Explore design principles in typography, layout, and branding across creative projects. Each course blends artistic exploration with professional design practices.
Begin your journey as a professional graphic designer by learning the essential skills and tools used by industry experts. Gain hands-on experience in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, and create a stunning portfolio to showcase your talent to potential employers or clients.
Learn how to retouch and color correct photos, combine images, and create graphics in Photoshop. This course covers the basic and intermediate features of Photoshop such as color/contrast, photo retouching, layers, masks, filters, and saving files for web/video/print.
Learn how to design professional page layouts with text & graphics in Adobe InDesign. This course covers styling, importing, packaging, and advanced techniques like styles, master pages, and tables. Perfect for creating books, magazines, and ads.
Learn how to draw and edit vector graphics using Adobe Illustrator. This course covers the basics and advanced features, including the Pen tool, effects, layers, masks, and more. Perfect for creating logos, icons, and packaging.
Leverage the power of cutting-edge AI tools and features in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and other Adobe apps in this hands-on class.
Learn the fundamentals of graphic design as you get hands-on experience and produce real-world projects. Broaden your understanding of graphic design concepts, understand the elements of design, and expand your portfolio in this comprehensive graphic design course.
Master Photoshop from the ground up and prepare for the Adobe Certified Professional exam with expert-led training, hands-on projects, and personalized tutoring. This comprehensive program is ideal for aspiring designers, photographers, and creative professionals looking to earn industry-recognized certification.
Advance your layout and design expertise while preparing for the Adobe Certified Professional exam in this hands-on InDesign Certification Program. Through expert-led classes, personalized tutoring, and real-world projects, you'll gain the skills and confidence to create polished magazines, brochures, books, and more.
Build professional-level Illustrator skills and earn your Adobe Certified Professional credential through hands-on classes, private tutoring, and real-world projects. This certification program covers everything from vector drawing to logo design, giving you the tools to succeed on the exam.
Develop high-impact motion graphics and visual effects while preparing for the Adobe After Effects Certification exam through hands-on classes and private tutoring. This in-depth program covers beginner to advanced techniques, equipping you with the skills and credentials to stand out in animation and video production.
Master the art of video editing and earn your Adobe Premiere Pro certification through expert-led training and one-on-one tutoring. This comprehensive program prepares you for the certification exam while helping you build professional-level editing skills.
The art of visual communication, graphic design, is a visible part of everyday life in the twenty-first century. It uses elements like photos, images, typography, and layout to create messages, ideas, and experiences for viewers. Graphic Designers create for a wide variety of media, crafting images with or without text for digital screens, books, magazines, product packaging, and other print items. To communicate effectively with a target audience, various creatives use graphic design to leave a lasting impression on viewers, which often drives them toward a call to action. This call to action may involve purchasing something, contacting someone, signing up for a mailing list, or even continuing an hours-long binge of a television series. Whatever the specific goal may be, graphic design tools and principles enable designers to achieve it.
The roots of graphic design stretch as far back as early human cave paintings, which utilized some elements of graphic design that are still used today. The invention of the printing press in the 1400s was a major step toward graphic design as we know it today, as the new concept of mass-produced books demanded layouts, legible typefaces, and reproducible illustrations for the first time in history. Over the centuries, graphic design evolved alongside technology and cultures, with the latter affecting symbolism, color theory, and other graphic design principles utilized to create visual communication for cultures increasingly more dependent upon the concept. Advertising in the newspapers of highly visual Victorians leveled the art of graphic design up still further, creating a demand for creative and eye-catching fonts that would stand out from other text on the page. From the decadent style of Art Deco posters to the minimalist logos of today, every era has its design styles that reflect—and sometimes even shape—the world around us.
Graphic design knowledge is essential for those seeking to launch careers as Graphic Designers, Motion Graphics Designers, or in other creative fields. Meanwhile, many people also learn graphic design and its tools as independent artists, photographers, or simply multipotentialite hobbyists. When creating for an employer, a client, or yourself, graphic design knowledge opens doors for you to craft layouts, photos, illustrations, collages, and composites in your work. Photographers can use color theory knowledge to adjust the tones of their images and knowledge of Photoshop to manipulate and edit their photos in numerous ways.
