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

4.8
stars
17,754 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

MN

May 18, 2022

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 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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401 - 425 of 4,555 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Kalluri P K

May 30, 2020

I'm really satisfied with the course and learned the basic fundamentals . But instead of option peer assignments if you make it required then that would work effectively on students.... as they will try to learn something new , work on it , and get experience.

By nivedita p

May 25, 2020

I have learned a lot through this course. Some people might find it a very basic course but to anaive like me it helped a lot. Assignments and peer review process was also very good and it was really a fun to submit assignments. I would recommend this course.

By Vicki F

Feb 23, 2020

I enjoyed video lectures very much. Interesting practical assignments, useful forum, helpful staff and mentors.

After course I have much better understanding how principles of graphic design working, how to use color wheel and typography in more efficient way.

By Seung L

Feb 2, 2020

I really liked the course, it motivates you to start from the very fundamentals which is a great way to strengthen your overall graphic skills. The courses are simple and informative and I would continue to take other courses as well within the specialization.

By Selby C

Jan 24, 2017

This course really demystified graphic design, and taught me some basics so I feel like I'm not completely lost anymore when I make or design things. The videos are really well produced and easy to follow, and I learned a lot from the assignments and projects.

By CARLOS R A H

Mar 14, 2021

Good course for beginners. It was very fun and informative, looking forward for the next course in the specialization. I think all activities should be evaluated though, some of them being optional makes people upaload anything and not having serious reviews.

By 程若茜

Oct 20, 2017

I really enjoy this course. It not only talks a lot practical techniques about graphic design, but allows me a lot of chances to creat my own artworks. I enjoy the processing of doing hands-on tasks. I am very motivated and encouraged during the whole course.

By Tina M

Jul 20, 2017

This course deftly forms the necessary base in Graphic Design study - I especially appreciated that it begins with the practice of making images using different media. The core concepts are well presented and the exercises actually help reinforce the lessons.

By Mesonrale O

Nov 17, 2015

Learnt a lot more about the design process so far in the week two of the course. Experimentation is constantly encourage during the classes and course exercise, i believe its an essential process every designer should embrace to communicate ideas effectively.

By umar w

Sep 2, 2023

This was an incredible course, I learned the original concepts of creating objects, and shapes and then converting them into a texture. This was awesome, before this I was downloading the images of textures to use in my designs but now I am creating them. :)

By Andres V

Aug 30, 2020

Excellent course, very well structured. Starting from the basic notions in a single month it was possible to learn about the bases of graphic design. Excellent tutor, his videos were very clear and illustrative. The activities help reinforce learning. Great

By Julie T

Jun 17, 2020

This course provided a good understanding of the basics of graphic design elements. The videos were interesting and made the concepts easy to understand. The assignments helped to reinforce the ideas presented and gave practical application for techniques.

By Jessica R

Apr 6, 2020

I started this course knowing absolutely nothing about graphic design. I now feel a lot more knowlegable of how graphic design works and how I can successly use it in a career. I highly recommend to all those that are interested in pursuing graphic design.

By Nikita K

Feb 6, 2016

It's great that the course has a lot of practical assignments! Also it is very important to get feedback on your work from other people that have interest in this field. It's good to learn what works and what doesn't and why. Very useful for me! Thank you!

By Benedict d l R

Aug 29, 2022

I honestly underestimated courses offered within Coursera. But this one is really intense. It answered almost all of the questions I have despite the fact that this is just 1 of 5 parts. This is strongly suggested to all who wants to learn Graphic design.

By Jonathan C

Sep 17, 2020

The professor's explanations were clear and easy to follow.

His usage of visuals was perfect....well placed and always relevant, and frequently entertaining.

I highly recommend this class to anyone and look forward to taking other classes by this professor.

By Lin Z

Aug 30, 2017

A rigorous introduction course, with many optional peer-graded assignments for further practice. I would highly recommend doing all of the optional exercises because they really help you understand and think further about the concepts taught in the video.

By Rafaela M G

May 31, 2017

I really loved this couse! It fit perfectly with what I wanted, both in terms of practicality, the way it is taught, the wealth of information and the possibilities of work to train the different skills, make this course very special, it was very worth it

By Kenzie B

Jul 30, 2016

Loving this course. Not only is it helping me learn the fundamentals of graphic design in a fun and inventive way, but is also providing a great community. Would highly recommend this for anyone looking to improve or start there graphic design skills. :)

By Mhd Y P P B

Mar 30, 2022

I am very happy that apart from studying graphic design from the California Institute of The Arts, I have learned a lot of basic knowledge that I sometimes forget to make designs, thank you. Happy to be an alumni of the california institute of the arts.

By Sue J

Jun 16, 2020

I had no problem with the required assignments nor the teaching style. A well-rounded course

the only minor problem i faced was handling the subscription plans so students must not forget to update their plans & fees! (As how i forgot)

Thank you Coursera!

By Victoria E

Oct 5, 2018

Very informative and creative (at least if you do all the assignments). Really made my creative juices flowing.

The only downside, is you only get peer-reviews, so you don't get to check with a professional if your work is good, bad, getting better, etc.

By Карандашева К В

Nov 16, 2016

This course is very useful, especially for the beginners. It creates the fundament for your future study. The practical part is very interesting and gave students the opportunity to try different aspects of graphic design. Thank you Coursera and CalArts

By Monica d v

Dec 17, 2015

This is a wonderful wonderful course... The tasks are perfectly designed to make you learn and understand... Every single video lesson is fun and engaging! I definitely recommend it to any one who is no familiar with GD and is interested in learning it!

By Ricardo M E P

Oct 12, 2017

It was undoubtedly an enriching experience. It allowed to gain basic competences in the design area and simultaneously, to unleash the creativity and the critical sense. As soon as possible I will do the specialization modules. I strongly recommend it.