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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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1851 - 1875 of 4,402 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Andrew K K

May 10, 2018

I am really enjoying the course and am hoping more to come from this institution.

By Olena T

Jun 5, 2017

The course is quite subtle, but still very informative if you are a newbie to GD!

By Luke S

Oct 11, 2016

Excellent and well guided introduction to Graphic Design principles and thinking.

By Jose T M L

Jan 10, 2016

I loved all themes of this course. Learned a lot and made my bases in art bigger.

By GUEDRIA M

Aug 22, 2023

Excellent cours !! j'ai pu apprendre énormément de choses et avancer sereinement

By Anh P

Jul 18, 2023

The course is very well explained and easy to understand. Peer-review was great.

By Megan M

Jun 27, 2023

Good course to learn the basics or brush up on your knowledge of graphic design.

By Teodora D

Jan 28, 2023

I really like the course. I learned so much for graphic design from this course.

By Abdullah M

Dec 16, 2022

I have gained quite excellent grip over some basic skills as a graphic designer.

By Thamara O

Nov 5, 2022

I have learned a lot while completing this course. Thank you very much, Michael!

By van s

Sep 5, 2022

Excellent overview of the basics of image making. Assignments are well designed

By Regina B

Sep 26, 2020

A great challenging course that will open your eyes and change your imagination!

By Jason C

Aug 30, 2020

Excellent introductory course. Lessons were engaging and projects were exciting.

By Smruti A P

Jun 27, 2020

It was a wonderful course. Looking forward to do more courses from the institute

By Solrac P

Jun 13, 2019

En dos semanas de estudios ya se abrió para mi un gran panorama de conocimientos

By Sujay S

Feb 22, 2019

All basics covered. Hands on projects/assignments were cool and was fun to work.

By Nuria M F

Dec 8, 2018

It has been very pleasant and very useful. A fantastic base to continue learning

By David A V D S

Apr 12, 2018

It is worthwhile to follow this course, it will be worth a lot to reach the end!

By Karin E

Feb 28, 2018

Wonderful class! Look forward to taking the next in this specialization! Thanks!

By Rituja S

Jan 17, 2018

The course drives home certain basic principles of design. Extremely insightful!

By Николай К

Nov 27, 2016

Really useful and totally inspiring course! Highly recommended the novice you or

By Iris D

May 24, 2016

It's really interesting, well paced, engaging... A really nice course, for sure!

By Priscila G

May 15, 2016

Great course, entertaining assignments, a lot of information. Good way to start.

By Vishnu R

Feb 5, 2016

A really good course for beginners. Lets you know the basics of graphics design.