Typography, balance, and other essential graphic principles can support an individual working in Adobe Illustrator to create a wide variety of projects. Once you have mastered Illustrator and graphic design principles, you can create patterns for fabric, illustrations to be brought to life in After Effects, illustrations for a book, or entire posters, either for aesthetic reasons or to communicate a significant message. Illustrator is regularly used to create logos and other branding materials, as well.
Whether you work for a major book publisher, a print magazine, or a digital publication, you will likely be using Adobe InDesign to create the layout of your publications. Like all of Adobe Creative Cloud’s applications, InDesign comes with a robust menu of tools to support you throughout the process of selecting brand colors and fonts and crafting professional layouts featuring text, illustrations, and photos. You can also use InDesign to lay out your own book, zine, or other writing project for self-publication.
Most graphic design classes cover at least one of the three core Adobe tools of the twenty-first-century graphic design world: Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Some feature one of these tools exclusively, sometimes aiming to prepare the student to pass a certification exam on the application. More extensive graphic design courses such as bootcamps and certificate programs usually feature all three Adobe applications and instruction in graphic design principles, concepts, and best practices. Typography and color theory are just two of these fundamental principles graphic design students will learn, which, together with other concepts of the field, will help them use Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to create professional-quality designs.
Adobe Photoshop is the world’s go-to photo editing software, even lending its name to the verb meaning “to edit heavily.” Its extensive menu for manipulating raster images has made it the industry-standard for photo editing, collage-making, adding text to images, and sometimes even creating images from scratch. Proficiency in Photoshop is essential for anyone desiring to work in graphic design, as it is an industry-standard application in the field. Some graphic design classes focus exclusively on Photoshop or feature it alongside other Creative Cloud applications used regularly by designers. Comprehensive graphic design training programs will generally feature Photoshop along with Illustrator and InDesign.
Adobe Illustrator is another vital Creative Cloud application for aspiring graphic design professionals to master. Like Photoshop, Illustrator training is available as a standalone class, paired with other Adobe applications in a single curriculum, or as a key component of a comprehensive graphic design bootcamp or certificate program. Unlike Photoshop’s raster images, vector images created with Illustrator feature paths and points that make them infinitely scalable. This scalability makes Illustrator a favorite in the graphic design world for creating logos, icons, and other images that need to be as clear in a social media profile picture as they are on a billboard.
Adobe InDesign is the favorite layout software of designers, publishers, and others who need to create professional multi-page designs featuring text, photos, or illustrations. Suitable for creating layouts for both print and web publications, InDesign is the third and final of the core triad of vital Adobe Creative Cloud applications for Graphic Designers. Graphic design classes often focus on these three graphic design applications, or you can take a course with a scope limited to just a single application or even one aspect of it. As Adobe Certified Professional certifications in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are well respected in the graphic design field, some classes feature curricula designed to prepare students for certification exams.
A fundamental skill for any aspiring Graphic Designer, typography is among the concepts you will learn in a graphic design bootcamp or certificate program. Typography is the art of arranging visually engaging and readable text. While typeface selection is a massive component of typography, many other factors go into creating clear, cohesive, and aesthetically pleasing text. Font size, kerning, placement, and the informed use of capital and lowercase letters are just a few typography components that create balance, hierarchy, and brand personality. Mastering typography enables Graphic Designers to confidently combine text with illustrations and photos to optimize the effectiveness of their communication.
Color theory is another essential principle covered in many graphic design classes, especially those geared toward providing a comprehensive education on the topic. Designers, artists, and other creators rely on color theory mastery to inform powerful choices that shape the aesthetics and messages of their work. Color theory is the science and art of colors’ impact on the viewer’s emotions and perceptions and how colors interact when viewed together. Encompassing many aspects of color, color theory encompasses a deep understanding of color wheels, cultural associations, and principles of color harmony, which are vital to creating cohesive and supportive color palettes that align with a design’s message.
The difficulty of learning graphic design depends on many factors such as your aptitude for learning technical and creative skills, past experience with Adobe Creative Cloud, and background in art or other related fields. Reaching a level of familiarity with graphic design that allows you to experiment with tools like Photoshop and Illustrator is relatively easy for most. However, mastering the craft of graphic design can take months or even years of practice. An intensive bootcamp or full-time course can speed up the time it takes you to be able to confidently apply graphic design on the job, and an expert instructor can be very helpful in assisting you with more challenging elements of learning the art, whether those be the technical or creative skills for you.
