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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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151 - 175 of 4,397 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Stanislav K

Jan 19, 2018

I found the course very useful and enjoyed its creative "hands on" part a lot. The course is also remarkably well-conceived didactically: Michael has an ability to explain in a few minutes' video stuff that takes dozens of pages elsewhere. I also especially enjoyed his typographic excursion (to be honest, it gave me more that the whole course 2 about typography) and the additional video where he explains how you can expressively crop a photo. Thanks a lot, Michael!

By Rafaya N

Sep 21, 2021

The course was very helpful. As, I am a beginner in this field it really helped me in many aspects. After completing my course my mind has broaden a lot about my field. I learned a lot of new things. The teachers were really good as they delivered each and every lecture in detail and to the point. The assignments were really interesting and I enjoyed a lot while doing those. After completing my course now I am well aware how to achieve my goal. Thanks to coursera.

By Juana C

Apr 7, 2020

I really enjoyed the course, it has a good balance of conceptual input and practical exercises. I got a clear overview of design principles and enjoyed the practical exercises very much. I liked how the instructor emphasized the importance of the process rather than the output. That helped me build confidence in my progress. The peer feedback was positive although a bit short some times. Looking forward to continue with the other courses in the specialization

By Nicole O

Apr 9, 2020

I enjoyed my time in this course. Michael is a great instructor and he breaks down the concepts in the course effectively. Though it's an online course, I appreciate the fact that the faculty are always just a message away. Whenever I ran into issues and contacted them, they replied within a short time! I also enjoyed the peer-review aspect of some of the assignments as they helped me strengthen my critique skills and were an additional opportunity to learn.

By Sol

Aug 14, 2018

I loved this course! I have been a graphic designer for 2 and a half years but I felt like I'm not as creative as I used to be and even started to question if I should be a graphic designer. This course made me be excited about designing again and it was so useful to refresh my memory on basic rules of design. Hearing positive feedback from my peer students on my assignments was definitely a confidence boost. One of the best courses I have taken. Thank you!

By Abhishek I

Oct 19, 2019

Absolutely brilliant! I loved the way this course was conducted. The method through which the basics were explained and also the involvement of Alumni in the videos was brilliant. Each topic is precise, to the point, and helped me understand the concepts in a clear and concise manner.

Taking this course was one of the best decisions I made. I loved the assignments and it was really nice interacting with peers through the forums. A game-changer, this course.

By Kiseleva A I

May 12, 2020

Замечательный, познавательный курс! Приступая к курсу, я уже имела навыки работы с графическими редакторами и основами в композиции, использовании контрастов и шрифтах, но было много полезной информации, такой как строение шрифтов в типографике, основы Баухауса и создание портфолио на основе заданий после лекции.

Тренировка очень важна!

Большое спасибо за предоставленную возможность проходить данный курс он-лайн (особенно актуально в условиях самоизоляции).

By Michael W

Oct 12, 2020

Overall a great course. I already have an artistic background in Fine Arts so some of the Week 1 items were very rudimentary for myself. I found more benefit with each week progressing as I did not really have any kind of Graphic Design knowledge. If you are looking to learn more of graphic design I would not suggest this single course, but the entirety of the Specialization as it has individual courses for Typography and other major Design concepts.

By Deleted A

Feb 25, 2019

I audited this course. I have been doing graphic design as a self-taught designer for years. While I didn't learn 'how' to do anything new in this course, I learned the correct terms for things I do, and the principals of design. I learned WHY things "just work" particular ways, and will be better able to explain design decisions to clients. All I could ever say was "it looks best that way". This has definitely take my skill level a notch higher.

By Julie H

Dec 11, 2019

I really enjoyed learning about many aspects of visual composition. The teacher has planned this course well and is able to help even those of us who are not great artists discover and begin to understand the elements of design. I'm grateful to the teacher for all the effort he put in to organizing the information in a wonderfully sequential learning experience. Thank you! I now appreciate art and graphic design in a way I never did before.

By Aljaz F

Feb 2, 2021

Great introduction to Graphic Design! The only thing is, even if it says you don't need any previous knowledge or design software... you do a little bit. to complete the assignments there is some basic skills required, a design software will also help a lot. I used Paint3D and photopea (without any previous knowledge) and it definitely made my course longer timewise, but gaining new knowledge while figuring out how to use the software was fun.

By Sabrina S

Apr 23, 2020

I loved this course. It really sparked my creativity. An amazing jumpstart into Graphic Design, the basics, the first compositions. It helped me getting a feel for Graphic Design, but also resulted in getting me hyped and intrigued, too. Michael Worthington is an amazing sparring partner for the beginning of a new creative start :-) I can really recommend this class to everyone who's in need of inspiration, techniques and creative ideas.

