Gain practical design knowledge to improve the visual quality of your work – from websites to presentations, social media posts, and more.

About this Course

In today’s digital world, effective design is not just an advantage—it’s a necessity. Good design can propel business success, enhancing engagement and conversion, while poor design can detract from your brand and hinder your objectives.

Design 101 demystifies the essential principles of visual/ graphic design, making them accessible to everyone, not just professional designers. Whether you’re creating marketing materials in Canva, building emails in Mailchimp, or sharpening your presentations in Powerpoint, this course equips you with the fundamental concepts and practices needed to elevate your visual work and create impactful designs. Through hands-on projects, expert mentor feedback, and peer group sessions, you’ll learn to effectively use essential design elements and principles to create, evaluate, and communicate your design ideas confidently. This course is perfect for anyone involved in visual design work who wants to improve the impact and effectiveness of their deliverables.

Hybrid Course Format

Complete lessons on your own time each week and then meet live weekly in sessions led by our expert mentors.

Hands-On Projects and Exercises

Students will put their learnings into practice through the completion of weekly projects.

Cohort Discussions and Critiques

Attend live, mentor-led group sessions to discuss lesson concepts and share feedback on project work.

Self-Paced Learning

Async lessons will teach core concepts, with project work allowing students to apply these concepts in a practical way.

Mentor Feedback

Receive personalized written feedback on your project work from your expert mentor.

FOR NON-DESIGNERS WHO CREATE & MANAGE VISUALS

Design 101 is ideal for marketers, content creators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners—really, anyone who uses design in their daily work but doesn’t do design full time. Whether you’re creating social media posts, marketing materials, or brand communications – or collaborating with a designer to do so – Design 101 will help you understand (and apply) design fundamentals to make your visuals more compelling, effective, and polished.

While no prior design knowledge is necessary, this course does not focus on teaching specific design tools. Instead, students are encouraged to use the design tool of their choice to complete project work. The emphasis is on applying universal design principles across various tools, rather than mastering the specifics of any single tool.

Have questions around whether this course is for you? Contact our admissions team.