Learn design applications including InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Then develop a comprehensive understanding of graphic design concepts and processes, allowing you to create great-looking modern designs, and expand your portfolio.

Master the Adobe Applications: Edit & retouch photos in Photoshop, create vector graphics in Illustrator, and layout documents in InDesign
Learn Design Fundamentals: Learn about composition, typography, color, design theory, and more
Create a Portfolio: Create projects including social media graphics, logos, and cover art to showcase clients or employers

This 72-hour certificate program is open to beginners and approved by the New York State Department of Education.

Learn the Skills Guarantee™

Hands-on training in small groups

Work on projects proven to boost retention
Time-tested curriculum and supporting materials

Refined over many cohorts for an optimal learning experience
Learn from industry experts with teaching experience

Experienced educators who are driven to help you succeed
Retake the course for free within one year

Refresh the materials and gain additional practice

Learn the concepts and skills covered in this program or your tuition is on us. See details and terms & conditions.

The teaching method at Noble Desktop is perfect and the classes provide you with infinite knowledge that makes you eager to take everything they offer. I love Noble!
—Ivonne Ackerman

1-on-1 Mentoring Sessions Included

We want you to succeed in your career goals. In addition to 72 hours of hands-on, interactive training, you'll also receive four 1-on-1 mentoring session where you can:

Review your portfolio work with an expert
Drill down on challenging concepts
Polish your resume and LinkedIn profile
Receive professional advice for applying to jobs
Ensure you’re on track with your learning goals

Learn more about our mentoring and see terms and conditions

What You’ll Learn

Adobe Photoshop to retouch photos & create graphics
Adobe InDesign to create page layouts with text & images
Adobe Illustrator to create vector graphics such as logos, icons, & more
Understand graphic design concepts & processes
Learn about the elements of design
Develop & expand your graphic design portfolio
Learn how to speak about your work and how to incorporate and evaluate critiques
Broaden your understanding of graphic design concepts and processes, both formal and conceptual
Enhance your skills as a graphic designer

Learn with Hands-on Projects

Learn practical skills by working on real projects with instructor guidance and lectures to strengthen and improve your skill.

Courses in the Certificate Program

This is the recommended order, but some courses may be taken in a different order. See the FAQ for more details.

Unit 1
18 Hours

Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
- Create layouts with text, color, & graphics.
- Create multi-page documents.
- Prepare your files for final output: printing or PDF
Unit 2
18 Hours

Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
- Learn to retouch photos, create graphics, and more.
- Improve your images by adjusting color, contrast, and more.
- Learn how to prepare images for use on the web or in print.
Unit 3
18 Hours

Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
- Create different types of graphics: logos, icons, patterns, packaging, typography, and much more.
- Learn the Pen tool with our drawing templates. They will help you through the process of creating digital drawings.
- Create vector graphics for web and print.
Unit 4
18 Hours

Graphic Design Bootcamp
- Broaden your understanding of graphic design concepts and processes, both formal and conceptual.
- Understand the elements of design and enhance your skill as a designer.
- Develop and expand your portfolio.

High-level Overview Download Syllabus PDF

Schedule & Enrollment: Graphic Design Certificate

$3900 $2995
72 Hours
NYC or Live Online
Free retake
Setup assistance
Payment plans
1:1 Mentoring included

Discounts
Discounts
- Certificate Discount: This program is a discounted package of classes that is 15–25% off the individual class prices. Other discounts do not apply.
Discounts are applied at checkout (no promo code required) and will be verified after you place your order. Discounts are subject to change. Read our discount policies for more details.
• Financing
• Policies

Filter

Course times are listed in Eastern Time.

Jul 12–Aug 20 Weekdays

Collapse Schedule

Jul 12–14	Mon–Wed	10am–5pm	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
Jul 19–21	Mon–Wed	10am–5pm	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
Jul 26–28	Mon–Wed	10am–5pm	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
Jul 30–Aug 20	Friday	10am–3:30pm	Graphic Design Bootcamp

Aug 16–Dec 15 Weeknights

Expand Schedule

Aug 16–Sep 1	Mon & Wed	6–9pm	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
Sep 20–Oct 6	Mon & Wed	6–9pm	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
Oct 11–27	Mon & Wed	6–9pm	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
Nov 3–Dec 15 Except: Nov 24	Wednesday	6–9pm	Graphic Design Bootcamp

Sep 13–Oct 22 Weekdays

Expand Schedule

Sep 13–15	Mon–Wed	10am–5pm	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
Sep 20–22	Mon–Wed	10am–5pm	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
Sep 27–29	Mon–Wed	10am–5pm	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
Oct 1–22	Friday	10am–3:30pm	Graphic Design Bootcamp

Sep 26–Dec 19 Sundays

Expand Schedule

Sep 26–Oct 10	Sunday	10am–5pm	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
Oct 17–31	Sunday	10am–5pm	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
Nov 7–21	Sunday	10am–5pm	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
Dec 5–19	Sunday	10am–5pm	Graphic Design Bootcamp

Show more sections

These dates don’t work for you?

