10 Best Graphic Design Courses Online of 2020
You DON’T have to go to school to become a graphic designer. Check my list of best graphic design courses to start your professional career now. Everything you need you can find online!
Want to learn graphic design?
Or perhaps you know some basics of Photoshop or Illustrator and now you feel like it’s time to hone your skills.
With this collection of online courses, you don’t have to go to design school to become good at design.
This list of 10 best courses graphic design courses teach you everything you need to know, from fundamentals like color, typography…to more advanced techniques, shortcuts and workflows of professional designers, that will allow you save time and be more efficient.
Learning graphic design
Graphic design is a very broad term, but every graphic designer designer should know how to design design a logo, identity and a website.
These are the most in-demand disciplines as a graphic designer.
In the following paragraphs I describe what the course is about, how long it is and how much it cost, so that you can make right choices based on your needs.
The subjects may overlap slightly but repetition is the matter of skill and I believe you should check out at least some of them if you want to become a pro.
So without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
Best online graphic design courses:
- Graphic Design Masterclass with Lindsay Marsh
- Designing Brand Symbols with Sagi Haviv
- Business Branding with Stephen Houraghan
- Graphic Design Fundamentals with Timothy Samara
- Graphic Design Bootcamp with Derreck Mitchel
- Basics of Adobe CC with Jason Hoppe
- Customizing Type with Aron Draplin
- Effective UX Design with Jose Caballer
- Up and Running With Sketch with Adi Purdila
- A Brand Called You with Debbie Millman
1. Graphic Design Masterclass with Lindsay Marsh
This is the ultimate course that covers basic tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
This course will make you a better graphic designer, whether you’re new or simply want to improve.
You will also learn about design theory, branding and logo design.
The course was updated in 09/2019 with close to 15,000 students enrolled and now cost only $19,99 discounted from $199.99
You will apply new skills on an example of logo and branding package design project for your potential client.In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Produce effective designs in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
- Apply color theory and typography practices
- Design an online ad, infographic, poster and postcard.
You will need a subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud, but if you don’t have one-no worries, you can use a 30-day free trial.
2. Designing Brand Symbols with Sagi Haviv
This course was created by a renowned designer Sagi Haviv who is one of the founders at iconic graphic design firm Chermayeff&Geismar&Haviv in New York.
Sagi walks your through the process for creating the symbol for the US Open
Everything from initial research to final presentation, sharing behind-the-scenes sketches, market research graphs, and final designs along the way!
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Evaluate the visual branding needs of an organization
- Key criteria for making symbols that stand the test of time
- Crucial research techniques to guide your design direction
- Tips for sketching and designing an effective symbol
- How to win over your client with an effective presentation
After taking this class, you’ll be empowered to make amazing work.
And will have the tools you need to create powerful brand symbols that have potential to become iconic.
3. Business Branding with Stephen Houraghan
Build a strategic brand from the ground up with Stephen on Udemy.
One that sparks interest, connects through emotion and nurtures long-lasting and loyal relationships.
Learn how to build a strategic brand from the ground up.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a brand designer who wants to enhance their work with strategy, this is definitely something for you.
This four-course sequence exposes students to the fundamental skills required to make sophisticated graphic design: process, historical context, and communication through image-making and typography.
The sequence is completed by a capstone project that applies the skills of each course.
So that you will end up with a finished branding project suitable for a professional portfolio
.In this course, you will learn:
- How to spark your audiences interest and hold their attention
- How to position your brand effectively to stand out on its own
- How to get your audience to feel something for your brand through personality development
- The common mistakes that nearly all failing start-up’s make and how to avoid them
- How to develop a brand voice that makes it easy to resonate with your audience
- Why most businesses lose money with their Facebook or Google Ad campaigns
- How to enhance your marketing efforts through effective storytelling adapted for modern platforms
Overall, going through this course, it will help you to build a brand from the ground up, with a framework that allows you to become good at branding a business.
4. Graphic Design Fundamentals with Timothy Samara
Most unique about Timothy’s class is his demonstration of how design theory manifests in actual projects.
This course will take you into the world of how real designers work.
With an extensive career behind him, Timothy’s design services have spanned from web design to print media, to interface design, and to building brand identity.
Timothy Samara is a New York-based graphic designer and educator whose twenty-five career has so far focused on visual identity and branding, communication design, and typography.
By walking through Timothy’s creative process, you not only see how design elements interact and impact an overall product.
But you get a rare view of the problem-solving graphic designers do and the decisions they make in professional career.
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Identify and apply fundamental graphic design elements
- Add essential design skills to your toolkit
- Approach and manage the creative process through varied projects
This class is designed for beginner and intermediate graphic designers as well as more experienced designers looking for a brush-up on design principles.
5. Graphic Design Bootcamp with Derrick Mitchell
This course is for anyone who is interested in becoming a graphic designer, and especially geared towards beginners.
Project-based learning for beginners by creating posters, logos, and more.
In this course, Derrick talks about the practices to help you create pixel-perfect projects for print and web.
The goal is to get you up and running as soon as possible so you can start your new and exciting career as a graphic designer.
The course is quite long (over 15 hrs) but the instructor doesn’t speak too fast and is very clear.
There are over 70,000 students enrolled in his course with over 10,000 reviews on Udemy-I think that speaks for itself.
