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

4.8
stars
18,086 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.

CS

May 10, 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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2926 - 2950 of 4,637 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Rui

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Feb 25, 2019

Good course design, I learned a lot.

By Stantcieru T

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Oct 30, 2018

Thank you for such great experience.

By Karla S

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Mar 6, 2018

Easy to follow and very informative!

By Jenni S

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Aug 30, 2017

Great and helpful course! Thank you!

By williamexcellent3@gmail.com

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Mar 6, 2017

really eye opening fun and educative

By Eleni S

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Feb 8, 2016

Very interesting and "to the point"!

By Eliot Z

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Feb 8, 2016

clear instruction and easy to follow

By maricela a b

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Jan 4, 2016

Awesome!!! i really enjoy the course

By Tripti

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Aug 9, 2023

I really enjoyed doing this course.

By Jesús A F D

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Oct 26, 2022

Super well guided and informative!

By Abotalib I

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Dec 31, 2021

AMAZING COURSE THANKS FOR TEACHERS

By Nayar C

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Jun 3, 2021

Great course and easy to understand

By Francesca F

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Jan 12, 2021

interesting and easy to understand!

By Haidar A

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Dec 28, 2020

very interesting and helpful course

By Nicolette P

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Sep 8, 2020

Easy and simple introductory course

By Gael F

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Sep 1, 2020

Fabulous - well worth every moment!

By Yash R

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Jun 21, 2020

excellent course to graphic design.

By Mehr K

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Apr 19, 2020

It was a great course. Learn a lot.

By Arina P

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Mar 27, 2020

Structured, detailed and practical!

By Mohamed S T

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May 31, 2019

Course is very important and useful

By Faizad k

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Nov 18, 2018

Its good course for basics learning

By 钱玉兰

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Sep 26, 2017

Very clear teaching. Learned a lot!

By Pennie C

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Jun 3, 2017

Fun to test out lots of approaches!

By Simona Y

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Dec 18, 2015

Un curso excelente. Muchas gracias.

By Wai Y T

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Mar 15, 2025

This course is very useful for me.