Tuition Financing Options

If you prefer to pay your tuition over time, we have payment options to meet your needs. Finance your education through an installment plan or a 0% interest student loan. We also assist with documentation should your employer offer tuition reimbursement.

$2,995 Full Tuition

Pay in Installments

Automatic approval
No interest or fees
Manageable installments
Total due by the end of the course

Deposit

$299.50

10% deposit due at checkout to secure your place in the class

Installments

$898.50 3 installments

Average installment, due before the start of each class in the program

Full Tuition

$2,995

Installment Plan Breakdown for Graphic Design Certificate

Each installment is charged to your card on file one week before the start of the associated course. The payment schedule may vary if the courses are taken in a different order

Installments		List Price
$299.50	10% non-refundable deposit	--
$975.00	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp	$975
$975.00	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp	$975
$745.50	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp	$975
▴ Your 10% deposit has been applied, as well as the certificate discount of $905
Free	Graphic Design Bootcamp	$975
$2,995.00	Total You Pay

See the Installment plan FAQ for more information.

12-Month Financing
- Instant decision after application
- No interest or fees
- Payments spread over 12 months
- Approval required
Deposit

$299.50

10% deposit due at checkout to secure your place in the class

+

Payments
$224.63 / month for 12 months
Starting one month after the program starts

=

Full Tuition

$2,995

Student loan provided through Climb Credit. See the Climb Credit FAQ for more information.
Corporate Invoice

If you’re a company enrolling your employees, choose Corporate Invoice at checkout.

If you’re an employee seeking to have your tuition reimbursed by your company, email us for an invoice to submit to your employer for approval.

Request an invoice Download Syllabus PDF

Choose your payment plan at checkout

Enroll in this course

This Course is Available Live Online

You can attend this training live online at the scheduled time the course is offered (New York, Eastern Time) through screen-sharing software Zoom (free for you).
Our live online training is interactive and hands-on, just like our in-person classes. There are no extra fees and we’ll work with you to ensure your setup is perfect

Classes are activity-based and taught by a live instructor.
You can hear the instruction, ask questions, and share your screen—all in real-time.
Retake the course for free (in-person or live online) within one year.

See What Students Are Saying About Live Online

“Overall experience on Zoom was maybe even better than in IRL classroom because the instruction takes place right on your own screen, with less distraction. Great overall experience.”
“Given the fact that we had to do this entire class remotely due to Covid-19, I didn’t have very high expectations it would run so smoothly. However, I don’t think it could’ve gone any better. Not only do I feel very comfortable with the program now, but I’m actually excited to use it!”
“This was the first online class I’ve taken with ND and it was a great experience. Looking forward to the other classes I’ve signed up for!”

Learn more about how our live online training works

Online Training Demo

1-Minute Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the target audience for this course?
This certificate program is for anyone who wants to learn design apps (such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator), develop graphic design skills (learn about color, composition, etc), and start building their design portfolio. It’s a good fit for:
- Those who want get started as a graphic designer.
- Anyone who needs to create graphics or marketing materials for businesses. Business owners, people in marketing, or anyone in a company that works with the creation of marketing materials can benefit from design skills. Better looking design can lead to more sales. Not having to hire outside design firms can speed up projects and give you more control.
- Beginning designers who want to round out their technical skills (by getting better with the design apps) and improve their graphic design skills to be a better designer.
- Designers who have been away from the design field for a while and want to get back to being hands-on with the design apps, update their skills, and create an updated portfolio of design work.
Does this certificate include job support?

In addition to 72 hours of interactive training, you will receive four 1-on-1 mentoring sessions that can be used for career and job support, including polishing your resume, preparing for interviews, and reviewing best practices for applying to jobs. Note, however, that we don’t provide job placement (i.e. reaching out to companies on your behalf).
Is there mandatory work outside of the classroom?
- Students are required to complete class projects outside of class hours for the Graphic Design Bootcamp.
- Students are not required to complete any work outside of class for the InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator Bootcamps.
- Additionally, students are encouraged to practice the skills learned in class and develop a portfolio of work.
How many students are in a class?

Noble’s typical class ranges from 8–12 students, but we accept up to 20 students.
How does the custom schedule work & what is the recommended class order?
We have scheduled the certificate classes in various tracks (day, night, or weekend) for your convenience, but you can customize your schedule.

