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Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Language of Design: Form and Meaning by California Institute of the Arts

4.6
stars
768 ratings

About the Course

In this course, critique is defined as a detailed, objective analysis of a work of graphic design and its effectiveness. Critique is an integral part of the making process for designers: it’s not just how we determine if a work of design is or is not successful, it’s how we move our work forward. Critique is also where other voices and opinions can be brought into the design process. This course will introduce a lexicon (or vocabulary) in order for you to demonstrate clearer and more considered ways of talking about graphic design in the context of critique. Through this lexicon and a provided Critique Framework, we will model and then practice objectively describing how well a work of design functions based on specific, clearly articulated criteria. By refining this skill, you will enhance your ability to communicate about design with peers, colleagues, and clients. This course is essential to anyone looking to develop and refine a critical vocabulary around talking about art and design, such as: - practicing graphic designers at all levels - future and current students of art or design programs - teachers teaching visual art, design, or related subjects - any stakeholder in a design project that needs to communicate effectively with designers on their team. This course is recommended to learners enrolled in either the Graphic Design Specialization or UI/UX Design Specialization on Coursera to further develop their skills in graphic design. You may take this course before, during, or after completing either Specialization. Note this is not an art appreciation course for a general audience. While no prior experience is required to begin, the knowledge and skills taught in this course is useful only if you have some relationship to design in a professional context, i.e., practicing, studying, or teaching design, or working directly with designers. No specific software or tools are required to complete this course....

Top reviews

DO

May 19, 2022

It was well structured and every video, quiz and peer review helped the concepts and teachings really sink in. With that being said, I'm definitely going to take the course again and again and again

JB

May 6, 2020

A very thorough journey toward the very core of visual communication. It gives you the vocabulary and criteria to embark on an effective and objective design critique.

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26 - 50 of 220 Reviews for The Language of Design: Form and Meaning

By Billy K P

May 26, 2023

This course taught me the basics of design languages and their lexicons with many examples. I find this course is actually intriguing because the learners can see how designers can make such creative and dynamic poster examples throughout the course. To me, the last assignment is what I find 'applicable' for creating content (especially social media content) and branding if you are an in-house graphic designer.

By Bojan B

May 18, 2020

Whole course is really amazing ! I never had opportunity to learn art on that way and there is not similar course anywhere. It is unique, maybe a little short because it makes us more hungry to learn from mentors. This course is pure gold and I hope that will be more. By the way I will enroll to more CalArts content because CalArts is amazing. Thank you guys. I feel more advanced now as graphic designer.

By Alex M

Jun 6, 2020

A wonderful and very approachable course both for beginners and for people who are well versed in the worlds of design and art. I am myself a visual communication graduate, but the course helped me wrap my head around topics I was either to shy to ask or topics I vaguely understood but very much needed to be explained about in a simplistic and well-structured manner.

By Epameinondas K

Nov 21, 2020

Very well organized lesson. It helps us understand the fundamentals of not only of graphic design, but any kind of visual art, also. It helps us recognize the characteristics of a visual composition and to entone the characteristics of our visual compositions to correspond in a good way to our audience. Well done to the teachers!

By Taru B N

May 8, 2020

Thank you, Yasmin and Randy, for your time and expertise in giving us the knowledge for LExicon and how to use the Critique Framework. It has been very knowledgeable and interesting to see how a simple design has secrets hidden. We got the learning of how to use the right framework to understand the image. Thank you once again.

By david s

Nov 24, 2023

This is an exceptional course on many levels : The critical thinking/language focus for criteria based critique is clear, direct, powerful, and effective. Much respect to these instructors, whom I would be very interested in taking more courses. The resources are very helpful to expand the investigation into this study.

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 Natasha H

Jun 2, 2020

Excellent content. I was challenged more than I expected and felt like the instructors put a lot of thought into the course. My only criticism would be the final assignment being graded by other students in the course was not ideal; still I understand it's usefulness in a course with so many students.

