Graphic design course with certificate: the 10 best in 2026

Best for beginners who want to specialise in logos. It teaches 10 essential Illustrator tools such as the pen tool, Shape Builder and Pathfinder, logo design principles, and isometric, script, type-based, abstract and negative space styles, including redesigns of the DoorDash, Instacart and Starbucks logos.

It has 4.6 stars from 133 reviews and more than 1,700 students. It runs about five hours, the shortest course here, and was last updated in January 2025.

Best for beginners who want professional designs without Adobe. Using a free Canva account, it covers design principles, social media graphics, presentations, logos and business cards, animations and video editing, Canva's AI tools, preparing files for print and digital, and collaboration.

It has 4.5 stars from more than 1,500 reviews and more than 11,000 students. It runs about seven hours with a quiz and was updated in September 2026. We lowered it slightly because it teaches one tool.

Best for Photoshop beginners who learn by doing. Across 47 projects it covers layers, masks and adjustment layers, resolution for web and print, photo editing, shapes, text, alignment, blending modes, layer styles, transforms, filters, creative cropping, popular effects and custom brushes, with tips on starting as a freelancer.

It has 4.7 stars from more than 400 reviews and more than 4,200 students. It runs about eight hours with a 90-page resource guide and was last updated in May 2025.

Best for designers who know the basics and want bigger real-world projects. It covers photo composites, a fast food ad, logo design with the golden ratio, isometric grids, an InDesign magazine spread, infographics, a typography poster, chocolate bar packaging, 3D mockups and portfolio building.

It has 4.5 stars from more than 5,700 reviews and more than 53,000 students. It runs about 19 and a half hours with 37 resources and was updated in September 2026. We lowered it because it is an intermediate course.

Best for beginners who want theory, three Adobe programs and AI tools. It covers typography, colour and composition, advertising design in Photoshop, branding and logos in Illustrator, editorial and portfolio design in InDesign, presenting your work, and using Midjourney, Adobe Firefly and ChatGPT in design.

It has 4.4 stars from more than 5,400 reviews and more than 111,000 students. It runs about 39 hours, the longest course here, with 46 resources, and was updated in June 2026.

Best for marketers and creators who need practical designs fast. In Photoshop, you design more than 40 real projects: Facebook ads, Instagram posts, YouTube thumbnails, newsletters, business cards, a product catalogue, indoor banners and social media covers, with a workbook and all source PSD files.

It has 4.8 stars from more than 600 reviews and more than 5,500 students. It runs about 16 and a half hours with 85 resources and was last updated in March 2025.

Best for designers ready to go beyond Illustrator's basics. Working on a creative brief, it covers AI for ideation, vectorising and colouring sketches, effects, charts, Pantones, images in Illustrator, advanced typography, complex shapes, Transform and Distort, and faster workflows.

It has 4.8 stars from more than 10,000 reviews and more than 62,000 students. It runs about 10 hours and was last updated in January 2025. We lowered it because it requires basic Illustrator and covers one program.

Best for beginners who want to create logos and illustrations. It covers drawing with shapes and the Shape Builder, brushes, the pen, pencil and curvature tools, type, masking, distorting, colour, repeating patterns, stencil images, generative AI and mockups, and builds a brand for a farmers' market.

It has 4.7 stars from more than 33,000 reviews and more than 139,000 students. It runs about 12 hours with a printable cheat sheet and exercise files, and was last updated in January 2025. As with the Photoshop course, we lowered it slightly for covering a single program.

Best for beginners who want to learn Photoshop properly first. Dan Scott starts from the very beginning and covers Photoshop for design and retouching, including enhancing backgrounds and removing people from photos, with downloadable exercise files and assignments throughout.

It has 4.7 stars from more than 36,000 reviews and more than 153,000 students. It runs about 11 and a half hours with 64 resources and was last updated in January 2025. We lowered it slightly because it teaches one program.