When creating a custom schedule, you’ll be able to choose between the various available dates for each class in the certificate program. So if you can’t make a particular class, you can choose a different scheduled instance that works better for you. Please keep the following in mind when scheduling:
- If you do not have any prior experience with Adobe design apps, we recommend starting with either InDesign or Photoshop (not Illustrator).
- You must take InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator before taking the Graphic Design Bootcamp (because you’ll be using those apps in the design bootcamp).
Does it matter if I use a Mac or Windows PC?

Designers typically prefer using a Mac, but the Adobe design apps you’ll learn in this certificate program work the same on both platforms and in our classes you can use whichever you prefer (Mac or Windows).
What happens if I need to miss a session?
You have some options:
- If you can’t come into the classroom, but can still attend remotely (live online using a screen sharing app), please let us know ahead of time so we can get you information to attend online. This is not ideal for the Graphic Design Bootcamp which has more in-person interaction, but works fine for the other classes.
- You can make up that session in a future offering of the class, provided that the class is running with an available seat.
- Except for the Graphic Design Bootcamp, you can go through the workbook exercises for that session. Ask your instructor about what you’ll be missing.
Does this course require any prior knowledge or experience?

Students must be comfortable using a computer. No other prior knowledge is required.
Do you offer any discounts for this course?
Discounts
- Certificate Discount: This program is a discounted package of classes that is 15–25% off the individual class prices. Other discounts do not apply.
Discounts are applied at checkout (no promo code required) and will be verified after you place your order. Discounts are subject to change. Read our discount policies for more details.
Do you offer payment plans or student financing for this course?

Yes, this course is eligible for our installment plan or a 12-month financing plan through Climb Credit (no interest or fees).

Learn more in the Financing section above.
Can I take this course online (remote learning)?
You may attend this training virtually (online) at the scheduled time the course is offered (New York, Eastern Time).

How does attending “live online” work?
- Students can attend this training remotely through screen sharing software (we use Zoom).
- Participants can hear the instruction, ask questions, and even share their screen with the instructor.
- For audio you can use your computer’s microphone/speakers or call a phone number that we’ll provide.
- Classes are activity-based and taught by a live instructor, so we strongly encourage students who are local to the area to attend in person!
- You will need your own computer and copy of any required software. If you don’t have the software, you can usually do a free trial or purchase your own license. If you need assistance, contact us at hello@nobledesktop.com

Why Learn Graphic Design at Noble Desktop?

The Graphic Design Certificate includes classes in the key design applications (Photoshop, InDesign, & Illustrator Bootcamps) and our portfolio development & design theory class (Graphic Design Bootcamp). You’ll learn to design layouts, retouch photos, create vector graphics, and walk away with a portfolio to show to prospective employers.

Throughout the program, learn from top graphic designers and perfect your skills with hands-on projects. This program offers flexible scheduling with weekday, weeknight and weekend options, and a free retake within six months.

Learn Graphic Design Applications

“Noble is great! They cover what you need to know in order to advance your understanding of the programs. I've taken 2 courses there and have walked away confident that I can immediately incorporate the software into my daily workflow!”
Michael Steinhofer, Sr. Graphic Designer
Create Portfolio Projects

By completing the Graphic Design Certificate you’ll also create projects to add to your portfolio. Work on real-life designs such as a logo, your choice of print or digital cover art and poster designs, social media graphics, and more!
Flexible Schedule & Payment Options

We offer flexible scheduling and payment options for the Graphic Design Certificate. Take the classes part-time or full-time; weekdays, weeknights, or weekends. With our payment plan, you can be billed throughout the certificate as you take each class (instead of paying the full price upfront).

Highly Reviewed by Our Alumni

From our hands-on training style to world-class instructors and proprietary curriculum, we deliver a learning experience our alumni can be proud of.

6 Students Rated Our Graphic Design Certificate 5 Stars

Already working in the graphic design industry, this class was a great refresher course and helped me to remember why I chose to pursue graphic design as a career.

Kristine Seubert, Sherman Specialty

I have been inefficiently fooling around with Photoshop, usually feeling intimidated by the program, for years. In just three days, I have learned to edit my photos with confidence. Noble Desktop rocks. Now I am ready to tackle Illustrator...

Michelle Ganon

I was worried coming into the class about being left behind in the instruction as design classes tend to be fast paced. The instructor, Michele, was extremely personable and patient; I especially liked the comfortable atmosphere of the classroom, and the overall flow of the class was very organized and professional. Clean presentation, great work materials.

