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Explore the essentials of design, accessibility, and inclusive design while mastering industry-standard tools like Figma. These courses will lay the groundwork for creating user-focused, visually appealing designs.
Financing and flexible payment options available. Learn more
Begin your journey into the world of product design by mastering the foundational skills that every designer needs.
This program will introduce you to industry-standard tools like Figma, while teaching you the core principles of accessibility and inclusive design. You’ll explore the basics of visual design, including typography, color theory, and layout, and learn how to apply these elements to create user-centered designs. By the end of these courses, you’ll have the skills to develop thoughtful, aesthetically pleasing designs that not only look great but also serve real user needs. This is your starting point for a successful career in product design.
The SMU x Flatiron School difference:
Pre-requisites: No prior experience required. These courses are designed for beginners.
After completing the program, you have the option to continue your journey with Product Design Foundations I: User Experience.
Industry-approved curriculum to help launch your career as a product designer
Introduction to Design Techniques - 3 weeks
This course covers the fundamentals of design, using Figma to build your skills. You'll learn visual design basics, create layouts, add typography and color, and build interactive prototypes. The course concludes with a project where you develop your own design, apply feedback, and use design methodologies and project management frameworks to prepare for a product design career.
What You’ll Learn:
Introduction to Responsible Design - 3 weeks
This course teaches you to integrate responsible design methods into your projects, focusing on ethical, inclusive, and accessible solutions. You'll explore product design pillars, common methodologies, and the product life cycle, emphasizing iteration and user-centered design. The course concludes with a project where you'll assess the ethical impacts of a product solution and make recommendations. You'll gain skills to critically examine product choices and contribute responsibly to a design team.
What You’ll Learn:
Integrating Art and Visual Design - 3 weeks
This course focuses on visual design for product development, covering principles of visual hierarchy, composition, color, typography, imagery, and layout grids. You'll learn to create balanced, informative designs for web and mobile interfaces. The course concludes with a project where you'll apply your knowledge to develop a user-friendly layout based on user and business goals, incorporating accessible, industry-standard practices.
What You’ll Learn:
Flexible small group class are the best way to learn from top industry mentors in a fun, collaborative environment, while still getting plenty of personalized feedback.
Upfront - Save 10%
$2,700
Pay as You Go
$3,000
3 monthly payments of $1,000
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Yes! Upon the completion of each program in the pathway, you will receive a Credly digital badge from SMU and a certificate from Flatiron School. Digital badges can be used in email signatures or digital resumes, and certificates can be displayed on portfolio websites and social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Thousands of our community members use their program certificates and badges to demonstrate skills to potential employers — including our hiring partners — along with their LinkedIn networks. Our curriculum is powered by Flatiron School, whose programs are well-regarded by many top employers, who contribute to our curriculum, hire our community, and partner with us to train their own teams.
Nope! This program is designed for complete beginners - no experience required.
It is VERY occasionally possible to skip the essentials program and go directly to Foundations I. However, we highly recommend that most students do not skip Essentials as it covers a tremendous amount of information and skills that will be used throughout the entire career pathway program and will require some catching up if skipped.
The essentials program is still difficult and covers a ton of material that is necessary for proceeding in the following programs and won't be reviewed in Foundations. All of the future program material will build upon the essentials.
If you would like to be considered to enter directly into the Foundations-level programs, you'll be required to submit materials demonstrating your proficiency in the materials covered in the Essentials program.
Whether you want to build games, design products, prevent the next cyber attack, or create the next internet-breaking AI, we provide the training to bring your ideas to life.
Let's build your future together.
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