Graphic Design for Beginners
Make things that look professional — using free tools and four rules that do 80% of the work.
No account needed to read the free module.
What this course is
You do not need artistic talent to make clean, professional designs — you need about six rules that designers use on autopilot and beginners have simply never been told. This course teaches those rules with before/after examples, then puts them to work in Canva and Figma (both free) making real things: social posts, posters, slides and a simple logo. By the end, people will start asking who made your graphics.
By the end you will be able to
- Spot exactly why an amateur design looks amateur — and fix it
- Use alignment, contrast, spacing and hierarchy like a professional
- Pick fonts and colours that work together, every time
- Build social posts, posters and slides in Canva and Figma
- Assemble a small portfolio of real finished pieces
What’s inside
4 modules · 20 lessons
Design Foundations
The rules that make things look "professional" — none of which require drawing a single line.
5 lessons · 36 min
- Design is not decorationDesign is arranging things so a message lands. Once you see it as communication, everything else follows.6 min
- The invisible grid: alignment, spacing, hierarchyThree arrangement rules turn a messy page into a professional one — before you touch fonts or colour.8 min
- Fonts: the two-font rule and friendsTypography is 90% of most designs. A handful of rules keeps yours out of trouble forever.7 min
- Colour without the wheel of doomForget complex colour theory. One formula (60-30-10), one contrast rule, and one shortcut cover almost everything.7 min
- Your free toolkit: Canva and FigmaThe two free tools that cover beginner-to-professional — and your first real design, built today.8 min
Type & Colour in Practice
Going from knowing the rules to wielding them — pairings, palettes and polish.
5 lessons · 35 min
- Font pairing workshopTen pairings that always work, and the logic behind why they do.8 min
- Building a palette from scratchFrom one brand colour to a full working palette with tints and shades.7 min
- Working with photosCropping, overlays, text-on-image without the unreadable mess.7 min
- Icons and illustration resourcesFree libraries, consistent styles, and when an icon beats a photo.6 min
- Designing for everyoneContrast standards, colour-blind safety, and readable-by-your-grandmother rules.7 min
Real Projects: Social, Posters & Figma
Building an actual body of work — and graduating to the professional tool.
5 lessons · 42 min
- Project: a matching social media setPost, story and banner that clearly belong to the same brand.9 min
- Project: an event poster that works at a glanceThe 3-second test, information hierarchy, and print vs screen sizes.8 min
- Figma: your first hourFrames, shapes, text and auto-layout — the blank canvas made friendly.9 min
- Project: a simple text-based logoWordmarks: how far one good font and one idea can go.8 min
- Project: slides people actually readApplying every rule to the most common design task in office life.8 min
Portfolio & First Paid Work
Turning your pile of finished pieces into opportunities.
5 lessons · 35 min
- The five-piece portfolioQuality over quantity: five strong pieces, well presented, beat forty screenshots.7 min
- Presenting work like a professionalMockups, context and the one-line story each piece needs.7 min
- Getting and surviving feedbackWhere to get honest critique and how to use it without crumbling.7 min
- Your first paid design workLocal businesses, small gigs, pricing your early work honestly.8 min
- The path from hereSpecialisations, communities and the daily habits that compound.6 min
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