5 Best Graphic Design Courses & Certifications you must enroll in 2022
Hello readers! Do you want to be a creative graphic designer? Get mimicked by tons of guidelines or roadmaps out there? Looking for a distinct graphic design course that will guide you to the end? Yes, you are in the right place.
Nowadays, people are choosing graphic design as a career for its increasing demands. Graphics play a vital role in attracting the attention of people. If we talk about a website, a simple text-based website will have less traffic than the one with amazing colors and graphics. Similarly, a black and white picture seems less attractive than the one with colors. Colors and graphics make your marketing campaigns successful.
***
In today's world, where social media is the most significant marketing source, attractive graphics get you more customers. All businesses use colorful and aesthetic graphics to sell their products and services or showcase their previous work online or onsite. They are a great source of conveying a message effectively to the audience.
As there are many other career pathways that are ruling the world such as Web Development, Data Science, Machine Learning & AI, sometimes people get confused. Is graphics design really a good career? Yes, indeed. Graphic Design has its own industry without which other industries are kind of useless.
***
You want to make websites? UI/UX Design is needed! You need software or applications? A prototype or wireframe is crucial! Even a data scientist also needs to experiment with graphs to extract & present information!
Honestly! Graphics is inevitable for other industries, that’s why there are plenty of job opportunities for graphic designers in the job market as graphics designing has been one of the most in-demand skills in recent years. Besides the real job market, it has much potential in freelance marketplaces and remote positions. Freelancing is one of the best career paths for graphics designers as thousands of best graphic design jobs are available.
***
According to some surveys, graphics design holds a strong position in the current job market as it is an excellent marketing source. Many people work as graphic designers in different companies offline, online as freelancers, or remotely as remote workers. As mentioned earlier, graphics designing is one of the most in-demand skills that shows great future potential.
How much do Graphics Designers Earn?
The graphics designers are paid according to their expertise as it is a field where experience needs practice. Some are paid less when they are beginners, but they become highly paid when they have developed their skills. On average, a graphics designer makes $4,023 monthly and $48,283 annually (source).
Career Opportunities in Graphic Design:
Now that you know the importance and the demand of graphics designers, you might want to start your journey in this field. But, to get started as a graphics designer, you must know how to do graphic design.
At first, gain experience by doing some personal or practice projects and prepare an amazing portfolio. Secondly, you must create the ability to think & brainstorm creatively when working on any project. Finally, you will have to choose your preferred graphics design services to provide to the clients and learn the tools used for graphics designing.
As a graphics designer, you get many career opportunities, and different fields have their doors wide open for you. Here are the 14 in-demand graphic design services:
Tools for Graphics Designing:
Many graphics designing tools are available in the market used worldwide to create beautiful designs. The top tools are:
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Figma
- Adobe XD
- Affinity Photo
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Adobe After Effects
- Cinema 4D
- Procreate
You can acquire Graphics Designing skills by learning any of the tools mentioned above. The most successful graphics designers use these tools throughout the world.
Getting Started with Graphics Design:
Now that you know the scope and demand of this skill, you must be wondering where to start? Here is your answer. You can find the best graphic design resources in the form of books, articles, audio/video lectures, online courses, and lots of tutorials available on the Internet that will teach you graphics designing in the best ways possible.
Out of many platforms that offer paid or free courses, such as Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn, etc., the best platform to learn graphic design is Udemy. You can also learn it from some free courses on YouTube, but the best yet most recommended way of learning graphics designing is by taking a paid online course because they are packed with premium content, and you have online community support and guidance from the instructor of that specific course.
So, this article mentions the best online graphic design certificate programs below to help you get started with graphics designing. Let's see these top 5 graphics designing courses in some detail and decide which one to take first:
5 Best
Complete Graphic Design
Courses in 2022:
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 28.5 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 33 sections • 211 lectures
- Popularity: 147,565 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 (38,633 ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: Beginner
This course is designed by Lindsay Marsh (A graphic designer and digital architect) and is one of the best graphic design courses on Udemy. This basic course will give you a deep understanding of typography, color theory, photos, color schemes, blocking, layout, and design theory. It teaches you how to provide your potential clients with creative logos and branding packages. By taking this course, you will learn some of the best graphic design tools, i.e., Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator. This comprehensive course also covers the fundamentals of Affinity Designer. The best thing about this course is that it is updated frequently.
