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

4.8
stars
17,988 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

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

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.

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1551 - 1575 of 4,609 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Kay H

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Apr 11, 2021

Absolutely the best introduction to graphic design. Felt very professional. Exceeded expectations!

By ali b

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Oct 30, 2020

It's the best course to learn Graphic Design, the Teacher Michael Worthington is an amazing teacher.

By Ram C M

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Aug 3, 2020

The pace at which the course went was amazing, the teachers were amazing and I learned a lot. Kudos.

By Aditya S

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Aug 1, 2020

I liked this course as I was able to learn so much and the teacher was so good, learned many things!

By Namrata U

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Jun 24, 2020

loved the way it proceeds and the way assignments are designed and the teacher. fun ride! thank you.

By Angel D M G

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Mar 31, 2020

Very good course. It has clear and nice useful information. Easy to learn and interesting activities

By Nada M

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Mar 10, 2020

thank you so much professor, i learned a lot of things from you and you made me love this field more

By Carlos L

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Jul 9, 2017

great and practical course! i´m really glad i decided to go for this specialization. very insightful

By Jason L

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Dec 24, 2015

What a wonderful introduction to graphic design. Thank you for sharing you knowledge and enthusiasm.

By Sadra M

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Aug 10, 2023

Informative and beneficial for students who want to learn about the fundamentals of graphic design.

By Elaine L

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Nov 14, 2020

Thank you, instructors for a very detailed course. This fueled the aspiring graphic designer in me.

By Aanchal C

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Sep 15, 2020

Thanks Coursera and my teacher Michael Worthington for a wonderful experience of learning at home .

By Khushboo W

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Aug 19, 2020

Extremely insightful especially for an amateur in graphic designing. Provides you a good headstart.

By Surojoy

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May 29, 2020

It was a fantastic course and taught very well. I loved the tasks and all the new things I learned!

By Alexander H

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Dec 27, 2019

This was a very thought provoking course. I took a lot away regarding the basics of graphic design.

By Rafeeque M

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Mar 29, 2019

Beautiful experience. This course changed the way I looked at images.

Thank you so much Coursera. :)

By Muhammad H

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Aug 20, 2018

Its a good course to start off the journey towards graphics design. I highly recommend this course.

By Munjeong K

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Mar 28, 2018

I didn't expected this education.

but I've learned many thing and I was able to build my basic skill

By Linda D F

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Apr 3, 2016

I love to do it! It's so much fun to create and experiment. The descriptions and lessons are clear.

By Maya S

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Mar 24, 2016

Estupendo curso, buenos contenidos y ejercicios. Además el diseño de las presentaciones es hermoso.

By James B

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Mar 16, 2016

I had so much fun and learned so much. I plan to take this course again just to do the assignments.

By Murielle U

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Mar 10, 2016

I absolutely love this course. It's complete, precise, easy to follow, and ignites your creativity!

By Tracey D

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Jan 19, 2016

Great introduction to the basics of graphic design. Interesting presentations and fun assignments.

By Glaucia B

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Nov 20, 2015

A good, fun and very didactic introductory course. I'd like to have more courses on graphic design.

By Mona Z

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Mar 28, 2025

In my opinion, the course is exceptional! It's really Fundamentals of Graphic Design! Thank you...