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

4.8
stars
17,463 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

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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!

MB

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This course is awesome and I recommend it to anybody who is interested in making design.

I learned so many thing and I'm ready to jump through the next course.

Thank you Calarts and Coursera.

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976 - 1000 of 4,507 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Felipe B

Feb 6, 2022

Great course, but I would suggest leadrning the basic of the main design softwares first, so you'll be able to take more advantage of the activities.

By Козина А В

Jan 17, 2021

Очень наглядные уроки, доступно и понятно. Особенно понравились практические уроки и задания. И лектор объяснял интересно и с энтузиазмом, что важно

By Оксана М

Dec 21, 2020

Курс для был полезен и интересен. Я новичок не имеющий опыта графического дизайна. Он дал мне базовые знания, научил смотреть на вещи с разных точек.

By Evaneide C G

Aug 31, 2020

Foi o primeiro de muitos que pretendo fazer! Achei genial, conteúdos bons e interessantes. Aprendi muitos conceito e perdi o medo de criar. Gratidão!

By Ruben F P

Jul 6, 2020

Es un curso claro, interesante, muy bien pensado y fácil de entender. Excelente.

Its a clear, interesting, clever and easy to learn course. Excellent.

By Namrata S S

Jul 5, 2020

I learn more Skills from these platform , its really great experience for me to learn the fundamentals of graphic design it clear my basic concepts .

By Marcela M

Apr 7, 2019

Really good introduction to most concepts in Graphic Design. The homework for each week is very useful and should not be skipped, even when optional!

By Italo O

Jan 12, 2018

I really liked this course. It makes me notice that I'm really creative and gave me many fundamental but very important knowledge to make great jobs!

By Svet L S

Dec 12, 2016

Hi! It's a great course - structured and inspiring. Thank you very much!

I'm going to start it again doing all optional briefs. It's really essential!

By Nwaokorie O

Mar 16, 2023

I really enjoyed taking this course, it gave me ample knowledge and skills needed by a budding graphic designer like myself. I highly recommend it!!

By Sarah A

Oct 1, 2020

Very nice and informative course. I learned a lot regarding imagemaking. All lessons are explained in a very nice way where it's easy to understand.

By Pedro B V

Aug 22, 2020

Muy buen curso. Probé otros cursos de diseño en Coursera pero éste fue el mejor. Te hacen aplicar lo aprendido, y los ejemplos de clases son buenos.

By Ranela n

Jul 17, 2020

This course is a must for someone like me whose just starting out on the process of learning graphic design. This really helped me a lot! I love it!

By Nazifa T L

Apr 21, 2020

Love how it's designed to give one an overview of the important topics of graphics designing. Loved both the teaching method and overall experience.

By Anand P

Feb 19, 2018

A really amazing course which teaches you the basics of Design in general with a graphic design flavor. Really enjoyed the lectures and assignments.

By Agnes K

Feb 16, 2016

Inspiring assignments! THe instructor has a warm encouraging aura around him that made me want to listen to him. Also, he is very clear and thorough

By muriel r

Feb 15, 2016

I loved this course so much I would suggest to anyone who is interested in graphic design. The videos are clear and the assignments very motivating.

By Thaís B G

Jan 29, 2016

Great not only for the beginners, but also for professional graphic designers who whant to revisit the basics. The typography classes are excellent!

By Kay K W

Aug 26, 2021

The guidelines were clear as well as the examples on what the assignment should exactly be about. I really enjoyed learning this course. thank you.

By BEDOLLA D R J

May 16, 2021

As a student of graphic design, this course really helped me a lot. to understand all the visual elements and how to create a balanced composition.

By Nariya B

Sep 16, 2020

This is a great course for all beginners! I have learned a lot about graphic design and especially learning about Typography was super interesting.

By Kartikay B

May 8, 2020

Beautifully Structured Course, with gradual growth in topics and covering all aspects with good enough amount of assignments. Happy to complete it.

By Nutdhrakorn V

Apr 19, 2020

Recommended course.

You will learn important element in Graphic design.That's so good.

I've learnt a lot from this course.

Thank you so much CAL ART.

By Matheus S

Jan 16, 2020

Amazing course, encouraged me to compose and be creative, Michael Worthington is a great teacher, amazing didactics. Thanks Coursera and CalArts :)

By Kamila M

Oct 28, 2019

I found this cours very useful for me. It was my first experience in studying design. Now I have a strong wish to continue. Thank you all for that!