The most challenging part of learning graphic design varies from person to person, depending on individual strengths, prior experience, and goals. Some may find mastering the tools of the field easy but need help understanding and applying graphic design principles in their work. Others—especially those with an art background—may find the concepts of color theory and balance a piece of cake but find Adobe’s essential graphic design applications challenging to navigate. Reaching a level of familiarity with graphic design and its tools typically requires climbing the significant learning curve of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Mastering these programs’ extensive menus of tools is arguably the most challenging part of learning graphic design for most students, but the more technically-minded student may find the creative application of graphic design concepts more difficult by far. However, graphic design students consistently find overcoming its most formidable elements one of the most rewarding parts of their learning journeys.
The time investment required to learn graphic design will depend on several factors. A crucial determining factor is the scope of an individual’s specific goals in learning graphic design. Those learning graphic design to launch a new career will need to master a more extensive list of tools and concepts than those simply wishing to fill some gaps in their knowledge of InDesign. A person’s class curriculum and schedule will also be significant factors in the length of time it takes them to master graphic design. A two-day introductory course in Photoshop or Illustrator can be all a person needs to be comfortable experimenting with their new graphic design skills. However, mastering graphic design to the extent that a person is ready to land their first job in the field may take anywhere from a month of full-time classes to an educational program of two years.
Expanding your education plans to include Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign will also enhance your creative potential and career horizon. Studying other Adobe Creative Cloud programs, especially After Effects for motion graphics and Premiere Pro for video editing, can also be a good idea for graphic design learners who wish to add movement to their work or apply graphic design in film or social media.
If you’re looking to expand your skill set, motion graphics principles, concepts, and best practices are a natural next step following graphic design mastery. These skills, combined with proficiency in After Effects, can enable you to add movement and interest to your static digital designs or incorporate motion graphics and animation into your career qualifications. Premiere Pro and the art of video editing also partner well with graphic design and motion graphics. With these tools, you can turn your motion graphics, animations, and graphic design work into editing video projects ranging from reels to feature films.
Atlanta’s ever-growing creative technology sector includes the tech that supports the film industry—covered more extensively below—but also video gaming, music, books and publishing, virtual and augmented reality, and other media where graphic design can be seen. With the support of the Georgia Center of Innovation, the creative technology industry has ample reason to continue to expand throughout the state, increasing the demand for Graphic Designers and related professionals to create and support others’ creations.
While Graphic Designers typically create art to support the business ideas of others, this art is sometimes for the Graphic Designer’s own business or creative endeavors such as a poster or fabric design. Meanwhile, graphic design is essential for the illustration and layout of books, magazines, and other publications. Music, video games, and other media require packaging and branding created by talented Graphic Designers. Meanwhile, video games and virtual reality also depend on graphic design principles to create dynamic visuals to support the user’s experience of the final product.
In Atlanta, many companies are looking for graphic designers to help with their marketing and branding. Big names like The Coca-Cola Company and Delta Air Lines need designers for their ads and promotions. Turner Broadcasting works with designers for graphics across its media channels, while The Home Depot hires them for product packaging and store signs. Mailchimp often seeks creative talent to improve their brand and website design. Advertising agencies like Edelman and Moxie also hire designers to create engaging visuals. Other organizations like Georgia Pacific and Georgia State University need design help for their marketing, and newer companies like Sawhorse Media and Pindrop are always on the lookout for fresh ideas to showcase their products and services.
Thanks to its extensive and varied economy, Atlanta has a significant marketing and advertising sector serving businesses across industries. More than 6,000 Georgians work in advertising, with many based in the Atlanta area.
The marketing and advertising sector relies extensively on Graphic Designers and others with graphic design knowledge to create reliable, clear, and eye-catching visual communication that compels potential clients and customers to take action. Graphic design is vital to virtually every advertising medium, with the exception of radio. Designers and other creatives in the marketing and advertising sector use graphic design principles and tools to create digital advertising seen in banners, social media, and commercials, as well as traditional print ads.
Known as the “Hollywood of the South, Atlanta boasts the second-highest number of soundstages in the U.S. and several other perks that make it one of the world’s top filming locations. The film industry is also joined by animation studios, broadcasting stations, and other entertainment producers that rely heavily on exceptional visuals.
