Online Graphic Design Courses and Tutorials Offered Free by Top Universities and Educational Websites

About this article
Online graphic design courses and tutorials will teach students how to succeed in the industry. Learn about using texts and colors, how to formulate page layouts, and other various field applications.
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Free Graphic Design Courses

Free graphic design courses and tutorials are offered at these websites and schools, listed below. Topics address the fundamentals of graphic design and how to approach your own work in a professional manner, among other areas of study.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT provides interested individuals with a variety of options for graphic design courses. Students can study things like digital typography and computational media design. Course topics include mass culture and new media.

About.com

About.com offers a free online tutorial on graphic design for desktop publishing. Topics covered include text compositions, page layouts, and principles of graphic design. Also available is an online tutorial on graphic design portfolios, which is an in-depth discussion of creating a design portfolio of your work.

PhotoLesa.com

This website offers many different graphic design tutorials. Subjects include intensifying color, classic colorizing, Photoshop, using texts, and retouching photos.

Quark.com

QuarkXPress is a software program used for graphic design and page layouts. This website offers students the chance to learn about the software's applications via webinars and tutorials, in addition to online forums. These video tutorials are also offers from the YouTube channel QuarkXPressTV.

Planet Photoshop

This website provides students with tutorials on Adobe Photoshop. Topics covered include using layers, quick production for companies, and opacity versus flow.

Video-tutes.com

This website offers students with the opportunity to learn about Adobe Indesign via online video tutorials. Areas of study include setting up business cards, linking text boxes, and paragraph style.

DesignTalkBoard.com

Adobe Illustrator tutorials are available on this website. Topics covered include gradients, drop shadows, crop marks, and OpenType font problems.

Free Online Graphic Design Courses and Tutorials At a Glance

Course & School Program Level Format Assignments Quizzes & Exams Downloadable
Art of Color course from MIT Undergraduate Textbook/projects No No Yes
Digital Typography course from MIT Graduate Text Yes Yes Yes
Modern Art and Mass Culture course from MIT Undergraduate Texts/lecture notes Yes Yes Yes
Fundamentals of Computational Media Design course from MIT Undergraduate Texts Yes No Yes
Common Sense Reasoning for Interactive Applications course from MIT Undergraduate Lecture notes/projects Yes No Yes
Graphic Design for Desktop Publishing tutorial from About.com Beginner Online tutorial No No No
Graphic Design Portfolio tutorial from About.com Unspecified Online tutorial No No No
Step By Step Graphic Design Tutorials from PhotoLesa.com Unspecified Online tutorials/screenshots No No No
QuarkEd Training from Quark.com Unspecified Webinars/video tutorials No No No
Photoshop Tutorials from Planet Photoshop Unspecified Online tutorials/screenshots No No No
Adobe Indesign CS2 Video Tutorials from Video-tutes.com Unspecified Online video tutorials No No Yes
Adobe Illustrator Tutorials from DesignTalkBoard.com Unspecified Online tutorials/screenshots No No No

Popular Schools

  • Online Programs Available
    1. Grand Canyon University

    Program Options

    Bachelor's
      • B.A. in Advertising and Graphic Design
      • B.A. in Digital Design with an Emphasis in Animation
  • Campus and Online Programs
    2. Full Sail University

    Program Options

    Master's
      • Game Design Masters - Online
      • M.S. - New Media Journalism
    Bachelor's
      • Visual Arts Bachelors with Game Art Concentration - Online
      • B.S. - Game Design
      • B.S. - Computer Animation
      • B.S. - Game Art
  • Online Programs Available
    3. Penn Foster High School

    Program Options

    High School Diploma
      • HS Diploma
  • Online Programs Available
    4. Purdue Global

    Program Options

    Bachelor's
      • BSANALYT - Game Development
      • BSCYBSEC - Game Development
      • BSIT - Game Development
    Associate's
      • AASIT - Game Development
  • Gainesville, FL

    University of Florida

  • Boston, MA

    Boston University

  • Ames, IA

    Iowa State University

  • Philadelphia, PA

    Temple University

  • Philadelphia, PA

    University of Pennsylvania

Featured Schools

The schools and programs listed below are popular educational options, and tuition varies based on program and location

Grand Canyon University

  • B.A. in Advertising and Graphic Design
  • B.A. in Digital Design with an Emphasis in Animation

What is your highest level of education?

Full Sail University

  • Game Design Masters - Online
  • M.S. - New Media Journalism
  • Visual Arts Bachelors with Game Art Concentration - Online
  • B.S. - Game Design

What is your highest level of education?

Penn Foster High School

  • HS Diploma

What is your highest level of education?

Purdue Global

  • BSANALYT - Game Development
  • BSCYBSEC - Game Development
  • AASIT - Game Development

Which subject are you interested in?