Graphic Design Fundamentals

The Ultimate Beginner's Course

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In this course, you will go from an overwhelmed beginner to confidently kickstarting your graphic design journey through foundational learning that’s simple, practical, and applicable.

You’ll gain a solid foundation of understanding by learning:

✅ what graphic design is

✅ career options

✅ fundamentals like layout, typography, and color

✅ how graphic design relates to brand and business

✅ the design process

✅ image resolution and file formats

✅ tools you can use to create designs


By the end of this course, you will have created your very first design and you’ll feel more confident to move forward in your graphic design journey 🎉

Ready to learn graphic design?

Build your design foundation—fast!

Get access for $97

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What you'll learn…

MODULE ONE  

What is Graphic Design?

To kick off this course, we’ll uncover what graphic design is, what types of things you can create, career and income opportunities, and educational requirements. Finally, we’ll dispel some common myths about design and emphasize some important truths for being successful in this field.

MODULE TWO  

Foundational Design Principles

Learn about the foundational rules—what we call design principles—that make designs look refined and well put together. Understanding and successfully applying these principles are absolutely key in your design knowledge because they can essentially be applied to any project, using any software or any medium.

MODULE THREE  

Logo and Brand

Because logo and brand play such a huge role in our everyday lives, these are important concepts to grasp. In this module, we’ll define these two important elements and illustrate how graphic design is essential for developing both.

MODULE FOUR  

Color and Typography

Both color and typography greatly shape the way we perceive a design and how we interpret a design’s message. We’ll start with an overview of color psychology, color theory and color modes. Then we’ll explore typography—a brief history, the anatomy of typography, important terminology and how to choose the right fonts for your projects. Finally, we’ll cover some best practices for working with each of these two design principles.

MODULE FIVE  

Layout Principles

Learn basic layout principles that you can apply across many scenarios, some general layout terminology, and we’ll look at a few examples of the endless ways you can layout your visual elements on a page.

MODULE SIX  

The Design Process

Not only does the design process help you generate creative ideas, but it is essential for organizing your work flow in a way that serves both you and whoever you are designing for. In this module, you will learn how to utilize a design process that you can modify and tailor to your own work style.

MODULE SEVEN  

Getting Technical

Ready to get technical? Part of implementing graphic design is understanding the terminology (or design “jargon”) and also being able to identify and utilize different image types, image resolutions and various file formats. Having a solid understanding of the technical aspects will help you to create your designs in the optimal format (or formats), and use the right types of files to achieve a successful output.

MODULE EIGHT  

Bringing it all Together

In this final module, we’ll go over what tools you need to start designing and the options available to you to create captivating and professional designs. Then, you’ll create your own simple design using many of the concepts you’ve learned during this course.

Learn all of this in a week or less!

Don't wait to start learning graphic design. You'll get:

✅ An interactive course workbook

✅ 8 Modules (5 hours of instruction)

✅ Lifetime access

✅ Demo Project + Resources

✅ Private Discord community to share work and ask questions

Just $97 for this comprehensive course

YES—I'M READY

✅ Who this course is for:

  • Beginners who want a solid, comprehensive foundation
  • Learners who like practical, simple breakdowns + real-world application
  • Those who want to learn a lot in a short amount of time

🚫 What this course isn't:

  • A software course
  • A get-rich-quick plan
  • An advanced design course

Meet your instructor

Shannel Wheeler is a graphic designer, brand strategist, two-time author, creative content creator, certified project management professional, and the founder of Awesome Design Academy and SW Graphic Design. Her passion and purpose in design stem from her love for art as a child and have grown from a myriad of experiences in corporate America, startups, and her own business ventures. She has nearly 20 years of professional experience transforming ideas into visual solutions for Fortune 500 clients, corporate brands, nonprofits, small businesses, and tech startups. Because Shannel understands the power of brand and design within business and culture, she teaches others to utilize design to enhance their work. Through fun, practical tools and techniques, she believes that design can be learned and applied tactically or transformatively to enhance personal, professional, or business goals.

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