Learning graphic design does not have to be expensive, and you can do it on your own time with the help of a few high-quality, free online classes. In this post, we’ll share the best free online graphic design classes to help you get started on your own.
Graphics and website design services are in demand nowadays. You can learn to be a graphic designer at your own pace and at no cost, thanks to the internet.
Which are the 10 Online Graphic Design Classes in Free of Cost?
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CalArts Graphic Design Specialization
Through Coursera, the California Institute of the Arts offers a comprehensive graphic design program for free.
This course will teach you the fundamental skills needed to start a career as a professional designer. It will help you master visual communication and how graphic design fits into other areas such as interface design, motion graphics, and editorial design. Here’s a quick overview of each course:
- Graphic Design Fundamentals
- Typography Fundamentals
- Introduction to Image-making
- Graphic Design Ideas from the History
- Brand New Brand
Choose to audit the class on Coursera.com to gain free access to the course materials.
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Canva Design School: Graphic Design Basics
Get a solid foundation in graphic design with this quick, jam-packed course from Canva. Canva’s Graphic Design Basics course is divided into twelve bite-sized lessons. Each lesson covers a fundamental graphic design element and includes an activity to put your new knowledge into practice.
You’ll gain invaluable design knowledge by defining your intended message, creating mood boards, color wheel and typography basics, and much more. This course is ideal if you don’t have a lot of time to devote to learning a new skill. Also, if you want to dip your toes in the water to understand better how graphic designers think, this is perfect for you.
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Logo Design Fundamentals
Branding is a fundamental aspect of graphic design that many designers choose to specialize in. If you want to delve deep into the world of brand identity design, Udemy’s Logo Design Fundamentals course is a great place to begin.
Learn what makes a successful logo design, understand your client’s needs, and create a brand identity system that can get used across many different applications in this course. This branding crash course will teach you everything you need to know to create a successful logo design from start to finish.
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Introduction to Graphic Design History
In this course, you’ll discover how design has influenced nearly every aspect of our lives, from our society to our politics to our ideologies.
Dive into design history to gain a better understanding of the role Graphic Design plays in our world, as well as its evolving styles and revolutionary techniques.
You’ll leave with a solid understanding of what constitutes successful graphic design and a whole new perspective on the profession.
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Adobe Illustrator for Beginners
Learning the fundamentals of graphic design should be the cornerstone of your education. But what good are these principles if you can’t put them into action? To produce and create great design work, you must also have a few hard skills under your belt, such as knowledge of specific design software.
Adobe Illustrator is the software of choice for many designers. Instructor Dan Scott explains everything you need to know about the program in this three-hour Adobe Illustrator crash course presented by Envato Tuts.
Learn the fundamentals of designing custom shapes, lines, and brushes and how to use and manipulate text and create custom logo marks and icons. You’ll also discover hidden techniques for creating stunning color palettes, gradients, and patterns. Furthermore, the video will walk you through essentials such as saving and exporting your work for print and web. There are plenty of exercises throughout the course to help you put what you’ve learned into practice right away.
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Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design
Skillshare provides an entirely free class covering the five fundamental principles of Graphic Design in only 35 minutes. This course is for anyone interested in experimenting with images and text to convey a message. Learn concepts and principles that can apply to any visual layout, such as a book, magazine spread, web page, poster, and so on.
Because the directors of Graphic Design teach the class at Maryland Institute College of Art, there will be plenty of examples of graphic design projects created by MICA students.
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Live Graphic Design Courses: Creative Live
It is an excellent resource for learning Graphic Design from industry professionals from all over the world. However, if you want to access these courses for free, you must plan ahead of time (free classes are conducted in real-time!).
Each course focuses on a different design aspect. It includes portfolio building, how to think like a designer, and more niche areas of the industry such as book cover design, drawing basics, and much more.
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Applying Design Principles
Whether you are entirely new to graphic design or want to brush up on your existing skills, this beneficial course will provide you with the tools you need to begin putting basic graphic design principles and design theory into practice.
You will be studying some of the most successful designs in recent history. You’ll not only master fundamentals like composition, balance, contrast, and hierarchy, but you’ll also learn how to apply these to both print and digital projects.
The class is entirely free, but if you want to earn a certificate to include on your resume or design portfolio, mobile game designing, you must subscribe to Alison.
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Creating Brand Systems: An Overview of Combining Logos and Type
In this, you’ll learn how to define a brand narrative for a client while delving into the design process and generating custom assets such as illustrations and typography.
Rather than focusing on creating a single logo, you’ll learn the value of creating a family of assets, including business cards, signage, apparel, and more. This contemporary approach to developing an all-encompassing brand identity system will also teach you how to collaborate with clients and what a successful branding process should look like.
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Adobe’s Discover Graphic Design
Last but not least, if you want to dip your toes into the world of Graphic Design, Adobe’s Discover Graphic Design resources are a great place to start before diving into higher-level concepts.
While this isn’t a full-fledged course, the blog posts shared by Adobe are great for experimenting with different aspects of graphic design to see what resonates with you. There’s a lot to learn here, whether it’s how to choose between serif and sans-serif fonts, how to gather visual inspiration, or what a vector file is.
Conclusion
Start your learning journey today by taking advantage of these practical design classes, resources, and tutorials. Remember that mastering design, like any other field, will take time, effort, and a lot of self-discipline. However, if you are truly committed to working in this exciting field, know that it is both possible and affordable.
