Top 10 Best Free Graphic Design Courses Online

Top 10 Best Free Graphic Design Courses Online

Are you struggling with a limited online presence or zero brand value for your business? 

If you are, no doubt, your content isn’t appropriate, you lack SEO optimisation, or your images aren’t so appealing.

If you aren’t good at SEO or Content generation, you can reach “Optimise for SEO” They have a team of experts who will give you a free website audit. This audit will help you understand why your business has zero value.

But if your problem is related to images, then I’ll be helping you. 

I have created a list of the top 10 best free graphic design courses online that will make you capable enough to develop appealing brand images. 

These free graphic design courses will help you increase your business’s online presence.

Apart from this, if you want to start your career as a Graphic designer, these courses will also help you have a bright future in this field.

All the below-listed courses are hand-picked from top publishers. Thus, their quality of education will be up to the mark. 

Some courses will allow you to converse with the instructor for a better understanding.

So, let’s begin with it.

Top 10 Free Graphic Design Courses Available on Top Publishers

I categorised the courses based on the platform they were picked from. So, first, let’s learn a bit about the Platforms:

SkillShare

SkillShare is a platform designed for a student; especially, it offers all types of courses (short & in-depth). 

Skillshare is a platform that offers both Free and Paid Courses, and recently they have introduced their subscription plans too.

If you're interested in learning more about Skillshare, you can find comprehensive Skillshare reviews that provide valuable insights into the platform's courses and features.

Udemy

Udemy is a platform not only for students; anyone of any age can find relevant courses and study them. 

Udemy offers a wide variety of courses, even in a particular niche. Again, It provides both free and paid classes.

Coursera

Coursera is a platform where teachers from top universities offer several courses, many of which are free and few paid. 

These courses also offer a certificate of completion, but you need to pay a particular fee. 

So, if you want a career in Graphic Design, this could be your best platform.

Canva

Canva itself is a designing platform where you can create images and can design banners, etc. 

Canva is also free to some extent, but to use some premium features, you must subscribe to their monthly plan. 

Apart from this, Canva also teaches graphic design that too for free. You can learn from top designers from all over the world.

Now, let’s have a look over the courses:

Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design

This course is available on SkillShare, and it’s a 35-minute video course that gives you a brief about the Basics of Graphic Design. 

In 35 minutes, you will learn about five essential basics of Graphic Designing.

The instructors of this course are Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips. 

These two teachers will teach how to define the five principles in a project so that you can create a balanced plan. These five principles will be helpful for you in every graphics-related project.

If you plan to have a career in Graphic design, then crash courses won’t help you much; you have to understand the basics then only you can get a decent job.

Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design course will help you understand the science of Graphic Design. You will learn about elements that are important in Graphic Design.

This free design course briefly explains what is taught at MICA (Maryland Insitute College of Art). So, let’s have a look over the topics that you will be covered in it:

1. Symmetry and Asymmetry: This is the very first principle the instructors will teach; both teachers will tell you the importance of Symmetry and Asymmetry in a graphic. They will show you why you shouldn’t ignore any of these.

2. Scale: It is related to size; after this course, you will never create graphics with the wrong scaling. It is because instructors taught it so well that you will be an expert in scaling the elements.

3. Frame: Every day, we do some sort of framing, even while cropping our images for Instagram. You will learn how necessary framing is for a graphics project.

4. Hierarchy: This is mainly used in Logo Design because it relates to the difference between texts and other elements; you will learn the appropriate value. 

5. Grids: Grids make a page more efficient and appealing. In this course, you will learn about various grids and their usage.

Apart from this, there will be two projects that need to be done by you.

Since this course is available on Skillshare, you will have a community with similar interests. There you can drop your queries and discuss your curiosities.

Typography that works: Typographic composition and fonts

Text over images is a trend in 2020. If you want to create appealing and impactful images for your website or business, then it’s a must that you should enrol in a typography course.

