6 Best Graphic Design Courses for Beginners for 2024
From design principles to presentation design, learn graphic design from top courses to make your designs dazzle.
Quick Access:
- For Beginners: CalArts on Coursera, LinkedIn Path, Graphic Design Theory
- Specials: Live Sessions and Mentoring, Presentation Design, Practical Graphic Design
- YouTube: Gareth David Studio, Envato Tuts+, Yes I’m a Designer
Graphic Design is presenting information through graphical and textual elements designed for a specific function. When creating visual assets with the right principles, you will convey a more powerful and effective message to your audience.
Whether you want to improve your designing skill or are considering a career as a graphic designer, this Best Courses Guide (BCG) has a selection of the best Graphic Design courses from over 4,300 Graphic Design courses in our catalog, including popular options from Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and YouTube.
Click on the shortcuts for more details:
- Our Top Picks
- BCG Stats
- Why are Graphic Design Skills Important?
- Why You Should Trust Us
- How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them
Our Top Picks
Why are Graphic Design Skills Important?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for graphic designers was $58,910 in May 2023.
Employment of graphic designers is projected to grow 2 percent from now to 2032. Even though the need for digitally based graphic design is growing, a decrease in print media may limit opportunities for graphic designers who create print-based publications.
In a 2021 article, Forbes said that AI is making its way into the world of graphic design. Technology is bringing sophisticated design tools to us, replicating human work and providing a more efficient outcome. However, even with the correct use of technology, AI cannot replace the human touch, and graphic designers will still be in the market.
BCG Stats
- Combined, these courses have accrued over 1.1M enrollments.
- 2 courses are free or free-to-audit and 4 courses are paid.
- The Graphic Design subject is followed by almost 26K learners on Class Central.
Best Graphic Design Course for Beginners (CalArts)
Graphic Design is a free-to-audit specialization offered by California Institute of the Arts on Coursera. To access the free-to-audit option, visit each course page linked below. For more information, see A Guide on How to Sign up for Coursera Courses for Free.
This five-part specialization will teach you how to create eye-catching designs, the design process, historical context, and how to communicate effectively through image-making and typography. The five parts are:
- Fundamentals of Graphic Design: Image-making, typography, composition, working with color and shape.
- Introduction to Typography: The history of typefaces, the best practices in setting type, and the expressive, meaning-making potential of type.
- Introduction to Imagemaking: Experiment with a range of materials and techniques to make images, expand your visual vocabulary, and learn how to create compositions.
- Ideas from the History of Graphic Design: Explore ideas that helped formulate design practice from the 1850s through the 1960s to the ways that designers think today.
- Brand New Brand: Explore the entire design process, from ideation to creation to presentation.
| Institution | California Institute of the Arts |
| Provider | Coursera |
| Instructors | Anther Kiley, Gail Swanlund, Lorraine Wild, Louise Sandhaus, Michael Worthington |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 78 hours |
| Enrollments | 391.6K |
| Rating | 4.7/5.0 (16.8K) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Also Great Graphic Design Course for Beginners (LinkedIn Learning)
Become a Graphic Designer on LinkedIn Learning is a collection of nine short courses. Each course teaches a specific aspect of graphic design, from basic concepts and technicalities to creating inclusive content and advanced principles.
The courses included are:
- Introduction to Graphic Design: Concepts
- Graphic Design Foundations: Ideas, Concepts, and Form
- Graphic Design Foundations: Layout and Composition
- Graphic Design Foundations: Typography
- How Design Makes us Think
- Color for Design and Art
- Creating Inclusive Content
- Working with Inclusive Imagery
- Layout and Composition: Advanced Principles
| Provider | LinkedIn Learning |
| Instructor | Sean Adams, Tony Harmer, Ina Saltz, Jim Krause, and Nicte Cuevas |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 14 hours |
| Enrollments | 298K in total |
| Rating | 4.8/5.0 (7.6K in total) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Best Graphic Design Certificate with Live Sessions and Mentoring (Noble Desktop)
If you prefer instructor-led learning, Noble Desktop’s Graphic Design Certificate offers real-time feedback and accountability that pre-recorded courses can’t match. Additionally, you get a NY State-Licensed Certificate.
What I find interesting is that this program runs both in-person (NYC campus) and online (Zoom). Even if you’re attending online, you’ll have individual attention and can see other students in the classroom. You’ll be able to interact with instructors, receive feedback, and ask questions during sessions. Plus, you’ll get access to class recordings and workbooks – pretty helpful for catching up if you miss a class or reviewing what you learned.
Key benefits:
- Small class sizes (8-15 students)
- Includes six 1-on-1 mentoring sessions
- Free retake within one year
- Job support: resume writing, tips for finding jobs, and interview prep
Noble Desktop knows what they’re doing – they’ve been around for over three decades providing instruction with industry experts. So you can rest assured your mentorship will not be with someone who just finished the course. Don’t take my word for it – student reviews on Yelp and Google praise their practical approach and instructor quality.
