Skip to content
Write a review
UdemyGraphic DesignPaid courseBeginner levelCertificate

Design Theory Blitz: Quickly Understand GREAT Design (Udemy.com)

Learn what makes some designs look better than others, and how to implement those design fundamentals in your own work.

4.2
1,711 reviews

Created by: Derrick Mitchell

Last updated May 2019

Our take

Based on the ratings of 1,711 students and a sample of their written reviews. No course pays to be reviewed.

This is a short overview course, not a design degree in miniature. Derrick Mitchell walks through the basics of alignment, contrast, and color for print and web work in under an hour, aiming to give beginners enough of a foundation to start designing with some confidence. It does not teach any specific software, so the principles apply no matter what tool a student ends up using.

Reviewers with no design background say they came away with real, usable rules of thumb, and a few mention the resource list and font tips as the most useful part. The instructor's voice and pace get specific praise for keeping things engaging. The complaints cluster around depth: several reviewers wanted more actual theory and felt the course leaned too tactical, one wanted more advanced concepts, and one felt it leaned toward Photoshop specifics rather than pure theory. A couple of low ratings say it felt too basic, even as a refresher.

At 54 minutes, this is one of the shortest courses in its category, so treat it as a primer rather than a destination. It has not been updated since 2019, which is worth knowing for anyone hoping for current software screenshots or trends. For a fast, plain-English orientation to why some designs work and others do not, it does the job. Anyone wanting a fuller theory course should look elsewhere.

Best forBeginners who want quick, practical design rules before touching any software
Skip it ifYou want a deep, theory-heavy grounding in design history and principles

Pros

  • Covers alignment, contrast, and color in well under an hour
  • Reviewers praise the instructor's clear voice and steady pace
  • No software required, so the rules apply no matter what tool you use
  • Comes with a private Facebook group of over 5600 students for feedback

Cons

  • Several reviewers wanted more actual theory, not just practical tips
  • Hasn't been updated since 2019
  • A few reviewers found it too basic, even as a refresher
I really appreciate the "quick" & "blitz" elements of this course. But I have to admit I thought we would dive into more of the theory than the practical.
Niccole Christian, a student

Best for true beginners; intermediate students may find the theory too thin for their level

icon
What you will learn

  • A solid understanding of the foundations and principles of graphic design.
  • How to find and use the abundant amount of resources and freebies out there to help guide your design journey.
  • The confidence to create compelling designs with any software. *NOTE: no software will be taught in this course; you will understand HOW to structure your designs no matter what software you use.

How it compares

Against the other 413 rated Udemy courses in Graphic Design on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.2 out of 5higher than 13% of them
  • Reviews1,711#27 of 414 by number of reviews
  • Length0.9 hoursshorter than 93% of them
  • Last updatedMay 2019earlier than 89% of them

icon
Course Description

This course serves as a bird's-eye-view of Design Theory, including industry standards for alignment, contrast, and color in print and web design. Universities and colleges spend entire semesters teaching this single topic, and the goal of this course is NOT to condense every design theory out there into a quick course - that would be impossible. The goal of this course IS, however, to provide students with a solid baseline so that they can begin designing with confidence, and so that they have the tools and resources necessary to continue learning the theories and principles of graphic design on into the future. 

At its core, graphic design is an art form, and art is always evolving. Design rules are often made to be broken, but a broad understanding of what actually makes a design pleasing to the eye is key to developing relevant, eye-catching, and on-trend design pieces. 

As an added bonus, we have a private Facebook group with over 5600 students and counting, which is an awesome resource for you to take advantage of while you go through the course. The group is an excellent place to post projects, get insightful critiques, and network with other like-minded students and working professionals all over the world.


What Students Are Saying About This Course:

  • It was very very good. The resources were awesome. - Nikhil G.

  • I had just used Papyrus within minutes of starting the course. :) I went back and changed it to a free Google font, and it actually suits what I was doing so much better. Instant payoff. - Justin Gramm

  • I started this course with little experience and thankfully I have learnt a lot throughout this course. - Jimmy Clark


*NOTE: This is an ever-expanding course, and new videos will be added based on student feedback, since my goal is for everything in this course to be 100% pertinent to what my students really want to learn about. So feel free to weigh in on what you want to see added!

