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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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2326 - 2350 of 4,587 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Yash B

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May 12, 2020

I liked the instructor's approach and movement of the course

By Maneesha

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May 7, 2020

Really interesting excellent course of Basic Graphic Design.

By KHELIL Y

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Apr 16, 2020

J'ai vraiment aimé le cour et j'ai appris beaucoup de choses

By Anton A

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Nov 17, 2019

It was a very specific, fun & Great to complete this course.

By Gunjan

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Mar 26, 2019

Great for beginners & people looking to revisit fundamentals

By mai k E d

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Feb 22, 2019

it is very clear and not complex at all it helped me so much

By Sooyang K

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Feb 27, 2018

It is a useful course for people who started graphic design.

By XiangYi J

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May 30, 2017

this course provide some fundamentals to improve your skills

By Louis B V

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May 15, 2016

Topic and videos, very good, perfect explanation. Thank you!

By Viviana A

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May 9, 2016

Excelente contenido y las actividades son muy enriquecedoras

By Prabha b

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May 26, 2024

One of the best graphic design courses I had ever taken!!!!

By Lesley A

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Feb 1, 2024

I enjoyed doing all of the practice projects in this class!

By Jia M

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Oct 16, 2022

I am really happy and thank you for letting me learn a lot.

By Ahsan S

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Mar 5, 2022

It was a great way to learn. Thanks to Coursera and CalArts

By Nicholas L

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May 11, 2021

great intro course to learn and apply basic design concepts

By Madiha Y

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Apr 13, 2021

Perfect for a total beginner with interest in design theory

By Laís A

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Mar 17, 2021

Very good course for real beginners and definitely helpful.

By Muhammad R

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Mar 6, 2021

It's brilliant for brainstorming and building fundamentals.

By Emilia S

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Feb 8, 2021

It's the perfect way to dive into the graphic design world.

By Irfanur R

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Dec 23, 2020

This course will make you fall in love with graphic design.

By Abdullah

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Oct 11, 2020

Its Really helpful and made me improve my skills.

Thank you.

By kathleen w

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Jul 28, 2020

Perfectly challenging and the course covers the essentials.

By Julio A L R

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Jun 9, 2020

The information and the work are super clear. Great course!

By Muhammad I

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May 24, 2020

I have learned some new design techniques from this course.

By Fathi S

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May 26, 2019

I have learned a lot from this course. Highly recommended!