By Kim W

Sep 14, 2017

I enjoyed taking the Fundamentals of Graphic Design class...it was fun & I learned a lot more than I expected. This class will help me to continue my path in graphic design. I'm glad we learned how to design business cards as well as a poster and to create our own original designs. I give this class an A+ ...the instructor is excited about graphic design and gives a practical summary in his videos. Very creative and interesting class!

By Sister E B

Feb 9, 2016

The course provides just what it promises. Each module presents a set of concepts or theories are foundational to graphic design. These come to life in the lectures with many real world examples. The design assignments don't work toward a single fixed solution, but ask the student to explore many possible solutions -- a training in divergent thinking and creativity. I am looking forward to the other courses in this specialization.

By F A

Jul 18, 2018

I always loved design so everything that has do to with it gets me exited. This course is great introduction to it, and its great to get your hands "dirty" and get the creativity flowing. Very easy to follow, with great instructions and examples. I recommend to everyone with a taste for design, if your're only starting it's very fun and easy to follow, if you're experience it's a reminder that design can be created from everything.

By Sahil S

Apr 9, 2021

Unlike tutorials and things, this actually gives you just the right amount of stuff and lets you off on your way, that said, this course can be completed without any troubles, but there is great benefit in people who are willing to go into the details in the short videos and reflect on it and follow their guidelines to the T and work on assignments, you will surely gain valuable insight and knowledge.

This course was worth my time.

By Catalina R P

Jan 24, 2017

I really liked this course, I think it has broadened my mind to a whole world that my heart and my intellect were expecting for so long. I enjoyed every single part, from the classes to the activities. The only think I would add at some point (maybe towards the end), would be an expert's feedback so we can challenge ourselves a little bit more. I would really recommend it and of course, I will keep going with the specialization.

By Vinay S

Jan 20, 2019

As the course says, it is a fundamentals course and offers insights into the basics to get started in the field of Graphic design. This is an excellent beginner course which talks about concepts at core, to make you think more properly about what Graphic design is, different elements and aspects, how one can take inspirations from common objects around and opening up your mind for complex things. Will recommend this highly.

By Kishen S

Apr 11, 2021

Great course. Please note that this does not show you HOW to use any graphics arts program (like Adobe PS etc.) it teaches you the basics of DESIGN THINKING which can then be APPLIED to any program/project. A graphics artist is not limited to a particular program, but rather a way of thinking. You will know how to design art in any situation even without using any program after doing this course.

Hope this helps guys, cheers!

By Jordan J

Jul 8, 2021

I absolutely loved this course! It goes perfectly in depth and leaves no corner unturned. I am a professional in the healthcare sector but I also have a freelance business and wanted to branch out into graphic design to gain more clients this also helps because now I don't have to outsource my marketing tasks for my Coffee Business, I do it all myself. I plan to continue and finish the entire specialization course set.

By Aidana M

May 23, 2020

Even if you have some experience with design, then anyway this course will help to learn or consolidate your knowledge! Very interesting and easy to follow. At the beginning of the course, the teacher said the phrase “I want you to get your hands dirty” so that everyone will try their best at actually creating. It really brought a lot of benefits and a pleasant pastime over creating and developing each and every task!

By Lori N ( C U

Feb 24, 2023

A great refresher for the experienced designer and phenomenal course for the beginnger. Michael Worthington teaches in a relaxed and open manner so that everyone feels confident in their design process. Solid examples of acceptable designs, and quizzes that challenged my learning (I want to learn more about fonts) and an overall feeling of accomplishment while collaborating with other students around the world.

By Patricia A

Jan 11, 2017

Amazing Course! I loved every minute of it. The videos are well done, helpful to understand the process and a big part of understanding each element. The practice exercises are a great way to apply what I learned. Leaving Feedback on my peer's work was also very helpful. It forced my mind to analyze the design in ways I was not used to. I've am excited to keep on learning.

I would recommend this course to everyone!

By Jonathan C A

Jan 2, 2021

Enjoyed the class overall- videos were informative and detailed. Personally for me I felt as if I was back in a high school art class, (which is a good thing, please note) in which the environment was fluid and (more or less) was up to me on how quickly or how slowly I wanted to move through the entire course.

I'd definitely recommend this course to a couple of my friends and family who're interested in the arts.

By Ann-Marie C

Apr 18, 2021

This course forced me to think creatively. To consider what I was trying to say with each design I put together, and to really analyze what was working and what was not working in each piece and to try again where necessary. I liked reviewing the work of my peers and being able to make an honest suggestion where I felt I could. I was grateful to have others review my work and give me new ideas and suggestions.