Charles Mott, The Real Real

Illustrator was my third class at Noble, and they just get better and better. Michele is an excellent instructor; articulate, knowledgeable, and most important patient. Noble’s teaching method makes it easy to learn. I am sorry I waited so long to take the class. Thank you Noble and Michele!

Jill Korostoff, JakDesign, Inc

I knew InDesign was a program I would need help to understand. After this class, I don’t only understand it, I feel quite comfortable with it. I seriously cannot believe I learned so much in such little time!

Susana Piscitiello, The Bowery Mission

This class was very comprehensive for three days—I learned so much about Illustrator! The instructor was perfect: knowledgeable, attentive, and dynamic, delivering rather dry material with a sense of humor and fun. I’d recommend Noble Desktop courses to anyone.

Jennifer Clark, bark Frameworks

Program Interview — Graphic Design Certificate

What is Noble Desktop’s Graphic Design Certificate and how does it prepare you for a career in design? Dan Rodney, the Director of Graphic Design at Noble Desktop, sat down with Anna Marshbanks Kelley to discuss the Graphic Design Certificate.

Anna: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your experience with graphic design?

Dan: I started out getting a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, where I learned traditional print design. Back then, Photoshop would take literally half an hour to zoom in once on an image. If you wanted to work on a decent-sized file, you had to buy a $10,000 computer. The field has changed considerably since I got started, but there are still the same core concepts of typography, color, and composition.

I’ve taught here for over 20 years. Originally, I worked a block away at a design studio. I started teaching design part-time at night with Noble. This turned into a full-time teaching position, and eventually, I became a director. I also designed Noble Desktop’s logo and created our custom e-book publishing system.

Anna: What is the Graphic Design Certificate at Noble Desktop?

Dan: Our Graphic Design Certificate is a design program with training in print and digital design. It includes classes in the major Adobe design apps and more general design theory, all with the goal of helping students build a portfolio of work.

Anna: Who is the target audience for this program?

Dan: We have many different types of people taking our Graphic Design Certificate. Some people are career switchers coming from a completely separate line of work. Others are working in a similar career, like marketing, and want to learn about designing graphics to broaden their current skill sets.

Some people come into our program with more of an eye for design than others, but it’s ultimately a learnable skill. Students can learn the best design practices. I think anyone who really wants to be a designer, who has the willingness to be creative and experiment—that drive will lead you to become a good designer. You have to be curious, try things out, and see what works.

Anna: What are career options available in graphic design?

Dan: It’s common to think graphic design is only about traditional prints. In reality, everyone who does some type of visual design is a type of graphic designer. Visual designers, motion graphics designers, UI designers, and web designers all rely on graphic design apps and concepts. There are visual design components to UX design work, so you’ll find a little overlap with graphic design skills, but UX design is more concerned with how things work as opposed to how they look.

The kinds of work you do for any given design job will depend on the company’s philosophy and organizational structure. However, all design careers involve planning, creativity, and an understanding of aesthetics. What’s important to know if you’re just getting into the field is that there’s always a need for designers.

Anna: What will students learn in this program?

Dan: For the Graphic Design Certificate, you start off by learning the three main design apps that graphic designers use: InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

InDesign is a print-centric program. You can use it to make anything from a business card to a thousand-page book, and it’s excellent for typography and managing multi-page documents. Photoshop is a photo editing application. You can use it to color correct, retouch your images, and apply filters. In addition to being great for photography and photo retouching, it’s a good design tool for making graphics for websites, emails, social media, and other digital environments. Illustrator is for creating vector graphics. It gives you the ability to work with mathematically perfect lines instead of pixels. Logo design and icon design are primarily done in Illustrator, and a lot of fashion designers and web designers use Illustrator’s pattern-making tools.

Once you know those tools, we go on to cover graphic design concepts. The Graphic Design Bootcamp we teach as part of the Graphic Design Certificate is a class where you learn about typography, color, composition, and what makes good graphic design. You learn theory, and you also get practice implementing that theory using the design apps you’ve learned. For example, there’s a logo project, which is actually a lot harder than people expect.

As you complete these projects, you also build a portfolio. The idea is that you can show the portfolio to other people to get either freelance work or a full-time job.

Anna: How does the Graphic Design Certificate prepare students for career opportunities in graphic design?

Dan: Design jobs are typically portfolio-driven. Employers will want to see your body of work before hiring you. The goal of the Graphic Design Certificate is to give you the knowledge to build a portfolio and then use that to start a career. Like our other certificates, it is focused on job-oriented skills.

