Have you ever asked Google that question? If yes, then you have read a lot of articles with recommendations. And, of course, you met this list:
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How do you become a graphic designer in 5 steps?
- Learn graphic design principles.
- Enroll in a graphic design course.
- Learn core graphic design tools.
- Work on your projects to develop your graphic design skills.
- Develop a portfolio to showcase your graphic design work.
As you can see, the first step is learning. But there are so many new skills you may teach. How do you know if graphic design is your spark?
To answer this question, you can take free online graphic design courses. If you like it, then you can find more professional classes and start building your professional career as a graphic designer.
In this piece, you will find 10 of the most popular free online graphic design courses to jumpstart your career. Are you ready? Let’s get started!
- Canva Design School: Graphic Design Basics
You can get a solid grounding in graphic design in this fast-paced, rich course offered by Canva. Canva’s Graphic Design Basics course consists of twelve lessons, each covering one of the fundamental elements of graphic design and an assignment that allows you to put your knowledge into practice.
You’ll learn invaluable design know-how: defining your target message, creating mood boards, color wheel and typography essentials, and more. This course is perfect if you don’t have much time to learn a new skill or just want to dip your toes into the water to understand how to think as graphic designers do.
- Adobe Illustrator for Beginners
Learning the principles of graphic design should be the foundation of your education. But what good is it if you can’t put these principles into practice? To produce and create great designs, you need to have a few sophisticated skills under your belt. You need to know certain design software products.
Adobe Illustrator is a favorite program of many designers. In a free three-hour Adobe Illustrator course, the instructor explains everything you need to know about the program to start bringing your ideas to life.
You can learn the basics of creating custom shapes, lines, and brushes. You can study how to use text and create logos and icons. In this course, you will also learn the secrets of creating beautiful color palettes, gradients, and patterns.
In addition, the video course will teach you about important things like saving and exporting your work for printing and working online. You will find many exercises that you can immediately apply to your work.
- CalArts Graphic Design Specialization
The California Institute of the Arts offers an extensive graphic design major for free. These five beginner-level courses have experts’ insights from the industry.
You will learn the fundamental skills necessary to begin a career as a professional designer. You will learn the craft of visual communication and get a complete picture of how graphic design plays a role in interface design, motion graphics, and editorial design. Here’s a summary of each course: Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Introduction to Typography, Introduction to Imagemaking, Ideas from the history of Graphic Design, Brand New Brand.
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- Logo Design Fundamentals
Branding is one of the most fundamental aspects of graphic design, and many designers choose to specialize in it. The Logo Design Basics course is a great place to start if you want to delve deep into a brand identity.
In this course, consisting of fifteen lectures, you will learn what makes up a successful logo design, understand client needs, and create a corporate identity system that can be effective in different areas. In this express branding course, you’ll learn everything you need to know to create a successful logo design from start to finish.
- Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design
You can also get a free course that covers the five basic principles of graphic design in just 35 minutes. This course is for anyone who wants to explore and experiment with images and text to convey a message. You will learn ideas and principles for any visual layout – book, magazine spread, web page, poster, etc.
Students take classes in the MFA Leaders Graphic Design program at the Maryland Institute College of Art, so you’ll see many examples of graphic design projects created by MICA students. Get ready for a helpful crash course on core design elements such as symmetry, scale, framing, hierarchy, and grids. At the end of the program, you can put your new knowledge to the test by creating a basic page layout in your design program of choice.
- Creating Brand Systems: An Overview of Combining Logos and Type.
In this twenty-minute free course, you can learn a step-by-step approach to implementing a client branding project. You will learn how to define the essence of the brand for the client, dive into the design process, and learn how to create custom assets such as illustrations and typography.
Instead of focusing on creating a single logo, you’ll learn the importance of creating a family of assets that can use in different areas, from business cards to signage, clothing, etc. This modern approach to creating a comprehensive corporate identity system will also teach you how to effectively collaborate with clients and give you an idea of what a successful branding process should have.
- Introduction to Graphic Design History
Just imagine. What better way to start your journey of learning graphic design than where it all began? In the Introduction to Graphic Design History course, you’ll learn how design has influenced almost everything in our lives, from society to politics and ideologies.
This short course on graphic design history is from a similar course taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art. You can dive into the history of design and gain a deeper understanding of the part that graphic design plays in our world, its evolving styles, and revolutionary techniques.
You’ll graduate with a solid understanding of what defines successful graphic design and look at the profession through a whole new lens.
- Applying Design Principles
If you are new to graphic design, this course will arm you with the tools you need to start putting basic design principles and design theory into practice.
You will study some of the most successful designs in recent history. You will master basics like composition, balance, contrast, and hierarchy. You can learn how to apply them to both print and digital projects. After the course, you can work on editorial materials, web design, and social media graphics.
The classes are free, but if you want a certificate to put on your resume or design portfolio, you will need to purchase a subscription.
- Live Graphic Design Courses: Creative Live
Creative Live is a practical and modern resource for learning graphic design from industry experts. However, if you want access to these courses for free, you will have to plan (these free courses are live!). Just open the Graphic Design Courses website, scroll down to the Free and Upcoming Classes section to sign up for live courses you’re interested in, and mark your calendar.
These courses focus on a particular aspect of design:
- creating a portfolio
- thinking like a designer
- making book cover design
- drawing basics, and more.
- Adobe’s Discover Graphic Design
And last but not least, if you only want to dive into graphic design, Adobe Discover Graphic Design resources are a great primer before diving into higher-level concepts.
While this is not a whole course, the blog articles shared by Adobe are great for exploring different areas of graphic design to see what works for you. Choosing between serif and sans serif fonts, gathering visual inspiration, or talking about important information like a vector file – there’s a lot to be learned here!
Absolutely! As you can see, everyone can start learning graphic design for free online.
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Thanks to the Internet, you can become a graphic designer at your pleasure and for free. Use all these helpful lessons, resources, and design tutorials to start your learning today. After that, you will see if you need some expensive courses in graphic design for your career.
And remember that mastering design will take time, effort, and self-discipline. But if you want a job in this exciting field, know that it is possible and affordable.
