Graphic Design 101 Review

I want to share with you an online graphic design course from Timberdoodle for middle school and high school students, Graphic Design 101.  This course is published by Film School 4 Teens and is geared for students ages 12 and up or 6th-12th grade.  This course has 12 Modules and will earn you a semester credit or 1/2 credit on your transcript.  While the bulk of the course is online there is also a consumable workbook.  You will have access to the pdf of the entire workbook with your online course so you can easily print from there.  We printed all the necessary pages and put them in a class binder.

Above you can see inside our binder and The Table of Contents.

It is recommended to complete one module a week for 12 weeks.  If this pace is too much you could also break each module into 3 parts - lesson, assignment, and workshop and complete one part every week.  If you choose this route it will take you longer to complete.  And likewise, you could speed it up - ultimately you decide.  I love that you can pick your pace and what suits your needs.

 

Above you can see Lesson 1.  There's an 8 minute introduction video which gives you an assignment to complete before watching the 16 minute workshop video, followed by some bonus content and a 5 question quiz.

 

When you watch the video, there is a corresponding fill-in the blank worksheet that you will complete.  I like that the answers are a unique color and underlined on-screen for you.

 

Above you can see the fill-in the blank worksheet for Lesson 1.

 

And there are assignment pages that help you organize everything.  You can see our pages above.

 

A close-up of some of the ads we chose

 

After completing the assignment you will watch the workshop video.  You will watch 3 students go through the course with you and get feedback both from their peers and instructors.  I really enjoyed having this aspect as it really helps you think and process your ideas.

 

 Lastly, you will then complete the quiz for the lesson that usually references your fill-in-the-blank worksheets.  You need to score a 70% or above to move on in the course.  Notice, you have a course completion bar at the top left of your course so you can easily track your progress.

 

It was fun to get into applications in Lesson 2 and really dive into using CANVA.

 

I have really enjoyed talking through this class and completing it with D and E.  It's been a really fun course and I have really enjoyed watching it myself.

 

   We are currently on Lesson 4 and have completed 31% of the course so almost 1/3.

 

We just completed an assignment finding all the elements of design including line, shape, color, value, texture and space and recognizing these in the real world.  One of the ads we found can be seen above.  The chicken coming out of the race car is pretty phenomenal.

This course has been a great introduction to Graphic Design.  It is well-designed, user friendly and fun.  By learning fundamental concepts and gaining skills along the way, it helps you truly enter the realm of visual storytelling and design and not feel overwhelmed.  I'm really looking forward to the final project and who knows, I just might have to create my very own logo!  If you want to dip your toes into the Graphic Design world or are looking for a fun elective credit in Fine Art or Technology, this course is definitely worth looking into.

 

 

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received Graphic Design 101 in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.