What You’ll Learn
- Adobe Creative Cloud mastery (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
- Fundamental design theory and principles
- Professional branding and marketing design
- Portfolio development with real-world projects
Flexible Schedule Options
- 1-month full-time (weekdays)
- 3-month part-time (evenings or Sundays)
| Institution | Noble Desktop |
| Provider | Direct (NYC campus or Live Online) |
| Instructors | Dan Rodney, Jerron Smith, Eugenio Solis de Ovando |
| Level | Beginner to Intermediate |
| Workload | 84 hours |
| Rating | 4.8/5.0 (Yelp) and 5.0/5.0 (Google) |
| Certificate | NY State-Licensed Certificate |
Best Graphic Design Theory for Beginners Course (Udemy)
The Complete Graphic Design Theory for Beginners Course contains all you need to master graphic design theory. Knowing the fundamentals of graphic design such as color, typography, layout, composition and branding is extremely important, and this course teaches you that. No experience needed.
| Provider | Udemy |
| Instructor | Lindsay Marsh, Jeremy Deighan |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 10 hours |
| Enrollments | 83.2K |
| Rating | 4.5/5.0 (19.4K) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Best Presentation Design Course (University of Colorado Boulder)
Graphic Design is a free-to-audit course offered by University of Colorado Boulder on Coursera. This practical course teaches you the theory and basics of graphic design, and also encourages you to apply those concepts and create your own designs in any presentation software.
| Institution | University of Colorado Boulder |
| Part of | Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation specialization |
| Provider | Coursera |
| Instructor | David Underwood |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 29 hours |
| Enrollments | 150.4K |
| Rating | 4.8/5.0 (3.2K) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Best Practical Graphic Design Course (Udemy)
From design theory, branding and logo design to Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, Graphic Design Masterclass – Learn GREAT Design covers just about all the aspects of graphic design. With this course, you’ll be able to apply your knowledge to real-world projects to create incredible designs.
| Provider | Udemy |
| Instructor | Lindsay Marsh |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 29 hours |
| Enrollments | 263.5K |
| Rating | 4.6/5.0 (65.0K) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Best YouTube Tutorials
Beginners guide to Graphic Design (Gareth David Studio)
This is one of the most popular graphic design courses on YouTube taught by designer Gareth David. Aimed at beginners, this course will be super helpful to get you started as a graphic designer.
Fundamentals of Graphic Design (Envato Tuts+)
Taught by Lara Keung, a graphic designer with over 15 years experience, this course will take you through the main rules for creating compositions that work and convey the message for your audience.
Graphic Design Theory (Yes I’m a Designer)
Theory is indispensable to any subject, and so is it for graphic design. Designer Martin Perhiniak will take you through just about everything there is to know in graphic design theory, so that you become confident in your graphic design skills.
Why You Should Trust Us
Class Central, a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 80 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 250,000 online courses and 250,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.
Archisha has designed presentations, posters, thumbnails, and banners using Adobe Photoshop, Canva and Microsoft PowerPoint. Archisha is also a Guided Project Instructor and Beta Tester at Coursera. She has taken over 50 online courses. Archisha’s experience as an online learner and teacher has given her some perspective on what to look for in an online course.
Fabio also has experience as a learner and as a tutor who revised the research and the 2023 version of this article.
Pat has taken more than 200 online courses in a variety of subjects. She revised the research and the 2024 version of this article.
How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them
Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how we approached this task.
First, we combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid courses.
Second, when choosing courses, we considered the following factors:
- Renowned Institutions: We picked the most recognized institutions in Graphic Design.
- Instructor experience: We looked for instructors with extensive experience in Graphic Design.
- Course content: We looked for courses that covered a wide range of topics, from the basics to more advanced techniques.
- Student reviews: We read student reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course.
To evaluate each course, We watched some of the course videos and read the course syllabus. We also looked at the course’s rating and reviews on Class Central.
Ultimately, We used a combination of data and our own judgment to make these picks. We’re confident these recommendations will provide you with the knowledge to take your first steps in becoming a graphic designer.
Archisha Bhar
Fabio Dantas
Renu sharma
Hello Archisha .. just read your content its amazing… today i learned so many things from you Thank you so much for your guidance .
Vaishaki
The LinkedIn Learning Course is not free. I was only able to access the first two courses.
Fabio Dantas
Apparently this was a temporary offer that was still valid until recently. Thanks for letting us know! The guide will be updated to reflect this change.
mariam
Please recommend the best out of the 10 for a busy computer science university student, I want to be able to freelance parallel to studies and I would like to finish a course of these before the semester starts next September.
Fabio Dantas
If you’re a complete beginner and have some time constraint, you should take the Udemy course: The Complete Graphic Design Theory for Beginners Course. In 10 hours you’ll have the foundational concepts of Graphic Design.
If you want more practical course that also teaches Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign. Then, Graphic Design Masterclass – Learn GREAT Design is ideal for you.