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

4.8
stars
17,887 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 18, 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 21, 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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4151 - 4175 of 4,587 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Camila L

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Feb 18, 2016

I would like if there was some instructor feedback. That would be great! I loved the course, really useful.

By Anton R

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Feb 11, 2018

I thought the exercise of 10 images was a good intro to thinking of different ways to represent an object.

By Iqra S

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Aug 30, 2020

i learned a lot. it was really helpful and it makes you think from different angles. to create something.

By Erick A R A d l S

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Jan 17, 2018

Basic but good course. The optional assignments should be required to rise the course level and feedback.

By Miranda J

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Jul 12, 2016

Some of the videos seem a little repetitive, but all in all it was a great overview of Graphic Design. T

By Melissa G

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Mar 27, 2020

Excellent beginner course for principles of design. Fun projects, informative and well presented videos.

By Natacha J

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Jan 24, 2016

I loved this course, even though (for me), some things were quite repetitive and unnecessarily lengthy.

By RITIK R

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Jul 12, 2020

nice course! I got to learn a lot of new thing through this. I highly recommend this to new beginners.

By Yang,Shang-Lien

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May 15, 2017

It's great. The course really helps me realize the fundamental graphic design theories and techniques.

By Mostafa H

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May 26, 2020

great!!!but whoever is doing this course should know that this is the very basic of graphic designing

By Maria M R M

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Feb 28, 2024

Muy buen curso, me cuesta un poco mas de trabajo pues esta en inlges y la traducción no es la misma

By Marina G B

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May 13, 2022

great course, however, unfortunately the peer review in the optional exercises was not so enriching

By Alexandra

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Jan 28, 2016

Although very basic the course helped my to discover the bases of graphic design. Willing for more!

By Liz H

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Apr 24, 2021

Started out strong but the end of the course some of the lessons were more dry. Good fundamentals.

By Viorel-Daniel S

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Sep 12, 2017

It was a well organized course, but it did not manage to get me very excited about graphic design.

By Shrayan D

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May 7, 2017

This is a great course for learning the fundamentals of graphic design. Had a lot of fun doing it!

By Gautam J

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Nov 29, 2016

This course sets a decent foundation for anybody interested in pursuing graphic design seriously.

By Ana L T M

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Mar 16, 2016

Es un buen curso, he aprendido en la primera semana más que en algunos de mis años en la carrera.

By Jennifer A P

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Sep 29, 2022

Very elementary, but a great start with the concepts of design and a great block to build upon!

By Diego O H D L C

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Jul 7, 2021

IT IS A VERY INTERESTING COURSE, I HAVE LEARNED A LOT AND I AM SATISFIED WITH WHAT I HAVE TAUGHT

By Rajendra K O

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Jul 16, 2020

The teaching way is very informative. The way it was presented was easy to understand .Thank You

By Faiyaz A

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Jun 24, 2020

Overall a good course but just wish that the course also focused on graphic designing softwares.

By Jose H

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Feb 6, 2018

Great course for refresh existing knowledge and start learn about compsition and graphic design.

By Yuying R

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Feb 23, 2016

The strongest part of this course is that it prompts the learners to apply the designing skills.

By Zuzana S

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Jan 12, 2016

I was unable to follow up bc of vacation and some busines travel, I wish to do it again one day.