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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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326 - 350 of 4,398 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Pallab B

Jul 19, 2020

A great course! The instructor really knows how to illustrate his ideas and knowings among learners. This course gives one basic idea of what are the factors that a graphic designers has to go through when creating his works. The instructor has been really helpful throughout the course.

By Cynthia A

Jul 5, 2020

It would be nice to receive feedback from a teacher or moderator of the course as well, especially in the assignments that are required. Because most times the feedback given by other students was non-constructive and did not provide any insight. Comments like good work, yes, effective.

By Jillian P

Jul 20, 2023

This was a great introduction to graphic design. I feel like I developed a great foundation for taking more advanced courses, as well as producing a number of graphic design products that I can one day use in a portfolio. I am looking forward to the rest of the courses in this program!

By Stephanie M

Dec 13, 2020

Very thankful for this course. For years I have been interested in graphic design but haven't known where to begin. This course not only helped me get started but truly made me more confident in my skill level and in continuing to learn more.

Thank you for making this!

-Stephanie Mason

By Jessalyn M B

Oct 11, 2020

The concepts were explained clearly through various examples so it's easy to not get lost. The activities are exciting and made me have fun while learning. The outputs from these can also be useful in making a portfolio, if one decides to do so. Educational, straightforward, and fun.

By Sara H

May 16, 2020

It was great to find this course, I am really grateful for your efforts and contribution to learning me how to design. It was always my life dream and I was really surprised with all of the content and the course system, assignments, quizzes and how I have developed

Thank you so much

By valerie a

Nov 13, 2021

This was a good start to getting back into school and learning the subject. I enjoyed the projects a lot and took them seriously. I'm already working through the other courses in the specialization and have now enrolled in a graphic design program in my city that starts in 2 months.

By Kateryna

Apr 15, 2020

Thank you for a course! It is really useful for beginners, the only thing I felt was missing in the course was technical part- which tools to use and how to use them, but the structure and material were very interesting. I would really recommend this course. Thank you one more time!

By Antonio P A

Sep 24, 2016

Very good basic course on graphic design. I've learned a lot about typography, composition, image making and shapes and colours. The course is very well structured with good videos and practical examples. It's a must do course for everyone that is wanting to learn more about design,

By Kalpesh B

Jun 18, 2018

Well structured course with in-depth video tutorials which are easy to understand. the peer-graded assignments is a very effective way to test your knowledge as well as understanding different thought processes of your peers. Overall it is really helpful course. Highly recommended.

By Ali E

Jan 11, 2021

The course was really good! It teaches you the most important fundamentals and is applied in the moment so you can better visualize the theory. You do have to keep in mind that these are the bare bones of Graphic Design, now, it is up you to follow up on the research and practice.

By Walid B A

Mar 12, 2020

It’s good to go back to basics even if you are already a graphic designer. These fundamentals are forgettable with time due it enters automatically in the design process, without really noticing them.

For beginners, I highly recommended this course because it’s simple and detailed.

By Margarita d L

Feb 2, 2021

It's a great class, very informative and easily digestible. The assignments are simple but encourage you to think creatively. The instructor is also very knowledgeable and presents the material well. This is a great course to take even if you are working full time, very flexible!

By Maike W

Oct 4, 2016

Great course, well thought out, well presented and lovely lecturer. After having done all 4 publicly available courses in this specialisation, this really was the most fundamental and gave a great summary of what Graphic design is about and which disciplines it involves. 5 stars!

By Ridhi R

Jan 15, 2019

Covers a wide range of topics and really focuses on getting the foundation right to understand graphic design before we jump to executing it. The video lectures are simple to understand the variety of examples and demos is brilliant!

Can't wait to finish the rest of the courses.

By Martin S

Dec 12, 2016

I like this course as its the fundamentals but we do it everyday doing it without knowing it. I am very happy that i am able to recognize what i have been doing. Course is great clear and designed simple to learn but one has to work hard on its end to show how far they can go.

By Fedir C

Aug 30, 2023

I have enjoyed taking this course. It was fun and useful in the same time. The lector is good at teaching this subject. I like that there is assignments that are reviewed by real people and I'm given feedback. I took it for general knowledge and I very happy about my experience

By Sushmita P

Mar 16, 2022

It was Brilliant! for someone like myself who is interested in Graphic Design and Visuals but, lacks a foundational theoratical background. This course in my opinion made me get acquinted with all those crucial elements and fundamentals every designer must posses in their bag.

By Anastasia K

Feb 16, 2021

Very good course for the total beginners. You can learn and understand basics/fundamentals of Graphic Design and how it built. I would recommend this course for the people who thinks about Graphic Design, in order, to understand if it's really yours and you're interested in it.

By Paul T

Jun 17, 2020

Great course and well worth the time. The instructor is clear, he makes the course intriguing and easy to follow even if you have absolutely no prior experience with graphic design. Coursera is an easy and great learning platform to use. I especially like the discussion forums.

By Kristin C

Aug 6, 2018

A really interesting, hands on and practical course suitable for complete beginners in the area of design as well as for those with some knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and look forward to partaking in the following Fundamentals of Graphic Design courses. Thank you!

By Haruna T

Oct 19, 2019

Very clear lectures and hands-on assignments covering the fundermental basics of graphic design. It would have been great if this course explained the context of graphic design such as brief hisory of graphic design or where graphic designs are utilized in the current society.

By najma k s

Aug 18, 2020

I learned a lot in this course especially since I am a visual communication design, it really helps in this pandemic era. The lessons is not too far from what I studied in university, so I did explore many visual design assignment that my uni did not give. Thank you, Calarts!

By Alicia R

Jan 29, 2016

I really am enjoying this course! This course makes you jump right in and play, which is something I love! So far it has been helpful to me and I'm beginning to understand the basics of Graphic Design as well as experimenting with different techniques to create unique images!

By Pamela P

Oct 15, 2020

It was just pleasure to take a part of this course. I learned how even to look at design, what's process, how to stimulate my brain for better ideas, what's important and I could even try it in several projects which was reviewed. Nice experience and I can only recommend it!