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Fundamentals of Graphic Design, California Institute of the Arts

4.8
4,915 ratings
•
1,227 reviews

About this 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

By GA

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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

By AR

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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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1,191 Reviews

By Matt Kopay

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Dec 13, 2018

Great introduction to graphic design, started me off on the right path to a new career.

By Aušrinė Oželienė

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Dec 13, 2018

Easy understandable fundamentals of graphic design with practical tasks.

By Todd Hurst

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Dec 13, 2018

The lessons are easy to follow and packed creative knowledge and helpful tips not B.S!

By Richel Fachrein

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Dec 13, 2018

Great!

By Popescu Raluca

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Dec 11, 2018

Great course for beginners! Thank you!

By Gillian Stirland

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Dec 10, 2018

brilliant

great to have a certificate and more knowledge in stuff i've been doing for years to promote my business ventures

THANK YOU

By Charles Ian Wilson

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Dec 09, 2018

Very proffesional

By Nuria Mansilla Fernández

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Dec 08, 2018

It has been very pleasant and very useful. A fantastic base to continue learning

By Matías Araujo

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Dec 04, 2018

Excellent course as an introduction to the graphic design world and it' s principle concepts.

By Mariya Nikolaeva Pavlevska

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Dec 04, 2018

K

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