The main focus of this course is:
- Logo, Editorial Design, and Print
- Illustrations and Pattern Design
- Package Design
- UX/UI Design and Branding Designs
- Digital graphic designing
The requirements for this course include Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, or Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher as alternatives. Take this course if you:
- Want to learn Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign
- Want to learn graphics designing with theory and practical along with real-world projects
- Get started with logo design and branding techniques
Things You'll Learn:
- Graphic Design Theory
- Adobe Photoshop Basics
- Introduction to Photo Editing
- Photoshop Intermediate Tools
- Photoshop Editing and Manipulation
- Double Exposure Effect
- YouTube Thumbnail
- Book Cover Design
- Working with Photoshop Mockups
- 10 Tips from A Pro Designer
- Adobe Illustrator Introduction and
- Basic Tools - The Tracing Worksheet
- Vector Space Badge Project
- Introduction To Affinity Designer
- Logo Design & Branding Theory
- Logo Design and Branding Project
- Logo Design Student Challenges
- Creating Vector Art
- Blend, Transform and Repeat Tools
- Event Flyer Design
- InDesign PROJECT - Create a Cookbook
- Portfolio Building
- Design Trends 2021!
- Design Trends for 2020!
- Design Trends for 2019!
- Finding Your Design Niche!
Featured Review:
“Now I am halfway through the course, I am so impressed with Lindsay's approach and delivery. She's friendly, relaxed, but so knowledgeable and professional at the same time. Apart from the creative experience using certain functionality of Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator that I have never used before, understanding more of the psychology element behind designs is invaluable. Thank you, Lindsay.” – Andrew J.
Best Features of This Course:
Super updated and full of quality contents with through guideline & resources.
Author frequently shares upcoming design trends and guideline to create them!
Packed with all the essential graphic Design tools that in-demand out there!
Build numerous projects as well as participate in design contests guided by the authors.
Highly rated by the community of Quora & Reddit.
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 17 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 28 sections • 133 lectures
- Popularity: 31,431 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (2,933 ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: Intermediate
This is an intermediate level course meaning that you will need to have some basic knowledge of the subject. This course is not recommended for beginners but for those with some essential experience in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. This is one of the best online graphic design courses with certificates for intermediate expertise. Designed by Lindsay Marsh, this course advances your knowledge regarding logo and branding, photo manipulations, compelling advertising, and much more. This curriculum also lets you understand different ways of selling your creative content and resources.
For taking this course, you are required to have:
- Basic knowledge regarding Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
- Adobe Creative Cloud
Take this course if you:
- You have experience in basic tools, i.e., Photoshop and Illustrator
- You want to enhance your knowledge and expertise in graphics designing
- You want to learn while creating practical, real-world projects
Things You'll Learn:
- Intermediate Photoshop Techniques
- Creating Realistic Shadows
- Fast Food Ad Design Project
- Logo Design
- Logo Design Sketching
- The Full Logo Design Process
- The Logo Presentation
- Student Logo Design Challenge!
- The Golden Hop Brewery
- Brand Extension and Mockups
- The Golden Ratio in Design
- Logo Design Student Project
- Create a Dynamic Instagram Post!
- Mastering Isometric Grids
- Adobe InDesign - Intermediate
- Adobe InDesign Portfolio Building
- Create Compelling Infographics
- The Practical Guide to Print Design
- PROJECT: Package Design
- Using Resources for Projects
- Design and Marketing Theory
- Develop an Entire Digital Campaign
- Poster Using Only Typography
- Building A Strong Design Portfolio
- Passive Income Ideas
- Charging More and Raising Your Prices
- My freelance Mistakes, and how to avoid them!
- Bonus Lesson
Featured Review:
“Lindsay has made the course super intense! I've learned many things as a creative freelancer and overall it was indeed a value filled course! Looking forward to attending more courses! Thank You Lindsay!” – Wilson T.
Best Features of This Course:
A practical design course with some super useful topics such as the golden ration & infographics etc.
