5 Online Graphic Design Courses

Have you ever thought about having a career in graphic design, or about gaining new competencies? I’ve prepared the best online courses that teach graphic design principles, history, typography, and web design guidelines.

In my opinion, students who receive additional education and study online courses are more likely to improve their graphic design skills and get hired in this specialization. No one will promise you that it will be easy. Getting into the profession of a graphic designer is much more difficult than learning to be a tractor driver or excavator. You need to understand sociology, develop communication skills, know the theory of graphic design, and be proficient in graphic programs.

Graphic Design Courses – Completely Free and No Tricks

I know that nothing costs more than something that’s free, but I must admit that users want to learn and are looking for ways to gain knowledge “for free.” If you’re interested in taking a graphic design course, it’s okay to do it for free.

There are no miracles. In some cases, you will receive a trial period (as in free online writingcources), pay with your time, or view an ad. Therefore, the word “free” is conditional, and you decide whether to agree to the proposed conditions or not. Start learning, gain new skills, or hone old ones with help from the presented courses.

Let’s start!

How to Get Started as a Graphic Designer – 10 Tips From Ellen Lupton

You don’t have to go to a traditional school to become a graphic designer. Ellen Lupton, renowned graphic designer, gives 10 tips on how to become a graphic designer without any special education. If you aim to become a professional designer, follow these steps to reach your dream and become a graphic designer. By the way, if you have already started to learn graphic design as a student but are having some problems with it, you can get homework help on writing services (here is Essayshark review, one of the most popular ones) to sort out a specific topic in this discipline.

      10 tips for becoming a designer

1. Understand the main principles of graphic design.
2. Learn the history of graphic design.
3. Learn the design process in graphic design. Understand the principles of creative problem solving.
4. Consider advanced learning and development (hire a design teacher).
5. Look at works of professional graphic designers.
6. Improve your skills, strengthen your intuition, and build up your competencies and skills.
7. Build a portfolio and run your own professional blog.
8. Check out graphic design communities.
9. Strengthen your competencies in related specialties.
10. Find a freelance job.

Review of Graphic Design Websites With Online Education – Best Resources for Free Courses

This is an overview of the best online courses authored by experts recognized in their specialties. The topics of the courses will tell you about the disciplines in graphic design: the principles of graphic design, history, typography, rules for creating digital design, etc.

1. Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips, Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design – a free online course on the Skillshare Design education platform.

Graphic design facilitators Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips talk in a friendly conversation about how understanding design comes from knowing basic principles. The authors suggest cracking the great design code using a solid knowledge of the main principles of graphic design. Join designers Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips to understand the five key principles that apply to all visual art projects.

The authors argue that it is enough to understand the basic principles of design to become successful in creative design, creating marketing materials, and even photography. Lessons include examples and demonstrations of how to use basic principles in design. The online course will teach how to:

• Define five basic design principles.
• Use core principles in daily projects.
• Be critical of your work.

I recommend that you study the course, along with Ellen Lupton’s books and web resources.

1. Typography That Works: Typographic Composition and Fonts – Ellen Lupton’s Online Course.

Clean and smart typography makes you (or your client) look clean and smart as well. Good typography is a pleasure to read. Ellen Lupton says that bad typography sucks the energy out of your content and lets it die by the side of the road.

In the course, you will understand how to recognize and use great typography and how to create intriguing compositions. The author will show you how to create a business card using the typography elements described in each tutorial. This online typography course will be useful for both a novice designer and a professional looking to improve their knowledge and skills.

I recommend this short course for its simplicity and well-chosen examples.

1. Canva Design School – basic knowledge of graphic design principles with simple exercises.

The Graphic Design Basics course consists of 12 video lessons. The course lessons are taught by service designers. The main topics of the course: mood board, fonts, color, alignment, etc. Each lesson of the course contains a video lesson and exercises to consolidate the material.

The exercises are suggested in the Canva editor. Canva is a cross-platform web graphic design service. The service is a collection of editable templates and millions of stock images, fonts, and illustrations. The editor built into the service allows you to create a new design or edit a ready-made template.

The lessons can be useful for beginners and those with little experience.

1. Michael Worthington, Fundamentals of Graphic Design – a completely free online course from Coursera.

Fundamentals of Graphic Design by Michael Worthington is part of a wider specialization of five courses that introduce the basic skills required to create complex graphic design. The description of the course says that graphic design is all around us, in many forms, both on screen and in print, but it always consists of images and words to create a communication goal.

Michael Worthington, a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts, has created a unique coarse. The lesson covers the creation of images by hand, among other things. It will be helpful to learn about the many unique imaging techniques that compete with clip art and stock photography.

In my opinion, the difference from other courses is in how the author conveys complex topics in a fun and simple language. Michael talks about an interesting topic – metaphors in images and how the literal meaning of images differs from the metaphorical meaning. I advise both beginners and advanced designers to take the course.

1. Anther Kiley’s Introduction to Typography – California Institute of the Arts with a completely free educational course.

Anther Kiley believes that typography is the art of manipulating the visual form of language. Typography is an important area for the knowledge of graphic designers. Born long before modern graphic design, it contains the rules, terms, and practical and historical aspects of typography. The video lectures are complemented by a series of three assignments that are graded by peers.

I agree with the opinion of those who believe that new trends are emerging in education, in which traditional higher education is being fully replaced by online learning courses. The development of educational platforms is shaping a new learning market and putting strong pressure on the traditional market of classical education. Don’t hesitate to choose an online course right now!