Online learning from an accredited institution

Graphic Design Beginner Course

Are you looking to make yourself more marketable and build sought-after skills while expressing your creativity? This course from Red & Yellow will set you apart with both theoretical knowledge and hands-on application using Adobe software. With it, you’ll find yourself with a marketable and practical skill-set that’s in demand across industries.

Included in the Course: a FREE Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud Licence so that you can easily master the software.

Free Adobe Illustrator licence worth R721 included, accessible throughout your course

Free Adobe Creative Cloud licence worth R721 included, accessible throughout your course

“I was looking to enhance my creativity because I’m an artist by profession and I wanted to do more than just Desktop publishing. Throughout the course, I got more than I expected, and now I’m very confident in the work that I produce.”

Khuty Ngqayimambana

Desktop Publisher at Black Khaki

Are you looking to make yourself more marketable and build sought-after skills while expressing your creativity? This course from Red & Yellow will set you apart with both theoretical knowledge and hands-on application using Adobe software.

With it, you’ll find yourself with a marketable and practical skill set that’s in demand across industries.

You’ll master the basics of graphic design by learning about the elements and principles of design, colour theory, and typography. You’ll put this into practice using Adobe Illustrator by designing a logo and corporate identity, creating layouts (poster and ad), and use your digital design skills to create social media images.

You’ll also gain a contextual understanding of the history of graphic design, the stylistic movements, and the famous designers who made an impact.

INCLUDE IN THE COURSE: a FREE Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud Licence so that you can easily master the software.

Red & Yellow design courses are made to future-proof your career

Our 16-week course delves into all the fundamentals you’ll need to be a graphic designer. Learn about all aspects of design; historical, theoretical, and practical. You’ll master the basics with a foundational understanding of the elements and principles of design.

You’ll also be well on your way to having your own creative portfolio.

What you’ll learn

Master the basics of graphic design principles and applications
Learn about the elements and principles of design, colour theory, typography, and how to pick the perfect font
Be able to put this knowledge into practice using Adobe Illustrator by designing a logo, corporate identity, poster design, and other layouts
Be able to apply what you’ve learned to digital design for social media
Gain a contextual understanding of the history of graphic design, stylistic movements, and the famous designers that made an impact

Who should take this course?

Traditional print-based graphic designers who want to up their digital game
Marketing, writers, or DTP operators – tired of seeing bad design or wanting to improve their briefing/art direction skills
Small business owners and start-ups who have a conceptual or creative mindset and know they could do it themselves if they had the technical skills and knowledge
Influencers, bloggers, and social media content producers who want to create astounding graphics

Pre-course Requirements:

Our course is different in that it provides a robust introduction to both essential elements and principles of design, based on our extensive experience of (and reputation for) producing incredible designers from our fulltime programs
So, know that you’ll be learning from the best
But also, that this course isn’t for everyone

Here’s a quick checklist of who is best suited, and what is needed to get the maximum benefit.

Who?

While this is an introductory course, it’s also designed to test whether you have the attributes needed for this discipline
Like drive, determination, and self-motivation

You’ll need:

A passion for creativity, a love of design, and an eye for detail
The commitment to self-study and factor in weekly deadlines
A basic understanding of computers and the ability to learn new software

Pivot Your Career

Studying this course will equip you with the skills to make a career move into graphic & digital design

Learn From The Best

Our lecturers nurture our students, resulting in them winning awards for their creative work.

Get Creative Again

This course is ideal for people who want to imbue their careers with more of their own unique creative viewpoint.

Gainful Employment

Be recognised with an industry centric Red & Yellow certificate, giving you a blend of theoretical knowledge and hands-on skills.

Red & Yellow courses are made to future-proof your career

Our courses are designed to accelerate opportunities and give a boost to your CV. Top businesses across industries recognize Red & Yellow graduates as having the practical skills and the theoretical background to hit the ground running with confidence and creative flair.

