Ranking of the best online graphic design courses for 2022

At the moment, the profession of graphic designer is becoming more and more popular and highly paid. Moreover, orders can be performed remotely, which gives the user more free time or allows him to have an additional second job.

If you want to master graphic design programs, it’s not enough just to download the necessary applications and watch a few video tutorials on the Internet. From the user, this work requires analytical thinking and creative abilities.

Various online courses will help you acquire the basic skills to implement a design idea. Let's review the best online courses that turned out to be the most popular in 2022.

What types are

Graphic design is a way to convey, convey to other users any ideas or values ​​through visualization. People face it all the time: it can be signs or signs, advertising, social networks, it is found even in clothing items.

What kind of graphic design to develop depends entirely on the scope of its application. Consider the existing varieties and their main purpose in a particular industry.

• Packaging

Almost all goods have packaging to preserve the product in its entirety and for its further sale. But, in order to interest the buyer, the packaging must have a bright, memorable design. This is a marketing ploy that allows you to increase sales.

Packaging must fully comply with the product and brand, as much as possible, but not intrusively, attract the attention of the buyer. Therefore, a designer in this industry should be familiar with marketing in general.

The packaging designer is required to develop an idea, bring it to life with the help of layouts, photographs or logos of the brand that produces the product. The final step is to provide ready-to-print packaging.

• Advertising and marketing

Graphic design in this area can be expressed not only on printed but also digital products. Therefore, it can be seen as a banner on websites, promotional offers on social networks and instant messengers, various kinds of presentations, brochures, signs, magazine ads, flyers.

The goal that is achieved with the help of graphic design in the advertising field is to interest and attract as many customers as possible. As a result, the level of sales or services rendered increases significantly.

Depending on the scale of the marketing company, both one designer and several can participate in the development. Creating ads usually requires knowledge of several applications. To achieve the maximum effect, the designer must have an analytical mind and understand what the user wants to see in the advertisement in order to purchase the product.

• Visual Brand Identification

The essence of branding is to create a corporate identity for a particular company, its logo, presentation of a product or service, convey the entire history of the brand. In other words, to create a brand identity - to combine all the distinctive features, the scope of activity and the manufactured product into one whole and convey to the user tactilely or visually.

The developers directly communicate with the brand management, take into account all their wishes, offer their ideas for the development of identity: the font of the inscriptions, images, color background, business cards.

This type of graphic design is considered quite complex, since it requires knowledge of many software applications, as well as the ability to transfer the result to different visual media.

• motion design

Animation design involves moving graphics. This species has recently gained its popularity, but its scope is constantly increasing. It can be seen in advertisements, feature film trailers, video games, presentations, and even a moving logo. Often used to create an ad or banner on web resources. It is intended only for digital transmission of information.

Music, images, videos can be used to create motion design.

• Illustrations and art

The essence of this type is to connect two different areas - illustrations and graphics. The illustrator creates the composition, and the designer applies it to the design world. This species can be found on clothing items, covers of fiction or catalogs of various kinds, presentations, comics, animation design, video games or branding.

The designer may have the skills of an illustrator or artist, or work in tandem with him.

• Publications

In order to convey certain information to a large number of users on a printed or digital medium, publications are used. Therefore, its appearance should also interest a person.

An example of graphic design in the field of publishing can be seen in books, magazines, reference books, newsletters, or catalogues. The designer must process not only images or illustrations, but also select the necessary font and color schemes. You can work in this area both remotely and be an employee of a publishing agency.

• User interface

The essence of this graphic design is, in addition to an attractive appearance, to create the most user-friendly interface. This applies to websites, mobile applications, computer and phone games, programs for creating web pages.

Designers in this industry work directly with application developers and testers who test the final product.

In addition to the programs involved in creating the user interface design, the developer must also know some programming languages. Sometimes templates are used for development that match the site or application.

• Environment

This design is intended to create style for a particular environment. It can be both signs or landmarks in shopping centers, as well as the arrangement of a conference hall, a museum or a brand office in a specific theme. The goal of environmental graphic design is to create a memorable or informative environment for the user.

Working in this field involves knowledge or collaboration with the architectural, landscape and industrial sectors. Only in conjunction with these areas can you create an interesting graphic design for a specific audience.

Deciding which type of graphic design to study depends on several factors. If the user decided to take the course for personal reasons for general development or additional income, then you should choose the industry that is most interesting.

If it is necessary to take a course to improve skills in a particular field, then the choice is limited to those types that are closest to the profession.

Where to buy

In order to learn graphic design via the Internet, you need to go to the official website of a pre-selected course and sign up for it. To do this, you need to provide the necessary data (usually a name, phone number and e-mail). After that, the user will be contacted by specialists.

Following further instructions, the future student pays for the course and gets access to the necessary video lessons.

If you have any questions, it is recommended to contact the manager using contacts or feedback (all information is indicated on the website). It is also worthwhile to first read the reviews of other users who have already purchased a training course in this company.