Graphic design knowledge such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and concepts such as color theory and balance, is vital for various occupations in Atlanta’s film and entertainment industry. Graphic Designers create studio and project branding, marketing, and product packaging. Web and Digital Designers build and maintain their websites and mobile applications. Motion Graphics Designers use graphic design principles and tools to create animations and moving typography. At the same time, Video Editors and other video professionals apply graphic design when correcting colors, adding text, and performing other essential manipulations of their film footage.
Home to six Historically Black Colleges and Universities and four medical HBCUs, Atlanta is well-known for its diverse and expansive education sector. Home to six historically black colleges and universities and four medical HBCUs, these HBCUs are joined by the high-ranking Emory University, University of Georgia, and Georgia Tech, as well as technical colleges and industry schools. The latter includes Georgia FinTech Academy, Georgia Film Academy, Georgia Biosciences Training Center, and other highly respected training institutions.
Graphic design is an essential component of this massive education industry in Atlanta. Faculty and staff frequently use Photoshop and InDesign for communication and teaching needs, so familiarity with the basics of graphic design is beneficial for many working in these positions. Graphic Designers, layout specialists, and other professionals with graphic design knowledge are also key players in creating curricula used in all kinds of classrooms. Additionally, marketing and design professionals often work in-house at colleges and universities to develop high-quality and clear communication materials for current and prospective students, parents, employees, alums, and other school patrons and donors.
Graphic design classes are vital for launching or moving forward in a Graphic Designer career, but several closely related job paths also require learning graphic design concepts along with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. These include the role of Visual Designer, one of the job titles most frequently confused with that of Graphic Designer. However, Visual Designers’ skill sets more closely resemble those required by Digital Designers and Web Designers, all of which combine technical design skills such as coding and Adobe XD with graphic design knowledge.
Holding the most obvious job title associated with graphic design, Graphic Designers play a highly visible role in the twenty-first century across industries. Graphic Designers create visual communication that features art and typography for both print and digital use. Often working in design studios or marketing agencies, their work is an essential component of branding, advertising, and messaging for businesses in every sector. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an average job growth of 3% for Graphic Designers through 2032, with about 22,800 job openings yearly. With almost 4,000 employed in its metropolitan area, Atlanta places ninth in the U.S. in employment numbers for Graphic Designers. According to Indeed, average base salaries for Graphic Designers in their first two years of employment in Atlanta range between $66,000 and $70,000.
The term Visual Designer is sometimes used synonymously with that of Graphic Designer, so much so that the BLS groups the two together as a single Graphic Designer category. However, the two job titles describe roles with different but overlapping responsibilities. While Graphic Designers create layouts and artwork for both print and the digital world, Visual Designers usually design for digital interfaces. In addition to graphic design skills, they must also have knowledge of coding and applications like Adobe XD and Figma. Visual Designers number among the nearly 4,000 Atlanta-based employees classified as Graphic Designers by the BLS. Indeed reports that Visual Designers in Atlanta make base salaries comparable to Graphic Designers in the area, averaging just below $70,000.
Digital Designer is another job title sometimes used interchangeably with Visual Designer. While Digital Designers require a skill set nearly identical to Visual Designers, the focus of their work tends to be different. While Visual Designers may sometimes work on visual communication for print, Digital Designers will always be creating for the web or another screened device. Digital Designers primarily focus on designing interactive interfaces such as websites, mobile apps, and video games, while Visual Designers may work on extensive branding projects and marketing campaigns. The BLS projects that Digital Designers—grouped together with Web Developers—will have a much higher-than-average job growth of 16% between 2022 and 2032. With just over 2,000 Web and Digital Designers working in the Atlanta region, the BLS ranks the area ninth in the U.S. for employment in both occupations. Atlanta Digital Designers can expect a base salary comparable to the national average, around or just above $100,000.
Many workdays of Web Designers and Digital Designers will look very similar, but the Web Designer’s focus is exclusively on websites or web-based applications. Web Designers combine graphic design knowledge with coding to create aesthetically pleasing and highly functional websites. The BLS lists Web Designers with Digital Designers, so they both receive the same much higher-than-average job projection. Atlanta ranks ninth in the nation for Web Designer employment in the metropolitan region, the same ranking as Digital Designers, Visual Designers, and Graphic Designers in the city. Web Designers in Atlanta may anticipate an average base salary of $78,000, though senior positions may bring in closer to $100,000 or higher.