This particular course is available on SkillShare and is taught by Ellen Lupton. She will show you how to differentiate between Good Typography and Bad Typography. 

Attractive and clean typography indicates many things about you to your client. 

Excellent communication isn’t the sole reason to grab clients; your work should be appealing. 

As a content creator, you must generate content that is pleasant to read for the viewer.

Typography can change the whole game for you as a content creator. The clumsy text could cost you, ample viewers. However, clever typography can get you hundreds of viewers without much effort.

In this course, you will learn the following:

• Sans + Structure

• Serif + Details

• Slab + Customisation

Over 66,000 students have picked this course so far. 

Apart from this, you will be working on live projects, and again, you will have a community to discuss your queries.

You must create a Business Card using different typography elements in the Live project. 

With this project, you will get an idea of your understanding. More importantly, you will understand the importance of simplicity in a composition and how to add significant complexity to the design instead of creating it clumsy and overcrowded.

I would like to request you to please enrol in this case if you want to increase your business’s online presence.

Graphic Design BootCamp Online

This Udemy course has a 4.5-star rating, and over 75000 students have enrolled in it. Derrick Mitchell created this course.

The instructor tried to cover every element of Graphic Design. Here you will learn about what graphic designers do. What are the main attributes of a graphic design project, and how to differentiate between Art and Design?

Apart from this, in this course, you will learn the following aspects of graphic design:

1. How to work with web and print projects in Adobe Photoshop.

2. Skills that will make you a valuable employee in the most creative industry.

3. How to design business cards, Logo design and more.

Besides these, you will also learn how to work on Adobe Photoshop and the tools required for graphic design.

In this course, you will also learn about the five design principles. As it’s free, you can try it and decide whether video lectures will work for you.

This course needs a computer with access to Adobe Creative Suite. 

The instructor will be using a Mac while teaching, but everything will almost work similarly in Windows. But there could be some issues while understanding it.

It’s a 15.5 hours on-demand video course which will be there in your lifetime. 

In some countries, you might have to pay for this course, but mostly it is available for free. 

You have to complete regular assignments. Then once you have completed the whole course properly as per the instructions, you will be rewarded with a Certificate (Certificate of Completion.).

Learn Adobe Photoshop from Scratch

This course is not about learning the basics of graphic design. Instead, it’s a guide to teach you how to edit and create images/designs using Adobe Photoshop.

Before enrolling in this course, I suggest you register in a direction that will teach you what graphic design is.

Graphic design can be worked on through different tools; Adobe Photoshop is just one of them.

If you learn about the basics of Graphic Design, then you can design using any tools. This course is mainly for those who want to get expertise in Adobe Photoshop.

You will learn Adobe Photoshop from Zero to Hero. Once done with it, you can easily design any project in Photoshop.

It has a 4.4-Star rating and approx. 84,000 students have enrolled in it. It’s an 8-hour video course, and you will get a certificate upon completion. 

Eduonix Learning Solutions create this course. Talking about the creator, then they are the ones who are reliable enough to invest your time. 

Eduonix Learning Solutions have created 229 courses to date, and over 1 million students have enrolled worldwide.

You will learn about the followings in this course:

1. About different manipulation tools.

2. How to add various effects in Photoshop.

3. Photo correction techniques.

Apart from this, there aren’t any specific requirements of the instructor, but you need a copy of Adobe Photoshop. 

The best part of this course is that you will learn how to use Photoshop professionally. But all you need is a zeal to learn.

Graphic Design by David Underwood

This course is available on Coursera. It was created by David Underwood, a Design and Media teaching consultant, at the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

This course is peripheral to students. It teaches you about various tools and techniques to generate professional reports, presentations, and resumes.

It teaches you how to use simple design tricks to create an impactful graphic for better communication and understanding. 

This isn’t an industry-level course. So, if you are a student, you can enrol in it.