By Raquel R G

May 10, 2020

The provided material is really good. The videos are very useful: specific, short and well explained. Many references and examples of pieces of work are given, which makes it much easier to follow the course. The bibliography is diverse and interesting. I have enjoyed it and learn a lot from it.

By Rizki D F

Dec 15, 2022

An impressive first look into Cal-Arts design ideas and philosophy. Might help you understand their mentality and students better. Works well as an introduction to design works for beginners as it approach the field from a neutral view but then steer it into their understanding and explanation.

By Ojasvee J

Apr 10, 2020

This course helped me to learn the nitty-gritty of visual communication and graphic design. Every week I have learned something new which would surely help me to improve my work. I would definitely recommend this course to everyone who is interested in learning visual communication in-depth.

By Agatha T L

Jan 27, 2023

This course really helped me to try and review things not just by simple words like "good" or "okay" but instead pushed me to look at every aspect and to the smallest element. If you are searching for a course that can help you to think more critically, I highly recommend this course.

By Вікторія М

May 8, 2022

Excellent course! It helps to structure knowledge on composition, especially on its analysis, which is very important for understanding the composition as a whole. The acquired knowledge can be used in different types of composition, not only in graphics. Thanks for the course!

By Massimo D F

Aug 4, 2020

I found the course very useful to understand how to read through a piece of graphic design and the basics of language design. Materials and lessons are really valuable content that explains meanings in a strong and clear manner. I'm very happy with the concepts I have learned.

By Farah S

Jul 2, 2020

I've learned something new and valuable. This course definitely worth it. It taught me how critique for a work of design is a huge deal and how a person confronted with a design should be aware of what to look at before address the critique. Superb effort! Thank you very much!

By Onnah V

Sep 25, 2022

First, a huge thank you to Ms. Yasmin Khan Gibson and Mr. Randy Nakamura for the very enjoyable course. Undertaking this Calarts design course has exceeded my expectations. I now have the inspiration to continue my path as a creative in visual arts and filmmaking. Thank you!

By THELMA C S O

Aug 2, 2020

This class was great in introducing vocabulary and concepts of visual arts and design that allows for a formal structure of how to make a critique about them. It helps to also identify meaning, function, purpose, composition, and visual language in an efficient way!

By Tejas W S

Apr 7, 2020

I like this course because as a graphic designer, I learned a few important subjects and it's will very use full, well designed and explained by our tutors, I will suggest this other also for learning sole of graphic design,

note: thank you for CALARTS & Coursera

By Abdullah A R S

Nov 5, 2020

An excellent course that describes about the importance of design critique and how it helps us as a designer to apply in our work. Learning about the language of design helps me to use more meaningful words and understand better my clients. Recommended!

By Karan K

Jun 2, 2020

I develop my skills a lot through this course by learning about how to read any poster, a design related article, and a lot about graphic design. so i want to say a huge thanks to both tutor's prof. Yasmin Khan and prof. Randy Nakamura.

By Chito I A B I

Jul 25, 2022

This course really helped me to understand the language of design. Also I have learned so much about the concept of "critique" in which this is a detailed analysis of reviewing someone's design.

Thank you so much for this. Great work!

By Rita F M

Sep 25, 2020

The course is based on a friendly language and its content consists of videos and quizzes that ensure understanding of the subject during classes. The tests and tasks are very creative!

The course function was strong / clear ;)

By Nicholas C

May 25, 2020

As someone who does graphics design as a side job, I really found this course useful. I can better understand and form proper criticism about other works, and explain my own works better to clients with my new jargon.

By Nica P

Dec 18, 2023

The course gave me knowledge how to critique a graphic design or advertisement in an objective manner. The teachers provide examples that are refreshing, creative, and fun which makes the videos a delight to follow.

By Abdul R

Nov 8, 2022

The teachers made the content easy to understand. Excellent study material. It was very useful. Application based weekly assignments were useful, helped developing my critique thinking and observation power.