Graphic Design Courses

Graphic Designer is one of the coolest professions that encompasses an exciting blend of creative talent and technical dexterity. If you are passionate about telling stories through visuals, the field of Graphic Designing is an ideal one to go for. In a time of rapid technical innovation, pursuing Graphic Design courses exposes you to an ever-growing market that demands creative professionals for creating compelling pictures and visuals that can convey messages in a meaningful manner. Attaining an international degree in Graphic Design will further help you explore global career opportunities in corporate, entertainment and publishing sector. Through this blog, we will be detailing Graphic Design Courses, their key elements and top international universities offering an array of programs in this field.

Career as a Graphic Designer

Graphic Design is an ancient craft of creating visual content and communicating messages using typography, illustration and photography. It is known to be a subset of Communication Design and Visual Communication. The technique of Graphic Design dates back to the Egyptian hieroglyphics to 17,000-year-old cave paintings. Since then, it has been aesthetically used in Marketing to attract an audience using colours, images and text. Graphic Design is applied to everything from road signs to interoffice memorandums to technical schematics to reference manuals.

Graphic Designers working on moulding users’ experience (UX) visually are involved in justifying stylistic choices in regard to a human-centred approach focused on seeking maximum empathy while creating engaging designs with maximum usability. Although the digital era of interactive software has enhanced the output of designing, however, it still revolves around age-old principles like symmetry and balance, colour scheme, flow, repetition, pattern the Golden Ratio and Rule of Thirds.

Pursuing a career in Graphic Designing, you can earn an average salary of ₹279,383 p.a. as per Payscale and with experience, you can even earn ₹3.8 Lakhs to ₹4 Lakhs p.a.

Graphic Designing Courses Online

Here are the top free Graphic Design courses online with certificates:

1. Graphic Design – Visual and Graphic Design by Allison
2. Envato Tuts+ Illustration and Design Courses
3. Introduction to Graphic Design by Udemy
4. Graphic Design Basics by Skillshare
5. Learn Adobe Photoshop from Scratch by Udemy
6. Adobe Certified Online Graphic Design Course by Shaw Academy
7. Graphic Design Course by MIT Open Courseware
8. Canva Design School courses
9. Fundamentals of Creative Design by California Institute of Arts
10. Introduction to Typography by California Institute of Arts

Graphic Design Courses

Graphic Designing is a creative career focusing on the visually attractive elements of communication. Graphics are players in enhancing the readability of the content. For exploring career opportunities in Graphic Designing, students are required to obtain a qualification and training in the latest design software applications like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, QuarkXPress, CorelDraw, etc.

We have formulated a list of major Graphic Design courses ranging from degree to specialised diploma programs that you can pursue to delve deeper into this field.

Certificate & Diploma Courses in Graphic Design

These are non-degree programs or training courses varying from a duration of three to six months to a year or more and focus centrally on teaching the core principles and applications of Graphic Design.

• Diploma in Web and Graphic Designing
• Certificate in Arts & Design
• Certificate in Graphic & Web Design and Development
• Graduate Certificate in Graphic Design
• Graduate Certificate in Informational Architecture & Design

Graphic Design Courses after 12th

These are 3 or 4-year undergraduate degree programs including both lecture-based Graphic Design-related sessions and hands-on practical modules to equip students with the basic knowledge of visual communication and the software applications used for creating graphics.

• BFA. in Graphic Design
• B.Des in Graphic Design
• B.Des in Visual Communication and Graphics
• B.Sc in Data Visualization
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design
• BA (Hons) in Graphic and Communication Design

Master’s Degree Courses

These are highly specialized postgraduate courses ranging from a duration of 1-2 years that help individuals gain a deep embedded expertise and develop professional skills in the field of Graphic Design, Information Design and Visual Communication.

• MA in Graphic Design
• MA in Communication Design & Information Design Pathway
• MFA in Graphic Design
• Master’s in Information Design & Strategy

What do you Study in Graphic Design?