Over 35,000 students have enrolled in this course, and they have rated it with 4.7 stars. This course is mainly created to make students a “JOB MAGNET”.

Since it is created for students, you can have flexible assignment deadlines. But make sure you have a good reason to back up your request.

This whole course can be completed in 7 hours with 2 hours per week frequency. In this course, the instructor will have the following modules:

1. Introduction: In this module, you will learn to differentiate between good and bad designs. Your instructor will review a layout with you so that you can understand how to filter the models.

2. The Blank Canvas: This is the most exciting part of the course; your instructor will have a brand new rectangle blank canvas, and then while discussing the design and elements, your instructor will create a design on that blank canvas.

3. Tricks of the Trade: This is the module where you will start designing. In this, you will use different elements and learn about graphic design composition.

4. Revisions and Distance: This will make you a better designer internally. In this module, you will learn how to accept good/bad feedback from the client. You will learn how to satisfy your clients.

This course is not individual; it’s a part of a package. You can enrol in the whole package for free.

Graphic Design Specialization

Graphic Design Specialization is available on Coursera, offered by Calarts and has over 53,000 students enrolled until now.

According to the instructor, graphic design is everywhere around us. They will teach you how to be an expert in design.

Graphic design specialization is not a single course. It’s a package of four courses that will help you to understand the basics and science of Graphic Design.

In this package, the instructor tries to feed the student with formal skills required to attract business in the industry. 

As per the reviews, students who have taken this course are now skilled enough to get a good number of clients and increase their online presence.

Aspects that you will learn in this course are:

1. Interface Design: In this, you will learn how to create an appealing design that will quickly grab the viewers’ attention.

2. Motion Graphics: It will help you understand how to work with Gifs and promotional Videos.

3. Editorial Design: In this segment, you will learn how to professionally design a clean and intelligent design.

Once you have completed the course, you will be certified by Coursera as a Graphic Designer. 

It will again help you scale your business and career to new heights.

You will get assignments to complete. You must submit them within the deadlines; otherwise, you will not be certified. You will be working on live projects under the guidance of your instructor.

Illustrator CC 2020 MasterClass

Illustrator CC is a software that helps you to design graphics. You will master Adobe Illustrator CC with this course. Illustrator CC 2020 MasterClass is available on Udemy and has 4.6-star ratings.

Over 18,000 students have enrolled in this course, and Martin Perhiniak created it. Martin Perhiniak is a designer who has created 21 Udemy courses and taught over 122,000 students.

Illustrator CC 2020 MasterClass has 12.5 hours of on-demand video with eight downloadable resources. 

On-demand videos mean you can take the classes anywhere on any device.

This course has lifetime access. On completion of this course, you will be certified with a Completion Certificate.

In this course, you will learn the following aspects:

• Designing Logos

• Designing Vector illustrations

• Conversion of photographs into vectors

• Creating infographics through Illustrator CC

• Developing web and print graphics

In this course, you will learn about the difference between Vector and Pixel graphics. 

You will learn how to work with vector graphics in the following two lectures. 

Next, you will learn about drawing on illustrating CC. 

You will learn about different brushes and how to use them. You will discover tracing photographs using the tool Image Trace. At the end of this course, you will understand the different tools available in Illustrator CC.

Apart from this, you will be given some live projects that must be done. You will learn how to use Illustrator in a very professional way. 

Your instructor will give you different quizzes to help you understand the concepts and techniques more fluently.

Creating Brand Systems: An Overview of Combining Logos and Type

This SkillShare course was created by Mike Ski (a world-famous designer) and Jessie Jay. 

In this, you will understand the basics of logo design and typography. Over 14,000 students have enrolled in this course, and it has over 977 reviews on SkillShare.

In this course, your instructor will teach you the Art of creating Logos and professionally arranging text. 

This isn’t a descriptive course; instead, it’s a short course that inspires you to create stylish Logos.

Graphic Design isn’t a tiny field to work in. 