I look forward to guiding you through this course, and to giving you the tools necessary to continue learning design principles as your skills grow.

Cheers!
Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 54 mins

icon
Udemy Discount

The discount is applied through our link. Open the course from here and Udemy's current promotional price is applied at checkout on most courses, no code to type.

Get the Udemy discount

Some courses are excluded from Udemy's promotions. If the price does not drop, clear your browser cookies and use the button again.

icon
Instructor Details

Derrick Mitchell

Derrick is a lifelong learner with a passion for making bland things beautiful.

He has spent his entire career in the creative arts and marketing sector. He had the opportunity to work with brands such as MTV, Nintendo, and Netflix while employed as an intern for Seven 2 Interactive, which definitely set the trajectory for his design career. in 2008, he and his wife opened a small graphic design and marketing agency in Montana - they spent the next decade creating websites, logos, and more for clients all over the world.

Derrick has been the creative director for major international brands and recently made a career pivot to include online teaching. He loves helping students realize their full potential while turning their interests and passions into strong skillsets and careers. From hand-illustrating logos to creating websites for global brands, Derrick knows what it takes to succeed as a graphic designer, a freelancer, and a business owner.

He is passionate about helping others find success doing what they love and he currently teaches over 130,000 students online on several different platforms. From Photoshop to Illustrator to InDesign - if it revolves around graphic design, Derrick is excited about teaching it to others.

Read More

icon
More courses by Derrick Mitchell

$174.99

$19.99

$89.99

$54.99

$19.99

All courses by Derrick Mitchell

icon
More Graphic Design courses

$84.99

$10.99

$19.99

Free

$15.99

$109.99

All Graphic Design courses

icon
Reviews

4.2

1,711 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

Write a review

By Anonymized User on 9/2/2021

My background is not a designer. I took this course for the curiosity about principles in design. The course meets that requirement. With short and brief introduction, I get one or two things important about design. The resources are good references as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

By Hari Nur Permadi on 6/18/2021

I think the content could be better by adding more example on great and bad design. Some resource link need update because they refer to error page.

By Scott Hawkins on 11/21/2020

Good fit for high level overview of color schemes and how to select and apply them to documents.

By AUDREY j WARSHAWSKY on 10/24/2020

yes

By Jessica Colmenares on 9/24/2020

Great tools and concepts to make material cosmetically appealing

By Shubham Mourya on 9/24/2020

Easy Tricks to learn color swatch and grab color easily from any img

By Ievgeniia Kriazh on 9/16/2020

The course serves its purpose. I had no idea about design theory, and this course gives a good overview and a starting point.

By Jahangeer Rahim on 9/10/2020

Really good for me as I often do full stack work but am definitely weaker on the design and layout portions of it so I can strengthen that part out

By Tsuyoshi Matsumura on 9/6/2020

It was really good to know how the color affect to design.
Also the video were showing the way to edit the graphics so that was so helpful for beginner like me.

By Patricia Boone on 8/23/2020

Tons of information in a short time! Great course.

By Amit on 8/9/2020

it's good for design ideation

By MERUGU RAM SAI NATH REDDY on 8/7/2020

This is a good and short course to learn an overview of the topic. It is helpful.

Showing 12 of 229 reviews

icon
Quality Score

No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.

Content Quality
/
Video Quality
/
Qualified Instructor
/
Course Pace
/
Course Depth & Coverage
/

Overall Score : 84 / 100

Design Theory Blitz: Quickly Understand GREAT Design
Visit course on Udemy Write a review
  • Video Duration: icon 54 mins
  • Price: See price on Udemy
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon May 2019
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon Yes
30-day money-back guarantee on most paid courses

Udemy Coupon Price Tracker

Udemy price history

For any issues or feature requests please email CourseDuck's Co-Founder at mkuhlman12@gmail.com