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- A clear understanding of how to work with both print and web projects
- The skills and confidence to create things like flyers, business cards, web graphics, and more.
- How to build a skill set that can set you up in the creative industry as a graphic designer.
Requirements: You will need access to the Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
6. Basics of Adobe CC with Jason Hoppe
The Adobe® Creative Cloud is a robust set of tools that can answer any number of design needs, but it may seem confusing to the new users when to use what program.
Understand & Use The Design Power Of Creative Cloud.
Jason Hoppe, an Adobe Certified Expert and trusted CreativeLive instructor helps you dive into each of the Creative Cloud design tools.
This is a very practical course, it cost only $39 to enroll and you get over 5 hrs of video with great expert tips.
Jason will teach you how to integrate Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator® and Adobe InDesign® into a more streamlined and easy to follow workflow.
Learn how Adobe CC can empower your design sensibility, work more efficiently, and save you time.
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- When and why to use Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
- How to create shapes and lines in Illustrator
- Manipulating images and basic color correction in Photoshop
- Build multiple pages and layouts in Indesign
Don’t have Adobe Creative Cloud yet? Get it now and save 20%
7. Customizing Type with Aron Draplin
Join design icon Aaron Draplin as he shares tried and true techniques for customizing type — an essential skill for graphic designers of all levels.
You’ll add a powerful skill to your design toolkit for every branding, logo, and identity project.
Draplin teaches you to avoid “default” typeface settings and to take ownership of your design by managing the forms, in-between spaces, and relationships of the letters you’re working with.
In this 90-minute class, you’ll follow along as Draplin digs for antique typographic references and then creates several type treatments of his own to design merchandise for Portland, his beloved hometown.
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Customize letterforms
- Discover reference material
- Own the space between characters
- Sketch type from scratch
- Prep a file for print
- Rebuild typefaces from scratch
Over 31,000 students enrolled in this course.
It’ll cost you less than $10/mo, plus you’ll have access to many different courses on Skillshare.
8. Effective UX Design with Jose Caballer
Navigating the UX design of a digital project can take weeks and even months, but veteran Jose Caballer boils it down into just one action-packed session with a real client
Learn how to complete the UX design process in a fast and efficient way.
Jose demonstrates how to facilitate the UX design process with confidence, efficiency, and finesse.
In this rare opportunity, watch him lead a live session with a client, moving from goal setting to user profiles to wireframe design with ease.
Jose breaks the classroom’s “fourth wall”, pausing to note facilitation techniques in real time, sharing tips and ready-to-use templates.
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Create and interpret user profiles
- Accurately assess business goals and requirements
- Sketch wireframes for a website and mobile app
- Facilitate an efficient UX design session with tools that work
This class is designed for creative professionals new and veteran to the UX design process: start-up entrepreneurs, UX designers, designers transitioning to UX and more.
9. Responsive Web Design Essentials with Daniel Walter Scott
This is probably the best course for learning the basics of HTML5 and CSS3 from scratch.
You learn how to build responsive website (4 examples) from scratch!
Daniel will teach you how to build professional responsive websites. which look good on mobiles, tablets and desktop screens.
The course cost only $12.99 but is 16.5 hours long!It covers everything from creating your first page through to uploading your website to the internet.
Daniel uses the world’s most popular (and free) web design tool called Visual Studio Code.In this course, you’ll learn:
- Learn how to work with responsive images and icons, background images and gradients.
- Learn how to create forms and to choose great fonts for your website.
- Learn how to work with Bootstrap 4 to easily add carousels, cards and complex looking menus.
- Setup a domain name with hosting so that your website is live on the internet for others to see.
This course is for people who want to start getting a well rounded understanding of website design.
One of the best graphic design courses you can find on Udemy and just recently updated on 07/2019.
10. A Brand Called You with Debbie Millman
It takes work to get the work you love-It takes knowing how to interview well and how to communicate flawlessly.
How to articulate your own purpose and to simultaneously do this while facing tremendous rejection.
You’ll learn how to make a living doing what you love-graphic design.
Debbie speaks a lot about job searching interviewing and resumé writing, so that you can get your dream as a graphic designer.
Debbie Millman is one of the most influential design minds of our time; an author, educator, brand strategist, and founder and host of the acclaimed podcast Design Matters.
In this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Create a meaningful philosophy that will guide your career
- Present yourself in meetings and interviews
- Network and standout from your competition
- Find discipline in your approach to work
- Sell yourself with more confidence
Are you spending enough time on looking for, finding and working towards winning a great job?
Are you doing everything you can-every single day-to stay in “career shape”?
What else should you be doing?-These and other questions are answered by Debbie in this CreativeLive course.
Becoming a professional graphic designer
Becoming a graphic designer does not have to be done at school.
In fact, nowadays so you have so much practical information online, that it make less and less sense to spend years in design school to get your diploma.
You would be much better off spending this time learning from some of the best designers in the field.
If you go through at least of few of these graphic design courses from my list, I promise you that you will become very good at your craft.
How to choose best graphic design course
Choosing an online course to learn graphic design might pose quite a challenge as there are countless of classes available online.
Constantly refresh your skills and look for for new/faster ways to execute on your ideas.
Graphic design is an ever evolving discipline-with new tools and techniques popping up literally every month.
You have to be up to date by updating your skills systematically if you want to gain competitive edge as a graphic designer.
Originally published at https://www.ebaqdesign.com.
