10 Online Graphic Design Courses for Beginners in 2023

Learn to create impactful visual content, from posters to presentations, logos, and more with these essential design courses

Graphic design is everywhere and influences so many of our lives and decisions. What products to buy, which books to read, which services to use, and even more fundamental things like your mood, can all be affected by the language of graphic design.

In this list of top courses for beginners to dive into the world of design, we explore the basic rules and understandings that will ensure you solve problems and communicate solutions with impact. From starting out with tools, to specializing in editorial graphic design, to graphic design for business purposes, we cover posters, logos, and more below.

What is graphic design, and what does it do?

As graphic designer Silvia Ferpal explains, the four pillars of graphic design are form, color, typography, and composition. Some fundamental factors include understanding how images and text work together, geometry, visual perception, and how this can be manipulated to create certain effects on an audience.

Graphic designers communicate ideas, but they also illustrate and explain. They are actively aware of the client and the intended audience, always balancing between the literal and imaginative. For example, when working on a book cover, you can’t have the design communicate ideas too literally, or you would get spoilers! On the other hand, if you’re working on a sign in a hospital, you can’t be too figurative because people need to know exactly where to go in an emergency.

Ready to dive in? Here are the twelve top courses that will help you master the above concepts and begin to create problem-solving and inspiring designs…

Graphic design basics: tools and principles

1. Graphic Design for Beginners, course by Silvia Ferpal

Silvia Ferpal (@silviaferpal2), graphic designer, visual artist, and winner of the 2019 Spanish National Design Award, teaches you the traditional principles of design as outlined above, that will help you take on any project.

In her course, Graphic Design for Beginners, you’ll discover how to mold your ideas around these key concepts and create a visual universe based on your imagination, creativity, and graphic resources that you can use for your final project—a set of images for social media created using Figma.

2. Adobe Illustrator for Graphic Design, course by Valeria Dubin

Having a graphic communication strategy is the foundation of any project. And, one of the most popular tools for developing its entire visual and graphic universe is Adobe Illustrator—an indispensable program for designers around the world.

In Adobe Illustrator for Graphic Design, a six-course Domestika Basics, graphic designer and art director Valeria Dubin (@valeriadubin) teaches you how to use the software from scratch to create graphic projects from start to finish.

First, Valeria walks you through Illustrator’s basic features step by step before teaching you how to use the program to create a logo and corporate stationery, as well as design patterns, textures, and a promotional poster.

Editorial graphic design: posters, books, and more

3. Editorial Design 101, course by Friendhood Studio

Learn the basics of designing purposeful editorial pieces for books, magazines, newspapers, and online publications with designers Alex Reece and Isabella Bunnell.

Cofounders of the Scotland-based Friendhood Studio (@friendhood), they’ve worked with brands like Penguin/Random House India, Hush Womenswear, and Anatomy Brands.

In Editorial Design 101, the pair teach you how to bring your own designs to life. You’ll learn how to analyze a brief and define a project’s visual identity to create a striking editorial piece in Adobe InDesign.

4. Book Cover Design from Concept to Creation, course by Faride Mereb

A book cover is a canvas where a dialogue between author and reader takes place. It’s an opportunity to explore visual metaphors and formats to condense the complexity of a book into one space.

Award-winning book designer and founder of publishing house Letra Muerta, Faride Mereb (@fmereb), experiments with handcrafted and digital processes to create striking, eclectic book covers. In her course, Book Cover Design from Concept to Creation, Faride guides you through making your own book cover—from concept to final product—incorporating different media as you explore visual metaphors, lettering, and typography.

Innovative Design Systems for Editorial and Digital Media, course by Mark Porter

Every publication or media brand needs a recognizable personality, and it’s a designer's job to express that visually. Mark Porter (@mark_porter) has plenty of experience doing exactly that—during his design career, he’s worked with some of the most well-known media outlets in Europe and was Creative Director of The Guardian.

In his course, Innovative Design Systems for Editorial and Digital Media, he teaches you how to build a recognizable brand that engages with its audience across all platforms and channels. You’ll learn how to combine typography, layout style, color, and imagery to create a visual language that communicates to an audience and gives a brand a strong identity.

Comic Book Cover Design: Unleash Your Super Designer, course by Chip Kidd

Batman! Spider-Man! The Watchmen! New York-based graphic designer Chip Kidd has designed numerous covers for various DC and Marvel Comics—although arguably his best-known work is the dinosaur skeleton image he created for the first edition of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (also used for the movie franchise logo).

With three decades of cover design experience, the award-winning designer shares his top teachings in his course Comic Book Cover Design: Unleash Your Super Designer. You’ll learn how to design a book cover that invites exploration, interaction, and touch by using both physical artwork and InDesign.

7. Creative Poster Design for Events, course by Marte

Great poster design has the power to captivate, compel, and persuade its audience. You want it to be visually stimulating in order to appeal to its viewers and promote your cause—whether that’s a new movie ad or an event.

Graphic design and lettering artist Martina Galarza (@marte_) has created striking posters for musicians like Paul McCartney, Courtney Barnett, and Pussy Riot, as well as for clients like Budweiser, WeWork, and Cynar.

In the course, Creative Poster Design for Events, Marte takes you on a journey through the world of poster design. She teaches you how to create a striking poster that both attracts attention and sends an impactful message by combining your creativity with the digital tools of Illustrator.

8. Graphic Design with a Social Impact, course by Giulia Fagundes

Graphic design is also a powerful tool when it comes to visually expressing social causes and debates, helping to establish a connection between topics and people.

Award-winning designer Giulia Fagundes (@giuliafagundes) has produced pieces for YouTube, EmpowerHer New York, Globo, Spotify, and more. In Graphic Design with a Social Impact, she teaches you how to develop a graphic project with a social impact. Through the course, you’ll learn to create a visual identity for a brand that translates ideas and social causes close to home, as well as tips on how to present and promote your work.

Designing for business: branding and presentation

Principles of Presentation Design, course by Katya Kovalenko

Remember the time you had to sit through an endless presentation full of charts and text and weird transition animations? Chances are you do. But do you actually remember anything about what was on it… Chances are you don’t.

The way we present information greatly influences how much of it we absorb, which is why presentation design is an art in and of itself.

Barcelona-based data designer Katya Kovalenko (@katyakovalenko) helps businesses communicate visually, clearly, and more effectively. In her course, Principles of Presentation Design, she shares how to build a strong presentation design, showing you the process that she uses with her clients, her methods of organizing information, and more pro tips from a designer’s point of view.

Logo Design from Concept to Presentation, course by Sagi Haviv

Balancing simplicity and distinctive style is one of the most difficult tasks in graphic design—and one that Sagi Haviv (@sagi) excels at. Over his career, the New York-based designer has created iconic logos for the US Open Tennis Championships, Harvard University Press, Conservation International, and more.

In Sagi’s course Logo Design from Concept to Presentation, you’ll learn the basic principles of logo design as you find your personal identity as a designer. By breaking down some common misconceptions about design, you’ll learn tricks to elevate your work and your portfolio. By the end of the course, you’ll not only be a better designer, but also a more focused one, with all the tools to design an iconic logo and sell it to a client.

If these courses have sparked your interest in graphic design, you can discover even more inspiration by exploring all of Domestika’s online graphic design courses.

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- 18 Essential Graphic Design Books to Read in 2022
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