Included in your course:

A FREE Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud Licence and an e-book so that you can easily master the software
An industry-sought-after Certificate of Completion from Red & Yellow
Original, relevant, and constantly updated content
An interactive online learning experience that includes videos, live chat sessions, forum discussions, and more
A team of course coordinators to assist you and Instructional Designers and subject matter experts to guide and teach

Benefits:

Our courses are both current and relevant to the South African context.

Applicable, practical assignments:

So that you can apply what you’re learning to your everyday work life, and your specific business challenges

Discussion Forums and Chat sessions:

Helping you develop your professional network
Hosted by your coach, lecturer, or subject specialist

Ideal opportunities to discuss the content and get answers to all your questions

Personalized feedback:

Tailored to your individual strengths, and opportunities for personal improvement

A dedicated team:

Acting as your “virtual” support crew whose only focus is to help get you over the finish line

Course Curriculum:

The first week is dedicated to orientation. Students familiarise themselves with the online learning platform (virtual classroom) and meet the humans there to support them.

Install Adobe Illustrator and start working through the Ebook and Tutorials.

INTRODUCTION TO ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

Work through a short introductory module to familiarise yourself with the Adobe interface and foundational tools. – Work though some of your first tutorials.

HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN

The history through the ages, the global influences and development of graphic design, and how it applies today
A basic knowledge of graphic design styles and designers who impacted the field

DESIGN PROCESS & IDEATION

Understand the steps in the design process (how to unpack the brief)
Learn ideation techniques and the tools to generate the best creative ideas
Implement the design process steps in a process file

COLOUR THEORY

Understand colour terms, schemes and how to mix them
Be able to combine colours into a visually pleasing colour scheme
Use colour to create a sense of space (background and foreground)
Know the difference between colour for print and web

THE PRINCIPLES AND ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

Describe, identify and create examples of key design elements.
Understand the elements of design (line, colour, shape, texture)
Learn the importance of the principles of design (movement, balance, symmetry, asymmetry, unity, emphasis, proportion, white Space, repetition)
Use the knowledge of the elements and principles to create visual hierarchy

TYPE AND LAYOUT

Recognize different typographic fonts styles and their appropriateness in the built
environment
Effectively combine type and visual in a layout
Demonstrate a good basic knowledge of type terminology
Combine the basic skills of kerning, leading in a typesetting exercise
Scamp up rough layouts with type variations by hand and digitally
Develop the rationale for design solutions

LOGO DESIGN AND CORPORATE IDENTITY

Understand all the elements that go into designing a logo
Conceptualize an identity for a new brand
Know how to create icons and combine type and image to create an effective logo
Design stationery for a brand in line with the identity

DESIGN FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

Know how to design for social media (image sizes and
Understand trends and best practices when designing for social
Learn how to follow brand guidelines when creating social media collateral clients
Develop your own personal branding on social media
Create templates for images applicable to all social media channels

Meet your team:

This course was created by, and benefits from, our full-time lecturers’ years of experience in the field – both in lecturing and in industry. They know how to nurture talent and bring out the best in students, resulting in many award-wins over the years.

Carmen Schaefer
Head of Academics

20 years in education
Academic Team leader at Red & Yellow
Authors the annual employability report

Chantelle Arpesella
Graphic Design Tutor

Experienced lecturer in graphic design
Students win awards under her guidance
Strong time management and work ethic

Register Now

About Red & Yellow

Creative thinking is the most important skill. Artificial Intelligence and robots are going to replace some of the jobs we know today.

Red & Yellow is the business school where talented people go to develop the career skills they need to thrive in this digital world.

R&Y unlocks creative thinking to build brilliant careers and organisations using Commercial Logic and Creative Magic.

We are vision-led and values-driven and we are developing the next generation of changemakers, creators and innovators.

We believe creative thinking is the most important skill of the future and it must be supported by uniquely human abilities such as leadership, adaptability and social intelligence.

We are a Creative School of Business that provides you with the commercial logic to grow successful organisations and more importantly the creative magic to set them apart.

We are teaching the great creators, inventors, leaders and entrepreneurs for the 21st Century.

We will be the most creative business school in the world.

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