Your first design job is always the hardest one to get, but once you start the work, it’s often much easier to get the next job. A great part of going into design is that you don’t have to start out working full-time. You can do freelance projects to build experience and pull in extra income. Then you can look for a full-time job or eventually gain enough clients to be a full-time freelancer.

Anna: What are the benefits of learning graphic design at Noble Desktop with this program?

Dan: Our classes are all live and come with individual attention, similar to what you’ll have in an in-person course. For each of the four classes you take as part of the Graphic Design Certificate, you get one free retake within a year. This benefit is extremely unique, and it’s helpful for people who learn best by completing a task multiple times.

Another benefit that is unique to Noble Desktop: we write our own training material and offer customized workbooks to students. For all the classes in the Graphic Design Certificate, you’ll get a custom-made workbook with step-by-step exercises. If you forget how to do something, you can go back to the book, check the steps, and practice.

A newer initiative for this program is individualized mentoring sessions with the instructor. Students receive four one-on-one mentoring sessions where they can receive additional feedback for their portfolio, including for work they’re doing outside of class. If they have questions about concepts they’re not understanding, we can go more in-depth with them. They can also talk about their resume or LinkedIn profile and get advice on applying to jobs.

Anna: How does it compare to similar programs at Noble, like the Visual Design Certificate, the Graphic Design Bootcamp, and the Visual Design Bootcamp?

Dan: The Visual Design Certificate is a digital design program. With the Visual Design Certificate, you’ll learn Photoshop and Illustrator since those are useful for retouching and creating digital graphics of all different types. You don’t learn InDesign since InDesign is a print-focused program, which is more appropriate for a traditional and well-rounded program like the Graphic Design Certificate.

Also, the Graphic Design Certificate doesn’t get into web design. The Visual Design Certificate does touch on designing websites, and it includes classes in Sketch and Adobe XD. We teach both of them so when you go out looking for work, you can know how to use whichever one that a job requires.

The Graphic Design Bootcamp is one class that reviews general design concepts. You’ll learn about designing logos, magazine ads, and other graphics, some of which can be print. You can take this as part of the Graphic Design Certificate, or as a standalone course.

The Visual Design Bootcamp is also a general design class, but it focuses purely on digital design. So there you’ll learn what makes a good website, and you’ll learn about color, typography, and layout from a web design perspective.

Anna: How are the classroom and learning environment?

Dan: You can do the Graphic Design Certificate live online or in-person in New York City. If you’re doing it live online, you can screen share to your instructor’s computer and chat with them through your microphone or phone. We go through planned lessons, but you can ask questions as they come up and interact with the instructor.

Most of the app-specific classes in this program don’t come with homework. You’re in a hands-on environment where you learn, complete exercises, and practice in the class itself. When you’re in the Graphic Design Bootcamp classes, that’s going to require some outside work. We assign projects and you’ll have time to complete those projects outside of class. Then, the teacher will review your projects and give suggestions on how to improve your design and other things to think about. There’s a lot of learning that happens in the critiquing process.

Anna: What’s a piece of advice you would give students beginning the Graphic Design Certificate?

Dan: When people get started, they may be overwhelmed by the number of things they can do. One piece of advice I like to give students is: don’t worry about everything you can do. Pick the kind of design that is most interesting to you and go down that route. Once you learn that area of design, you can always add to it.

Oct 5–21	Tue & Thu	6–9pm	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
Oct 26–Nov 11	Tue & Thu	6–9pm	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
Nov 16–Dec 9 Except: Nov 23, Nov 25	Tue & Thu	6:30–9pm	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
Dec 14–30	Tue & Thu	6–9pm	Graphic Design Bootcamp

Oct 5–21	Tue & Thu	6–9pm	Adobe InDesign Bootcamp
Oct 26–Nov 11	Tue & Thu	6–9pm	Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp
Nov 16–Dec 9 Except: Nov 23, Nov 25	Tue & Thu	6:30–9pm	Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp
Dec 14–30	Tue & Thu	6–9pm	Graphic Design Bootcamp

Learn the Skills Guarantee™

Hands-on training in small groups

Time-tested curriculum and supporting materials

Learn from industry experts with teaching experience

Retake the course for free within one year

1-on-1 Mentoring Sessions Included

What You’ll Learn

Learn with Hands-on Projects

Courses in the Certificate Program

Adobe InDesign Bootcamp

Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp

Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp

Graphic Design Bootcamp

Graphic Design Certificate Overview

Graphic Design Concepts & Practices

Adobe InDesign: The industry standard for Page Layout

Adobe Photoshop: The industry standard for Photo Retouching

Adobe Illustrator: The industry standard for Drawing, Logos, and Graphics

Create a Portfolio

Schedule & Enrollment: Graphic Design Certificate