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

4.8
stars
17,081 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 20, 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

CS

May 9, 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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3851 - 3875 of 4,410 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Sakina s

Aug 21, 2016

Its a great course to start understanding the basics of design and know what graphic design is all about. the lectures are very well explained and the assignments are all very easy to complete.

Its a very well structured course.

By Solange C

Apr 29, 2021

I love it! The videos and the tips were really helpful to develop my creativity and my way to see things. I learn to describe images and compositions just by looking at the shape, form, texture, and more. I love graphic design!

By Kleio C

Apr 16, 2021

Pretty thorough introductory course to get a handle on the basics, presented well. I felt that all the assignments should be mandatory and there should be more tutor oversight of grading (this seems to be true of all courses).

By Ruben S

Feb 9, 2016

It is a great course, simple yet complete. However, it would be nice if we had more contact with our lecturers, and if they graded our assignments instead of other classmates. They are not as experienced as our teachers are.

By Marcia A

Mar 27, 2022

It's very good, but I have some troubles wiht Spanish translations of subtitles. Sometimes subtitles were missing, and sometimes there were some grammatical errors. My English is not good enough for undestanding everything.

By Deborah M

Jan 23, 2017

I really loved this course, it really pushes you forward to create and it is a really good course for beginners. I would only love for the review part to be more

challenging in order to get better at your work in the future

By Laura B

Mar 6, 2016

I loved the course, although I think the instructions for various briefs should be more precise and/or someone should be available to clarify the instructions and answer any questions from students (regarding the briefs).

By Maggie H

Jan 29, 2024

I really enjoyed this course and the assignments. The only place that need improvement is the peer review portion. I wish there was som moderation of it or more interaction with the professor to get professional input.

By Anthony J S

Jan 22, 2016

Four stars, because there is always room for improvement. But this is a well structured course and gives a great grounding for anyone looking at graphic design.

Thanks to those who put this course together, great work.

By Ceci A

Mar 12, 2021

I think this is a good course for being an introduction, but I think it will be better if we could get feedback of some professionals not only students. Otherwise I believe is a really good content in this course.

By Kelly L

Mar 4, 2018

Good information, wish there were more assignments and perhaps multiple presenters. This class is part of a specialization, so you can not get the certificate for completion unless you join the specialization.

By Anastassiya R

Dec 12, 2016

I found the course rather interesting and useful for the beginners in graphic design, however I think the students need the feedback from the instructor. I missed some professional critic during the course.

By erin n

Oct 7, 2020

The course itself was well done, however the peer review is useless. Only one person actually made a comment beyone "good". So it makes it difficult to grow when there is no feedback at all on the work.

By Alan S

May 28, 2017

I liked the course as a beginner to graphic design and I would recommend it for everyone. Maybe to be perfect I would like it to include more examples and technical classes, but it was definitely worthy.

By Sheena P

Feb 2, 2017

This Course has opened my eyes to different simple concepts I had forgotten or not quiet understood until now. I am going to work through all of the 5 coursed for Graphic design. this was a great start.

By Thais G d S

Feb 9, 2022

This course is nice for who is starting in this field. For those who have some experience it can be a little slow and repetitive. Even so, may be good to take a step back and remember the fundamentals.

By Alicia W

Oct 2, 2023

It was good, I don't really like the peer evaluation - some people don't read which can effect your grades. Other than that its good. The moderators don't respond so if you need help you won't get it.

By Raquel B

Nov 20, 2020

El curso en sí esta bien pero para mi gusto se hace un poco aburrido. Entiendo que es como una introducción pero podrían haber puesto ejemplo mucho más visuales y no tanto todo en una pizarra blanca

By Sandrine C

Jan 7, 2016

The fundamentals, like the title says. Very well explaineI wish there was more info on what software to use for the assignments for those of us more used to traditional mediums rather than digital.

By Stephanie M

May 2, 2021

The course, concepts and everything were very well conveyed and assignments helpful. I did expect there would be one 'instructor graded' assignment at the end vs relying totally on peer reviews.

By Danielle E

Sep 13, 2020

I think this course is fun to learn the fundamentals of design and how to apply it in Graphic Design. It is good for those who are new or want to refresh on the basics and have extra practice.

By Mariia A

Aug 16, 2018

It would be great if you also include some Adobe Illustrator basics into the curriculum, rather than that I had lots of fun learning with you and acquiring new skills in design and typography.

By Festa I

Jun 3, 2019

In terms of lectures, it was a great course. I undoubtedly learned a lot and enjoyed it. The last star is missing since I wish there was a bit more interaction among people taking the course.

By Dilara

Oct 11, 2021

It helped me a lot in understanding the basics of graphic design. Thanks to the course, I learned how to combine design elements. I also learned to look at the whole picture while designing.