Crafting effective ads, designing packages & building portfolios are also covered.
Top rated course for intermediate graphic designers.
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 26 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 11 courses • 429 lectures
- Popularity: 762,838 students started learning
- Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 (11,432 ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
The graphics design course offered by LinkedIn takes you from beginner to intermediate level by teaching you the basics concepts of graphics designing. You will learn to use the industry-leading tools for building innovative designs and becoming an in-demand communicator and graphic designer. Being the best digital design course on LinkedIn, this course covers color theory, typography, and layout. The tools you will learn include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. You do not need to have any prior knowledge about these tools for taking this course. This amazing course is designed by many instructors who have remained experts in their fields and is one of the best graphic design courses online.
Things You'll Learn:
- Design Theory
- Graphic Design
- The Creative Process
- Typography & color
- Image & Illustration
- Layout & Composition
- Layout Elements
- Composition Principles
- Proportion
- Grids
- Attributes
- Image & Words
- Typography
- Typographic Differentiation
- The Language of Type
- Spacing and Alignment
- Touching on Type Design
- Legibility and Readability
- Typographic Composition
- Thinking with Type
- Specialized Uses
- Graphic Design Career
- Design Principles
- Visual Design
- Layout Design
- Color Theory
- RGB vs. CMYK vs. spot
- Building a color palette
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Strategic Collaboration
- Teamwork
- Creativity Skills
- Brand Design
Featured Review:
“I got a whole lots of new perspective of Graphic Design. I used to think it's all about choosing an app to work with it but now I know graphic design requires proper planning and so many little bits to create masterpiece! Phew! Thanks so much. Looking forward to learn more!” – Ayotunde Salau
Best Features of This Course:
Build a solid foundation in the elements of design: typography, color, and layout
Build, explore & practice with hands on exercises in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
Self-paced Learning Style.
Affordable Pricing: $29.99/Mo
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 17 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 61 sections • 267 lectures
- Popularity: 20,477 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (3,869 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
This is the best graphic design program for beginners and intermediate graphics designers, as its name depicts. It will teach you almost all types of logo design, including iconic and vintage logo designing using Adobe Illustrator, providing the best graphic design videos. It also covers the color psychology, logo design sketches, and color modes for on-screen and in-print designs. This course claims to cover the complete logo design process starting from sketching and moving forward to character placement, fonts, and symbol development. This course is strongly recommended to anyone interested in becoming a serious designer. Calling this course, the best graphic design course on Udemy would not be wrong.
This course requires:
- Adobe Illustrator (or other preferred Vector Application)
- Scanner or Digital camera, iPad/ iPhone camera to take photos for tracing
- Stationery items such as pencil, eraser, and paper.
You can take this course if you are a beginner or want to enhance your knowledge regarding professional logo designing. This course is designed by Daniel Evans, an award-winning logo designer having experience of 22 years of the field.
Things You'll Learn:
- Introduction
- Types of Logo Design
- Colour Psychology
- Logo Design Brief
- Gathering Reference Material
- Mind Mapping
- Sketching
- Illustrator Elaborated
- Exploring Illustrator CC
- Preparing Fonts & Editing Text
- Developing Symbols
- Marrying Symbols with Text
- Colouring Iconic Logos
- Sending Logo Samples to your Client
- Revising Designs
- Sending Final Logos to your Client
- Quoting Your Client & Invoicing
- Case Study 2 - Goldstein
- Case Study 3 - Coffee Shake
- Introduction to Typographic Logos
- Case Study 4 - Cloudbox
- Case Study 5 - Goinstall
- Vintage Logo Design Analysis
- Vintage Logo Fonts
- Case Study 6 - Bristols Barbers
- Developing the Vintage Symbol
- Backing Shapes / Enclosures
- Vintage Logo Text Selection
- Bringing Together the Vintage Logo
- ACTIVITY - Firestone Denim
- Case Study 7 - Pixel / Mosaic Logo
- My Logo Design Fundamentals!
- Logo Design Mockups Online
Featured Review:
“Excellent course. I can understand everything being taught. Communication is key. Many people may know how to use this software and use it well...however, there are some that may not have the ability to "teach" about a course. This is not true here...Mr. Evans skills and abilities are well thought out and he delivers with excellence. I truly look forward to obtaining additional courses from him. Thank you, sir, for sharing your knowledge...I truly appreciate you.” – Janet E B.
