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Introduction to Typography

Graphic Design,

Typography is the art of manipulating the visual form of language to enrich and control its meaning. It’s an essential area of skill and knowledge for graphic designers. Typography predates modern graphic design by around 500 years; it is rich in rules, conventions, and esoteric terminology—but it remains an exciting space for invention and expression. In this rigorous introductory course, we will study, name, and measure the characteristics of letterforms. We’ll consider the pragmatic concerns involved in selecting and combining type. We’ll peek into the 
rich historical, cultural, and aesthetic histories of familiar typefaces. We’ll discuss time-tested conventions and best practices in setting type, as governed by principles of hierarchy and spatial organization. And we’ll explore the expressive, meaning-making potential of type. Informative lectures will be complemented by a series of three peer-assessed assignments, culminating 
in an opportunity to design a full-scale typographic poster. Please note that this is not a software course; a basic working knowledge of Adobe InDesign or other 
page layout software will be assumed. You will need access to a computer and page layout software, such as InDesign, to complete the assignments.

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Rating 4.7 based on 556 ratings
Length 5 weeks
Effort 4 weeks of study, 1-3 hours/week
Starts Jul 3 (42 weeks ago)
Cost $79
From California Institute of the Arts via Coursera
Instructor Anther Kiley
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Programming Art & Design Humanities
Tags Computer Science Design And Product Arts And Humanities Music And Art

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What people are saying

graphic design

If you are interested in graphic design, thi is a must!

In the Graphic Design Specialisation this course is my favourite so far.

I am graphic designer by profession, but some things are highlighted only when you make the effort to take such courses which provide a brief in-depth overview.

Reviewed some of what we learned about Typography in the first course (Fundamentals of Graphic Design), but did expand in some areas.

Easy way in understanding type and getting extra insights on typographic design.

A must take course for Graphic Designing learners.

My favorite course in the Graphic Design specialization.

good one of the important course for every graphic designer who wants to do some thing new and play with there art should choose this.very helpful for me.

I will recommend all student who attempted the graphic design course to also take on the introduction to typography, its necessary i n understanding fonts and their use.

Comparing this to the previous course, Fundamentals of Graphic design, I thought we could have learned a lot more in the given time.

Nice course : good explanation and interesting assignement I would like some input from the instructors on all the Graphic Design specialization courses.

For designers, I definitely recommend taking this course as part of a holistic graphic design concentration.

Typography is an important part of graphic design.This course will give a brief introduction to the historical context of typography and the evolution of typography in this modern computerized age.A great course for those interested in graphics design and can be used as a refresher for the working professionals.

Excellent :) Very interesting topic, but even for an introductory course not nearly enough to justify a full 4 week course for € 71!The first course, Fundamentals of Graphic Design, had more content, more (optional) assignments, and covered Typography, too.

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so much

The teacher is so thorough and the assignments make implementing what I learned so much better.

Examples shown were inspiring and I learned so much that I didn't know about typography.

Very interesting course, I liked it so much and enjoyed making the assignments.

Thank you so much for sharing this, it's incredible to be able to learn from home.

I learned so much from taking this class and by far my favorite.

I learned so much about "font".

Thank you so much!

I learned so much from this course.

3.5 starsA quick introduction to Typography that left me feeling there is so much more to learn and know.

Thank you so much for offering it.

I never realized there was so much to letters and words in type!

Got to know so much and now it's time to practice!

I learned so much things and I feel like my typography skills just went up on a whole new level.

:) I learned so much in 4 weeks!

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highly recommend

Do highly recommend it.

Highly recommend as an intro to typography class!

I would highly recommend it.

I highly recommend the lectures, however, the assignments are not very challenging.

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a quick introduction to typography.

I highly recommend this course!

I highly recommend this course.

Fed me with interesting general knowledge on the differences between roman type, egyptian type etc.Would highly recommend if you are interesting in picking up something new.

Highly recommend it to all.

Highly recommend I was excited to learn about typography, these assignments were fun to do.

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learnt a lot

Learnt a lot i would prefer more case study or posters comparison!

I loved the course and learnt a lot.

I feel I learnt a lot An excellent course, I learned a lot.

I learnt a lot.

Very useful and I have learnt a lot of things.

Quite easy, but I've learnt a lot.

great course, i learnt a lot I loved that course!

I enjoyed it and learnt a lot!

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really enjoyed this course

Really enjoyed this course.

I really enjoyed this course.

Overall I really enjoyed this course.

I really enjoyed this course, thank you!

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basics of typography

This course helped me understand the basics of typography as well as propelled to experiment with layouts, the composition and collaborate with peers.

The course content is very well curated - covering all the basics of typography.

This course will help you get the basics of typography and fonts.

Very good overall explanations on the basics of Typography.

This class taught me a lot about the basics of typography, however I didn't feel too encouraged creatively compared to the last class in this series.

K All basics of typography.

It explores the basics of typography while challenging the learners to practice the acquired knowledge.

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easy to understand

Very easy to understand and learn about typography.

Full of information, but, being excellent exposed, it's relatively easy to understand.Excellent course!

They teach typography in a way that's so easy to understand and process.

The assignments built upon one another and proved how working hard really pays off :) This was an easy to understand course, and definitely is essential if people want to go further into graphics design.

Great course, easy to understand, a teacher with a lot of knoledge on the topic... Because letters are not just letters... You can communicate more than just words and ideas, you can communicate a time, place, feelings, etc when the correct typography... this is what this course is about.

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definitely recommend

I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn more about typography and get a little practice in it!

Excellent course for beginners in typography and typographical design, I learned a lot in this course Amazing course, I definitely recommend it.

I will definitely recommend it to my friends.

In the exams and in the peer reviews, it seemed to make a difference that some students had already taken the Graphics Design Specialization.I can definitely recommend this course.

I will be definitely recommending this course to my friends who are also interested in Graphic Design.

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highly recommended

Highly recommended for anyone interested in the topic!

Highly recommended!

Highly recommended.

Nice Excellent course, highly recommended!

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final project

I like how each one built off of each other, so the final project did not feel so overwhelming.

My only real complaint would be the peer review system being the only provider of grades on the final project.

I had some trouble with the final project.

The instructions for the final project -- the project is the biggest part of the grade -- are ambiguous.

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graphic designer

There are so many books available on Typography but I think this is best way typography can be defined for the graphic designer.

As a person belonging to design and architecture fraternity, I would definitely recommend this course to every aspiring graphic designer and artist.

Showing several posters from professional graphic designers is a good way to see what all is out there, but does not help in the creation process.

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more confident

I feel much more confident now as I continue to learn.

I enjoyed it and feel more confident in understanding basic typography and now know where I can find information on type!

I learned a tremendous amount of information and feel much more confident in my skills as a designer and gained a deep appreciation for type and typesetting.

I enjoyed taking this course and it helped me to become more confident Great course that provided my an overview of the history of type/typefaces.

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Careers

An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.

Layout Designer 2 $56k

Layout Tech $61k

Layout programmer $69k

Layout Design $70k

Engineer Layout $81k

Layout/Detailer $82k

Camera Layout $84k

Layout Inspector 2 $88k

PCB Layout $90k

Layout Carpenter $99k

Layout Inspector 4 $101k

IC layout $115k

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Rating 4.7 based on 556 ratings
Length 5 weeks
Effort 4 weeks of study, 1-3 hours/week
Starts Jul 3 (42 weeks ago)
Cost $79
From California Institute of the Arts via Coursera
Instructor Anther Kiley
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Programming Art & Design Humanities
Tags Computer Science Design And Product Arts And Humanities Music And Art

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