Noble Desktop is a highly-rated design and coding school headquartered in NYC that offers lots of online options for those in the Atlanta area. Since 1990, it has offered quality classes in digital fields of study, including its Graphic Design Certificate program. While you can travel to Manhattan to attend the class in person, you also have the convenient option of attending the same live training online from the comfort of your home in Atlanta. Noble provides you with the choice of either a full-time or part-time schedule to complete this course, which features modules in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. As you master this go-to triad of graphic design applications, you’ll also learn the principles and best practices of the field. In the fourth and final module of the course, you’ll assemble an impressive portfolio that will accurately showcase your new skills to your prospective employers. Tuition for this beginner-friendly graphic design certificate program covers hands-on instruction by experienced experts in the field, the option to retake the program for free within one year, six one-on-one mentoring sessions, and a verified digital certificate of completion.
Noble Desktop provides a live online Digital Design Certificate program to help you achieve your learning goals. Noble’s Digital Design Certificate program features all four modules of its Graphic Design Certificate, plus a Figma Bootcamp and a UI Design Bootcamp. In addition, group classes are available on a full-time or part-time schedule, and you will enjoy eight one-on-one mentoring sessions that you can use as career support as part of this certificate program. If you wish to review a module or the entire program, you are welcome to retake all or part of the course within one year of your start date. No experience is required to attend this online digital design course. By the time you graduate from the program, you can expect to be job-ready and able to prove it with the verified certificate of completion you earn and the professional-quality design portfolio you create with the support of an expert instructor.
If you’re seeking solutions for your graphic design corporate training needs, Noble Desktop offers online, in-person, and onsite class options to meet your team’s specific needs. Your team is welcome to join a regular online or NYC-based in-person class if you prefer to purchase bulk vouchers for your employees at a discount. This option offers students the chance to attend from home with some flexibility in scheduling.
Alternatively, a Noble Desktop team member would be happy to arrange an onsite graphic design training tailored to your organization’s specific needs and goals. Simply contact Noble Desktop via their convenient online form or send an email to learn more about their graphic design corporate training options.
Atlanta’s professional scene is diverse and powerful, making it perfect for anyone looking to expand their skills in tech, design, business, or data. As one of the Southeast’s most important hubs for companies, the city brings together industries like finance, media, technology, and logistics. Through Noble Desktop’s network of experienced instructors, Atlanta-based professionals can access training from experts who truly understand the local job market.
These instructors have spent years in their fields and have developed a sense of pride in imparting their knowledge to others. This is a surefire way for students to turn their interests into real-world, applicable skills. Noble Desktop's team of skilled graphic design instructors draws on real agency and in-house experience to help students develop creative, job-ready design skills. Their feedback and project-based lessons make it easier to grow as a professional designer.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Willie Morris is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 30 years of experience leading initiatives across government, aviation, and transportation industries. Willie, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, has also held roles with the Department of Homeland Security and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. He has served as a Registered Educational Provider with the Project Management Institute and an Authorized Training Partner with Rita Mulcahy Learning Solutions. Drawing on his background of teaching PMP Exam Prep Certification courses, Willie now instructs professionals in Atlanta and nationwide, helping teams in federal industries strengthen their leadership and project management skills.
Kimberly Peppers dedicated 37 years to federal service, building her career through a range of audit, budget, and program analysis roles. Over the course of those decades, she rose to senior leadership positions, including Regional Inspector General and Audit Director across different federal agencies. She earned her Doctorate in Business Administration while simultaneously working on audit and investigative assignments in the Middle East. After retiring from federal service, Kim continued work in the public sector by moving into the federal consulting field. She is also an instructor at Graduate School USA, teaching mainly finance and accounting classes.
With more than 20 years of both personal and professional involvement in government HR, Ashley is an experienced human resources professional and educator. She currently works as an instructor at Graduate School USA, where she earned a reputation for delivering comprehensive marketing, project management, and HR concepts in a clear, understandable way. Drawing on her extensive experience, Ashley brings a unique twist to her courses through real-life, practical examples that help students bridge the gap between theory and actual application of the skills. Ashley holds a Master’s in Public Administration and remains dedicated to strengthening the public service sector through professional development and advanced education.