hoarding, advertisement or business card or any typography. I would recommend that you should include more content and little deep concepts. I think this has been very basic. Thank you so much for the course.

By Lorenzo F

Jun 24, 2017

Amazing course! it gives you insights if u're starter as well as some creative input if you're already into this field. Looking forward to continue with other courses in this specialization!

Lectures and lecturers are very clear. The material is very fluent and if you pay attention you don't even have to watch it more than once!

Good job!