In graphic designing courses, different subjects are taught to the students to enhance their skills required in the field. The subjects are wide-ranging and the course guides its undertakers on multifarious concepts. Tabulated below are some of the critical concepts covered in the course.

Elements of Visual Design	Interaction Design	Topography
Design Studio	Publication Design	Motion Design
History of Art and Design	Advanced Typography	Programming for Designers
Package Design	Photo Communication	Media Ethics and Education

Must Read: Web Designing Course Syllabus

Eligibility Criteria

Certain eligibility criteria have been set to test the adeptness of the prospective candidate in the field. Students are advised to go through the course details on the official website of their chosen institution to gather more information about the specific course requirements. Students interested in making a career in this field have to fulfill the following major eligibility requirements:

• Applicants should have qualified their higher secondary level examinations in any relevant stream from a recognized institution. The applications are processed solely on the basis of merit list or the scores of previously qualified examinations.
• In India, some universities conduct their own entrance exams so you will have to qualify the same to get admission in graphic designing courses. 
• For those aspiring to study abroad, universities demand to undertake an  English proficiency test like IELTS/TOEFL and present its scores. Additionally, some academic institutions might also ask for the candidate to furnish their GRE scores. A Statement of Purpose(SOP) and Letters of Recommendation will form the profile of the student which is evaluated by the university before offering a position in one of their graphic designing courses.

Top Universities and Colleges

Studying Graphic Design courses abroad will help you gain international-level knowledge and exposure in this field. There is a plethora of global universities and colleges offering various specialised programs in Graphic Designing. Students have the liberty to learn from the original designers who utilized paint, clay and various materials before the time of computers. This experience actually helps students to fuel their abilities to tell a story using nothing but graphics. Here is a list of renowned universities across the world providing a wide range of courses in Graphic Design:

• Northwestern University
• The University of Edinburgh
• California Institute of the Arts
• The University of Melbourne
• McGill University
• Rhode Island School of Design
• Arizona State University
• Boston University
• Pennsylvania State University – Park Campus
• Maryland Institute College of Art
• California State University – Los Angeles
• Michigan State University
• Purdue University
• Southern Institute of Technology
• Otis College of Art and Design

Career Scope in Graphic Design

As a Graphic Designer, learning is an everyday thing with a scope of evolving and improving along with new challenges to overcome. It is an essential cog in the world which requires thinking and innovation. Graphic Designers are either a part of a creative team in a company or work closely with clients such as in an advertising agency. A career in Graphic Design can take people to places they never thought possible. How would you feel if you spotted your work in a magazine or a billboard or a website? Seeing your work getting appreciated is a feeling you can experience in this field. Pursuing Graphic Design courses reframes the way you see things around yourself. You tend to find inspiration in everything you see and do, preserving the ideas for your next big project. Trends always develop and change, keeping you on your toes from one day to the next.

Graphic Designing Jobs

Graphic Designing is gaining relevance in contemporary times due to emerging digital technologies. Today everything is visible through a web interface even though traditional media still exists. This makes Graphic Designing graduates with creative and analytical skills fit for the current ‘virtual market’.

Most business enterprises and design agencies require professionals in Graphic Designing for the following job profiles:

• Art Director
• Graphic Designer
• UI Designer
• Layout Designer
• Web Developer
• Communications Designer
• Flash Animator and Multimedia Artists
• Picture Editor
• SEO Consultant
• Content Management System Specialist
• Design Manager
• Freelancer
• Graphic Design Lecturer or Professor

We hope this blog has provided comprehensive information about graphic designing courses for the reader’s satisfaction. Are you aiming to join a top-notch educational university of the world, but are apprehensive about the admission process? Let the experts at Leverage Edu take care of your academic journey. Book your free 30 minutes of e-counseling with the team now and let the fascinating world of graphic design take over you!