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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

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1151 - 1175 of 4,402 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Martin m n

Mar 17, 2023

Learning graphic design with Coursera was the best experience. I was able to learn new skills and techniques to boost my career.

By Martina P

Jul 24, 2022

I loved this course, It inspired me and taught me to get out of my comfort zone in graphic design to produce distingushed works.

By Rebecca J

Apr 20, 2022

the assignments are chosen very well and really reflect what is taught in the courses. I learned a lot by doing the assignments.

By Caguia, M C B

Sep 29, 2021

It really is a great startup course for those aspiring graphic designers! Easy to understand and the assignments are well given.

By 81_Suryawanshi P R

Mar 3, 2021

It was joyful to learn this course, specially in this course I learn a lot of small things which are helpful to our imagination.

By OUMAIMA O

Dec 1, 2020

I enjoyed discovering this course and I have learned a lot of things thank you coursera for sharing good informations with us

By akshita j

Jul 3, 2020

The course was planned accurately, was very informative. After completing this course I want to learn more about graphic design.

By Susan L

Mar 21, 2019

Really good intro to design. Easy to follow, videos were interesting and informative and the assignments were not too demanding.

By GRESHA C

Oct 15, 2018

its the best course ever. the peers are so honest and friendly

assignments are so good. cant wait for more courses from CAL ARTS

By MARISOL P V

Aug 28, 2017

Genial! Una aproximación bastante clara y precisa, los materiales visuales y las explicaciones son simplemente geniales. Lo amé!

By Dasha Y

Aug 7, 2017

This course was extremely interesting and useful! I found out lots of things, which I will definitely use in my design-activity.

By Víctor L G R

May 30, 2017

This valuable course gave me tools for creation and the most important for me: to value and discern in the vast field of design.

By Kartik M

Feb 9, 2016

This course is cool! Good explanation of the concepts and the assignments designed in such a way that a feed back is guaranteed.

By Wenqi X

Nov 28, 2015

A solid introduction on the big picture of Graphic Design, I am so motivated to dive deep into more details by taking the class!

By Laura H

Jul 16, 2023

Really lovely introduction to graphic design. Comprehensive and detailed. Additional projects were fantastic. Learned a lot.

By Hala A

Nov 21, 2021

such a great course, as a self taught designer, I've leaned alot of new things. I planning to continue in this specialization.

By Danilo D T

Aug 18, 2020

O curso é focado em ensinar design gráfico na prática, mostrando os fundamentos de maneira eficaz para seguir a especialização.

By Maria I A P

Jun 6, 2020

Es una muy buena manera de aprender a desarrollar habilidades manuales y creativas, se aprende mucho, fue una gran experiencia.

By gragze n

Feb 21, 2020

Best teachers from Coursera. Now I have some deep knowledge of graphic design.n thanks to Coursera and their teachers and team.

By Carla L B W d S

Feb 13, 2020

Very well understandable, the professor has an amazing way of explaining things and the work load was manageable and quite fun!

By Natalia S N

Oct 1, 2016

Great course. I took this first course without an interest in the specialization, but now... I want to finish all four courses!

By frank p

Dec 28, 2015

Will be better again if we can have a return from the pedagogic team on the differents achievement done.

Merry Christmas and HNY

By Nicole P

Oct 16, 2015

Love this class on Graphic Design learned different types of imagemaking never new the different types or what they were called

By Jane L

Jul 27, 2022

Course was informative and easy to follow! It is a great introduction to basic components required in creating digital images.

By essam f

Aug 31, 2021

The course have very valuable information, which will be a great turning point in the artistic career if it is taken seriously