Ranking of the best free online courses

In the case where the user is only considering learning graphic design or wants to learn it superficially, it is recommended that you first take a look at the free online courses. It is they who will show how easy a person is to learn in this way and whether he can further develop skills.

"How to become a designer" Netology

The training program offers three video lessons, from which the user will learn what tools are needed for work, where to start and some features of the specialty.

The course involves creating a personal plan for the user, what goals he needs to complete in a certain time. Teachers will advise the necessary literature and other sources where you can find useful information for self-study.

After completing the course, the user will have an understanding of whether he needs further education and which paid courses are worth paying attention to.

• Suitable for beginners in this field;
• You can re-watch video lessons after completing the course.

• Not detected.

Fundamentals of Graphic Design Coursera

The course lasts for 4 weeks and contains about 50 video lessons. New blocks are covered each week: working with images and typography, choosing the right colors and shapes, and learning the skills needed to work with compositions.

After passing the block, the user must complete their homework. The program also provides for passing tests on the studied material.

In visual examples, the whole process is explained easily, in a user-friendly language, suitable for those who are just starting to learn and do not have certain knowledge.

• A large number of video lessons;
• Visual examples that facilitate perception;
• Learning different important skills.

• Paid certification.

"The first step in graphic design" Netology

 This course is dedicated to the study of the Canva graphic editor. The introductory program includes 6 blocks, the duration of which is from 30 to 60 minutes.

The user will learn how to use the Canva editor to design pages on social networks, create a presentation with animation, get branding skills, and learn about other features of the application (for example, how to choose a background color or choose the right font).

The program has a huge number of templates and the course will discuss in detail how to use some of them.

Training for a graphic editor takes place in Russian. After registering on the site, the user gets access to information that can be found in the personal account.

• Education in Russian;
• Detailed study of the graphic editor.

• Not detected.

Ranking of the most popular paid graphic design courses

 If you want or need to master all the skills related to the development and creation of design, you should pay more attention to paid training courses. There is much more information in them, experienced teachers and mentors work with the user, who help to better master the material. After checking homework, teachers point out the mistakes made and contribute to their correction.

Usually, at the end of the online course, the user receives a diploma of learning.

GeekBrains "Department of Graphic Design"

The duration of the course is 1 year, the cost of classes is 9,000 rubles per month.In total, you will have to pay 108,000 rubles for the full course of study.

In total, the program includes 98 video lessons designed for basic training from scratch to the specialty of a designer. The course teaches the development of a logo, the design of various packaging, the selection of the correct font and color background, the creation of illustrations and brand identity. In other words, in addition to basic knowledge, you can get branding skills.

Online courses are taught by 10 experienced mentors who are GeekBrains alumni. According to the studied video lectures, a practical task is given, which are later checked. In addition to video lectures, teachers provide additional teaching aids necessary for teaching.

For the convenience of students, the lecture is held in the evening, but if you miss a lesson, you can watch it later. The user is trained to work in the following programs: Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Keynote and PowerPoint. At the end of the course, the user gets the opportunity of internships in some companies.

• Internship in large companies;
• Branding training.

• The training is conducted by graduates of the faculty, not professional designers.

Skillbox "Profession graphic designer"

The duration of the course is 2 years, the cost of the monthly payment is 4900 rubles, the number of video lessons is more than 280. Any user can take this course in graphic design: with a personal desire to master design programs, improve the skills of an experienced user, or gain new knowledge to change the main activity .

After watching and studying the video lesson in detail, homework is done on the topic covered, which is checked by teachers.The course covers the study of a large number of tools needed to create graphic design, such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Cinema 4D. As a result, the user will learn how to create 3D projects, illustrations, logos, presentations, process photos.

After completing the course, the user receives a diploma, portfolio and assistance in writing a resume. Skillbox also organizes interviews with companies in need of qualified designers.

• The presence of a diploma and portfolio after graduation;
• Assistance in further employment;
• Extensive study of programming skills.

• Long period of study.

Netology "Graphic Design and Communications"

The course is studied for 10 months, its cost is almost 6,000 rubles per month. The training is recommended for beginners, experienced designers to improve their skills and users who plan to work remotely in this specialty.

The course is aimed at teaching branding graphic design, developing presentations and infographics, as well as choosing the right fonts and colors. In total, the training program contains 5 blocks, which include 43 video lessons.

Training takes place using the following software: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe After Effect, Figma, Tableau Public, Infogr.am, RawGraphs and others.

To consolidate the acquired knowledge, the user is given homework, which is checked by a mentor. At the end of the training, a diploma is issued, the student receives a portfolio of his work. Employees help in writing resumes, prepare for interviews and provide internship opportunities in well-known companies.

• Studying many programs;
• Diploma and portfolio.

• Not detected.

After a detailed study of online courses in graphic design and independent further study, a new and interesting area of ​​\u200b\u200bactivity opens up to the user. Indeed, with a large amount of knowledge in this industry, employers highly appreciate such work.

The designer is a profession in high demand in the modern world. This selection of online courses will help the user quickly understand and learn many professional skills.