California Institute of the Arts Courses

Introduction to Real-Time Audio Programming in ChucK

36 reviews

The course, lecture, and examples build on each other to teach the fundamentals of programming in general (logic, loops, functions, objects, classes) and also deals with advanced topics including multi-threading, events and signals. Throughout the course…

• Kadenze
• 8 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course

• Best of All Time

Fundamentals of Graphic Design

20 reviews

Graphic Design is all around us! Words and pictures—the building blocks of graphic design—are the elements that carry the majority of the content in both the digital world and the printed world. As graphic design becomes more visible and prevalent in our…

• Coursera
• 15 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop

19 reviews

Why just write poems when you can write better ones? This course is built on the notion that the most exciting writing begins after the first draft. It is specifically for folks who believe that writing poems just to express oneself is like using the Int…

• Coursera
• 8 hours worth of material, 6 weeks long
• Today
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Ableton Live Course: Sound Production for Musicians and Artists

32 reviews

This course provides hands-on experience in producing, mixing, and sound design with a digital audio workstation. Students will learn the fundamentals (physics) of sound and digital audio, proper gain staging, where and how distortion enters recordings a…

• Kadenze
• 9 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course

• Best of All Time

Introduction to Game Design

13 reviews

Welcome! This course is an introduction to the primary concepts of gaming, and an exploration of how these basic concepts affect the way gamers interact with our games. In this course you will understand what defines a “game” and the mechanics and rules…

• Coursera
• 6 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Introduction to Typography

10 reviews

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,…

• Coursera
• 8 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Story and Narrative Development for Video Games

9 reviews

In this course, you will examine how storytelling acts as a vital mechanism for driving video gameplay forward. Looking at several historical and contemporary games, you will be asked to evaluate and interpret different story styles with the goal of iden…

• Coursera
• 11 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• Today
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Character Design for Video Games

6 reviews

In this course you will explore concepts and approaches involved in creating successful character designs that can be applied to video games. Following a first week delving into some foundational concepts for successful character design, each of the rema…

• Coursera
• 9 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• Today
• Free Online Course (Audit)

World Design for Video Games

5 reviews

Start creating your world. A game world is not just a backdrop for your game—be it minimal or detailed, contained or part of a much bigger universe, it provides the context for your player. Ultimately, a game world should feel alive and wholly unique to…

• Coursera
• 7 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Introduction to Imagemaking

3 reviews

This course for serious makers, and for students new to imagemaking. Imagemaking is a fluid and exciting area of graphic design that comes out of practice and process: experimenting fearlessly, showing and sharing ideas, and giving and receiving knowledg…

• Coursera
• 11 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• Today
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Web Design: Strategy and Information Architecture

2 reviews

This course is focused on the early user experience (UX) challenges of research, planning, setting goals, understanding the user, structuring content, and developing interactive sequences. While the concepts covered will translate to many kinds of intera…

• Coursera
• 11 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

The Language of Design: Form and Meaning

2 reviews

Recall and explain a lexicon of key terms relating to form, meaning, and audience, and apply them successfully within an appraisal of graphic design.

• Coursera
• 8 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 1 week from now (13th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

UX Design Fundamentals

2 reviews

This hands-on course examines how content is organized and structured to create an experience for a user, and what role the designer plays in creating and shaping user experience. You will be led through a condensed process that acts as a roadmap for dev…

• Coursera
• 13 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Ideas from the History of Graphic Design

1 review

This condensed survey course focuses on four key periods or themes from the history of design. Together we’ll trace the emergence of design as a recognized practice, why things look the way they do, and how designers approached specific design problems i…

• Coursera
• 10 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• Today
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Visual Elements of User Interface Design

1 review

This design-centric course examines the broad question of what an interface is and what role a designer plays in creating a user interface. Learning how to design and articulate meaning using color, type, and imagery is essential to making interfaces fun…

• Coursera
• 16 hours worth of material, 4 weeks long
• 6 days from now (6th Dec)
• Free Online Course (Audit)