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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Ideas from the History of Graphic Design by California Institute of the Arts

4.7
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2,434 ratings

About the Course

This condensed survey course focuses on four key periods or themes from the history of design in the West. Together we’ll trace the emergence of design as a recognized practice, why things look the way they do, and how designers approached specific design problems in their work. Students will develop an understanding of where the wide variety of today’s design practice comes from. By participating in this survey of the works of innovative groups and individuals, we outline the process by which graphic design moved from a purely instrumental practice, to becoming a demanding creative and hybridized field. Each week, a short quiz will test your knowledge of concepts, and a short reflective assignment will give you the opportunity to analyze the questions designers ask themselves today. This is an essential course for emerging designers entering the field, or for students interested in learning more about visual culture and analysis. No previous experience is required. A note about this course: This course is taught from the perspective of contemporary design, to connect ideas that helped formulate design practice from the 1850s through the 1960s to the ways that designers think today. The relationship of words and pictures in graphic design is looked at through the ever-changing social and cultural contexts, technologies, aesthetics, and politics of their eras. The definition and practice of graphic design includes all public visual communications, which is a global practice. It was the evolution of mass production and communication in the West that specifically redefined graphic design as a professional practice and is this course’s particular narrative. We hope students will consider how to connect the themes and ideas offered in this course to your own culture....

Top reviews

P

Nov 26, 2016

Its been a great course, many info and points that are fantastic in the learning or adding new knowledge always. I will always recommend this course for those who want to know more and learn design.

ER

Mar 21, 2022

I was a little bit nervous about this course, I always hated History in school, but surprisingly this was very good! I enjoyed it! The assignments were easy to understand and managebale to complete.

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26 - 50 of 515 Reviews for Ideas from the History of Graphic Design

By Hamza I

Jul 17, 2023

This course gives the vast knowledge of how-to Analize design and what is the thought process behind every designer artwork. It a theoretical course, need more attention to understand the concepts but by the time it's grab attention. The assignments were amazing. Need to pic a historical example and explain the process and perspective of design. These exercises are helpful to apply unique elements in your design. THINK ABOUT THE BIG CONCEPT AND SHOWCASE IT.

By Susan H

Mar 29, 2021

Excellent high-level overview of four major periods in graphic design history. I really welcomed the chance to learn more about specific designers - suddenly the story and the motivations behind well-known and lesser-known designers comes to light. Really well taught and also enjoyed the wide variety of images shared to get the points across (in fact, if there was any challenge, it was keeping up with the sheer number of images to help absorb the ideas).

By Roberto M A

Oct 22, 2018

It is fundamental to understand the history of the fields we work with. This Course explains some of the main moments from the History of Graphic Design and how it shaped what we do nowadays. The examples and assignments help us think critically about current symbols/objects/graphic elements, placing them in the correct context in the History of Graphic Design. Recommended!

By Reem A S

Jan 20, 2023

this course 4 of Graphic Design Specialization, the title scared me as I don't love studying history, and I was worried about weekly assignments, but the truth is this is a great course and it taught me greatly, and it really adds to how I think about designing, I love it, and I found out my favorite style is Bauhaus style . thank you for the great informative course

By Heylin L L

Dec 10, 2020

Es un curso super importante para quienes estamos aprendiendo diseño gráfico, en este curso nos damos cuenta de las influencias del pasado que aún siguen siendo fuentes importantes de inspiración hoy día y como grandes diseñadores han creado obras de arte en el diseño.

Gracias a Coursera y al Instituto CalArts por dejarme aprender y acercarme un poco más a la meta.

By Chana M H

Aug 26, 2018

I enjoyed this course because I was able to learn background and research materials that helped me understand the foundation of the ideological side of design. I am continuing to read the suggested reading materials because I know this will add to my skill, knowledge, and abilities as a designer! It also improved my research skills.

By Jill C

Jun 18, 2018

I've been interested in graphic design for a long time but have no background in it, and this was a great introduction for me. (I can imagine it being too basic for those from the art or design world, but for me it was perfect.) I looked forward to watching the lectures, and I enjoyed doing the assignments more than I expected to.

By Violaine B

Aug 14, 2016

Amazing class, very interesting in terms of content -you learn a lot about the History of Graphic Design- and a great reflection on graphic design today. The assignments were all clever and insightful.

