Teach yourself graphic design
By: Vanshika Goel
Tags: Graphic Designer, Graphic Design, Career Choices, Graphicdesigninginstitute

Becoming a graphic designer does not have to be done at school, in fact, if you follow the below steps, you will be well on your way to becoming a professional designer.

· Understand the core principles of graphic design (see courses mentioned below in this blog)

· Ground yourself with the history of graphic design (stay tuned to my career blog series, I’ll be posting about it soon)

· Familiarize yourself with the graphic design process & solving problems creatively

· Consider advanced study & development (either online or at school)

· Learn from professional graphic designers

· Develop your proficiency, intuition, and flow

· Put together a portfolio and blog

· Participate in professional graphic design communities

· Diversify your skillset ( stay tuned to my career blog series I’ll be posting about it soon )

· Find work as a freelance graphic designer

Best Free Graphic Design Classes Overview

Below we’ve shared 5 reputable online course providers to start teaching yourself graphic design.

1. Skillshare

2. Alison

3. Coursera

4. Canva

5. Shaw Academy

· Skillshare Design Courses

Skillshare offers prospective students lots of short & in-depth courses centred around graphic design. Many of these are available for free, or with a paid subscription, you can access them all.

· Alison Online Courses

Any list we create would be incomplete without Alison Online on it. Taking the Visual and Graphic Design course on the site will earn you a test-based certificate upon completion, which can be great for anyone already studying graphic design.

Now for some who may have been working in graphic design for some time may not see the value in the completion certificate. However, if you are a graphic designer just starting out, having a certificate in a subject can help establish credibility when trying to secure a new job or freelance project.

Self-described as a “new world of free certified learning” Alison Online offers not only classes in graphic design but in so many different subjects, that it’s worth checking out regardless.

· Coursera Design Courses

While not every course on their site is free, Coursera offers online courses from some of the top universities such as Stanford and Yale. While at first glance, the site pushes you towards paying for the classes they offer, there is the option to “audit” the class.

This means that while you can take the class, none of your work will be marked and you won’t be able to earn a certificate at the end of the course.

· Canva Design School

In the six years since they started, Canva has grown to include a design school as a way for those who may not have that much experience with graphic design to learn the basics and some helpful hints.

The Design School area of their website provides students with several resources that can be beneficial to beginners, those with a little bit of experience, or anyone working in graphic design for quite some time. A great starter course for anyone looking to learn the basics of design.

· Shaw Academy

Shaw Academy has several graphic design courses available including a thorough Graphic Design course, a budget graphic design course, as well as courses on Photoshop, Illustrator and Web Design. The course is free for 4 weeks and then goes to $70/m which includes access to all other courses in their catalogue.

There are so many different sites out there that can help you learn more about graphic design. But to give you the best information to start your journey, here are a few more! If you have any other courses to add, let me know in the comment section!

· Lynda / LinkedIn Learning

· Creative Live

· Kadenze

· Massachusetts Institute of Technology

· CoursesOnline

· General Assembly

· The Graphic Design School

· Springboard

· Interaction Design Foundation