Graphic Design has several aspects, and Logo Designing is one of them. You will learn about the basic science of Logo designing.

In this course, you will get exposure to a community where you can share your queries and discuss with other students with the same interest or working in the same field. 

You can even consult with your instructors using this online community. 

You can even get a few orders to practice using this online community.

As a newbie having few connections in the industry is a great thing. 

You can try different things in the community and share your samples with your friends to get them analysed.

In this course, the instructor will also drop some links to the book referenced in the videos. This will help you to understand the concepts more effectively.

Apart from this, you will have 25 projects to look over and analyse. This will help you to create an adaptable logo for your clients.

After Effects CC 2020: Complete Course from Novice to Expert

This course is for those looking to get expertise in After Effects CC software. 

This course is available on Udemy and is created by Louay Zambarakji. He is a Motion Graphics and Visual Effects expert. 

He has created 16 courses and taught over 2.9 million students worldwide.

In this course (After Effects CC 2020), he will teach you everything about After Effect CC. It’s a tool that is required for graphic design and video creation. 

After Effects, CC is the most popular video creation tool; your instructor will teach you everything about it.

In this course, you will learn about:

• Creating Motion Graphics

• Composition Techniques

• Motion Tracking

• Camera Tracking

• Chromakeying

• Stabilising

• Rotoscoping

• How to work in 3D space with lights, cameras and Shadows.

• 2D and 3D animation

• How to animate Vector Graphics

In this course, you will create your first Motion Graphics Video. You will work on a live project that needs various 2D and 3D Animation techniques.

This course will make you an expert in After Effects CC. You will understand how motion graphic time games work and learn about different camera angles.

Once you finish the course, you can easily create 2D and 3D graphic projects using a single tool, i.e. After Effects CC.

This course has 31 hours of on-demand videos with 46 downloadable guides.

You can also contact your instructor anytime and drop queries in the inbox. 

You can easily discuss your ideas and confusion with the community of thousands of students.

Photoshop for Entrepreneurs – Design 11 Practical Projects

Another Udemy course, but this course is different from others. This course is more of a practical assignment. 

It is because this course isn’t wholly about learning graphic design. Instead, you have to create 11 projects that your instructor will check, and he will give you feedback.

This course is created by Phil Ebiner, Jeremy Deighan, Video School Online Inc and Concept Courses. 

It is a 5 hours on-demand course with 14 downloadable resources that can be used for a lifetime. At the end of the course, you will get a certificate of Completion.

With this course, you will be able to learn:

• How to create social media post

• Web design Mock-ups

• Object Removal

• How to Create Animated GIFs

• How to design informative infographics

• Beauty Retouching

• How to create a YouTube thumbnail

• How to create social media channel for arts

• How to improve your regular pictures.

This course is about Photoshop, and your instructors will teach you about every software element. 

This will make you an all-rounder in graphic design and help you try your hands in any project linked with visual design.

It’s a course specifically designed for small business owners. This course will help you increase your business’s online presence. 

If your business is related, this course will be a cherry on your cake. It will help you grab several clients and have a chance to scale your business.

Bonus Tip: Several other platforms offer Free Graphic Design courses. You can also check them out:

·  Lynda

·  Creative Live

·  Kandenze

·  Canva Design School

·  Edx

·  Edureka

. Educba

Concluding the Free Graphic Design Courses

As a business owner, you need to be an SEO Expert and an expert Graphic Designer. 

You can understand the science behind graphic design through the courses mentioned above. 

All these courses will cover similar topics, but their instructors and teaching techniques are also different. 

So you can decide which is appropriate for your learning capabilities.

Author Bio: Aashirvad Kumar is an experienced SEO Expert with over 3+ years of experience. He was a full-time blogger at Tele Trick Mania. He has grown organic revenue by 74% in 5 months through better website and SEO Activities analysis. To grow your website, you can contact him on LinkedIn.