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

4.8
stars
17,983 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

EJ

Sep 5, 2021

I had a lot of fun in this course. I learnt some extra bits of information related to graphic design and I think it's a great start for beginners as well as good practice for intermediate and experts!

CS

May 9, 2018

An ok course for beginners. A bit too basic for someone who has already had experience in design, but is great anyway cause it breaks things back down to the simplest parts to help you remember roots.

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1701 - 1725 of 4,607 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Sarahi C P

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Jun 25, 2024

Easy. Fun. Interesting. Very helpful to improve or learn design theory and skills. Love it!

By Vanessa S

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Jul 19, 2023

This course is the best hands on experimental course to learn the basics of Graphic Design!

By Marcos S

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Jun 25, 2022

Thank You for this amazing course it has been a stepping stone in my journey as a Designer!

By Amie T

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Mar 29, 2022

I love how this course is taught. Easily digestible with no concept too difficult to grasp.

By Victoria S

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Jun 28, 2021

I had so much fun and i felt very motivated and inspired to do more in my artistic future.

By Mutembo K

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May 17, 2021

I enjoyed taking a course outside my comfort zone. I would recommend this course to others.

By Nicole B

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Mar 17, 2021

Really enjoy the course format and the insight that it has given me to pursue this program.

By Cherrelyn J M

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Jan 2, 2021

Awesome Course, Thank you Calarts & Coursera for making this course possible to achieve. <3

By Nejla N M

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Nov 15, 2020

Really helpful course for beginners. It gives all the basic knowledge about graphic design.

By Saúl E T H

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Aug 25, 2020

Very entertaining, easy to understand and the most important thing is the practical part :)

By Damla K

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Jul 4, 2020

It was a very successful course. I developed myself in graphic design. Thank you very much.

By Darlene H

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Jun 30, 2020

I thought this was a very well organized introductory course. I got a lot of value from it.

By Rizwan Y

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Jul 3, 2019

Very Informative course. like it very much. Learnt lot of basics witch I don't know before.

By thmat h

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Mar 29, 2018

excellent course. as a beginner got a broad knowledge and an idea to follow along the way !

By Andre L d A

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Nov 5, 2016

Excellent! A great overview of the design fundamentals. A great fit for complete beginners.

By Covey R H

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Jul 30, 2024

great introduction to graphic design - I really enjoyed it, but wish the course was longer

By Shriyans K

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Apr 21, 2023

please also include, special membership of canva pro application only for calartz students

By Freda C

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Oct 21, 2022

A solid foundational course in helping you decide to continue with a Graphic Arts program.

By Juan D T P

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Oct 26, 2021

A very good introduction to the concepts and practice of Graphic Design. I recommended it.

By Nandita B

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May 15, 2021

This course teaches us all the basics of graphic design with many interesting assignments.

By riddhi s

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May 11, 2021

It is really informative. Even if you have the design knowledge, this provides extra info.

By Sabina K

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Jan 31, 2021

Interesting and easy understandable course, that leads you to learn more and more! Thank u

By MARIA D L A

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Aug 18, 2020

me gusto mucho este curso, enseñan lo básico que debes saber para se un diseñador gráfico.

By GLÁUCIA D S A

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Jul 9, 2020

I have learned a lot about typografy and texture of images etc.

I really loved this course!

By Annalee L

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Jul 6, 2020

Informative and easy to follow. The information is presented in an easy to understand way.