Best Features of This Course:
Professional logo design process from start to finish covering almost everything.
Working on 11 logo design assignments so that you can showcase in your portfolio
Self-paced Learning Style.
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 7 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 5 courses • 50 lessons
- Popularity: 293,511 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (8,500 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: Beginner
Designed by Carles Marsal, a teacher, and a visual artist, this single course includes the five best graphic design courses for beginners. It makes you an expert in Photoshop, even if you have never used the tool before. It covers Adobe Photoshop from beginners to advanced levels. This outstanding course introduces Adobe Photoshop's interface and main tools and takes you to the photomontage, image size, and resolution fundamentals. You will also learn to use different Photoshop brush retouching tools, apply adjustment tools, and work with colors and shades. This program is recommended for those looking forward to getting started with Adobe Photoshop. It doesn't matter that the course is in Spanish because there is an English subtitle. So, the course is worth giving a try.
Things You'll Learn:
- Landing in Photoshop
- Navigating the image
- Moving content
- Layers are everything
- Simple but effective selections
- Magic selections
- When in doubt: masks
- Practice: masks for photocomposition
- The mystery of the resolution
- Basic transformations
- Transform and warp
- Puppet warp
- Crop and compose
- Straighten images
- Correcting perspective
- Practice: creative transformations
- Brush, pencil and eraser tools
- Essential concepts
- Selecting colors
- Fill and gradients
- The mixer brush
- Creating your own brushes
- Download and export brush collections
- Exercise: brush allies
- Assisted in-depth retouching
- Accurate & Adaptive cloning
- Move, fill and perfect
- No more red-eye
- Retouching exposure by area
- Practice: improving your photographs
- Using adjustment layers
- Simple lighting
- Using Levels and Curves
- Incredible shadows/highlights
- Color intensity
- Colors under control
- Proper Black and white
- Exercise: combining settings
Featured Review:
“Excellent course, the teacher explains everything in detail and slowly so as to give time even to newbies to acclimate to the program. I highly recommend it because the course is structured and well done, and you learn the basics very well.” – Fucvale
Best Features of This Course:
Image processing and digital retouching through Adobe Photoshop
Building multiple major projects to sharpen your skills in photoshop
Self-paced Learning Style.
Affordable Pricing: $14.99
Thank you for reading this article. We hope you have already got the best graphic design courses and certifications from this article and expect that this will help you be a successful graphic designer! If you cannot decide which course to start from, here are our recommendations:
- If you are a beginner and seek a thorough guideline that will lead you from start to end, Graphic Design Masterclass - Learn GREAT Design - offered by Udemy is a must.
- In case, you are experienced and want to learn some intermediate stuff in the design industry, consider taking the Graphic Design Masterclass Intermediate: The NEXT Level which is the intermediate version of the Graphic Design Masterclass.
- But if you are worried about your creativity in design thinking and lack the skills of brainstorming, you should go for Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator - for Beginners & Beyond. Although this course is all about logo design, the author of this course has very good knowledge of how to brainstorm and finalize a totally creative design. He demonstrated every process thoroughly in his course. Check it out.
Have you liked our graphics design courses & recommendations? We hope so. Therefore, please forward this article to others so that they can benefit from it. If you are interested in developing other skills in web development, JavaScript is a must to learn. It is said that “JavaScript is the life of modern Web”. Kindly check out our Top 5 JavaScript Courses & Certifications in 2022. This will surely help you choose the right path for becoming a successful front-end web developer.
Let's COMPARE ALL Five COURSES⚖️
Courses
1. Graphic Design Masterclass - Learn GREAT Design – Udemy
2. Graphic Design Masterclass Intermediate: The NEXT Level – Udemy
3. Become a Graphic Designer – LinkedIn Learning
4. Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator - for Beginners & Beyond – Udemy
5. Introduction to Adobe Photoshop by Carles Marsal – Domestika (Spanish Language & English Subtitle)
platforms
Course Ratings
4.7
4.7
4.7
4.5