I really recommend it for anyone in the graphic design business, whether you're starting out or have been in the industry a while!

By Madison M

Jan 10, 2019

Incredibly interesting to learn the history of graphic design and the influences of it, and those early designers. There's so much more meaning and intention behind it than I knew. The course is also set up in a great way that is informational and really interesting, but does not force learning or busy-work in any way.

By Simran

Jul 14, 2020

At first I thought this would be too theoretical. But in fact, it deepened my insight on arts and culture and gave a a wider aspect of creating new works for future. It was good to gain knowledge on the historical aspects of art and images as that has set the foundation for the blooming graphic design in todays era.

By designeraj

Dec 14, 2021

Absolutely loved this course. It was a great experience. The speakers were good designers who shared their vision from beginning to end. I do it just for a few weeks, and I am happy to receive my certificate. I will recommend who wants to learn Graphic Designer to once get into this course. Thank you, Calarts!

By Kristen F

Aug 19, 2017

This class was very interesting and it gives some background for a lot of the stuff that you learn in the other courses in the specialization. I liked that the assignments weren't difficult but were interesting and informative. We were able to learn from each other and learn in the process of researching topics.

By Carmen L

Jan 12, 2021

The instructor is very engaging. I learnt how graphic design developed overtime from here. This will enable me to be more concise on how I want to represent my art, through both texts and graphics. Overall, I recommend this course to those who want to study graphic design, or just out of pure interest! :")

By Pratik R K

Aug 11, 2020

It is definitely a great course clearly telling you the relation between modern-day arts/ graphic designing and the graphic designing from the 19th century and how it has developed, it's origins, and it's application. Overall an incredible course for the beginners and also more experienced people.

By Maneesha

May 4, 2020

This is the best experience I ever had while following this course. Every lecture is something so new and exciting for me. It's the best way to learn Graphic Designing at Cal Arts. Thank you for everyone, teachers and all peers who guided me in this program. Hop everyone enjoy it and learn a lot!

By Laura S

Mar 4, 2024

This class was a fun surprise – it was full of really interesting information, and the projects were really valuable as I build my skills. The instructor also included a lot of external information to dig into which allows the student to continue learning, if desired. Would definitely recommend!

By AMT

Jun 10, 2020

Thank you so much for this amazing course.I've learnt a lot about the history of graphic design through this course. I've learnt how designers in the 19th century create designs, different ways of creating images and designs.And the quiz and assignments help me a lot to gain further more ideas.

By Karla V A P

Jan 11, 2019

Excellent courses, i learned a lot and i can recognize and converse about topics in arts and graphics. It keeps interested in different designs and now i can have another look and criticism in art, mode and graphics. I recommend it to those who are interested in art in general and its history.

By Hasnat A H

Sep 4, 2020

A wonderful course that discusses about the history of graphic design, shows the learners how different elements of graphic design were inspired from a particular period. The best part is, it enables one to "observe" things from new perspectives. The instructors were very cordial and joyful.

By Julie S

Jan 14, 2019

This course definitely expanded my view of art and design in history. I'm not much into history and so had a hard time at first getting into the course, but the further I went, the more interesting it became. I really enjoyed and benefited from the assigned projects. It was a good course.

By Денис

Jan 21, 2017

Interesting course. I reccomend it for people who want to knew some valuable information about history of design. It start from XIX century and move to XX century, but not to the end. It would be great if you will made a new course with new era of design with internet and modern devices.

By Michele R

Feb 26, 2023

Très bon cours, j'ai beaucoup appris, et j'ai aussi pu mieux comprendre l'apparence de certains vieux documents que j'avais vus il y a longtemps.

Very good course, I learned a lot, and I was also able to better understand the appearance of some old documents that I had seen long ago.

By Валентина М

Aug 4, 2021

The course allows you to learn a lot about the history of graphic design from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. The practical exercises are aimed at developing an understanding of the created graphic design products and how to use them to contact the audience.

By Roberto V

Jul 22, 2023

I want to thank Louise Sandhaus & Lorraine Wild my instructors for the course. It helped me understand and comprehend the emergence and relevance of current graphic design and how the culture of each country is inseparably linked to design trends in any human activity.

By Valerie V K

Oct 29, 2018

A very interesting course! It shows you really interesting designs throughout near history, and also forces you to look around to identify influences and tools in the Now. And sure enough, once you start looking, you start to notice things and become more observant.