Starter course

Earn · Create with AI

Design Ready: graphic design course for beginners, with AI

Six lessons: design basics and tools, type, color and accessible layout, AI image tools and who owns what they make, licenses and trade marks, working with clients, and finding work safely. Australia, UK and US. Self-paced, not an accredited qualification.

What you'll cover

Design basics, kinds of design work and the toolsWhat graphic designers make, six principles that fix most layouts, the main tool types, and honest expectations.
Type, color and layout that everyone can readChoosing and pairing fonts, building a color palette, grids and sizes, and accessibility: contrast ratios and alt text.
AI image tools: terms, ownership and honest useWhat AI design tools are good for, what their terms say about owning outputs, copyright in AI images in the US, UK and Australia, and disclosure.
Licenses: templates, stock images, fonts and trade marksCopyright basics, what library and stock licenses usually forbid, font licenses, trade marks and logos, and an asset log.
Working with clients: briefs, files, terms and pricingA design brief, revision rounds, handing over the right files, rights in writing, honest claims and disclosure in client work, pricing and tax basics.
Portfolio, finding clients and design scamsA small honest portfolio, finding first clients, red flags for unpaid tests, overpayments and “AI design business” schemes, and where to report.

General information, not legal or tax advice. A self-paced course, not an accredited qualification. Tool terms, plans and platform rules change often; recheck them.

trainyourselfCourse guide · step-by-step lessons

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About this course

graphic design course for beginners, with AI.

Starter · About 1 hour of learning · 6 lessons · 12 quick checks · 1 download

Who it's for
Beginners, career changers and people with a creative eye in Australia, the UK, the US and elsewhere who want to make graphics for themselves or for clients.
How it works
6 guided lessons in your browser, with worked examples, exercises and a quick check after each lesson. Progress is saved in this browser only, and you can restart at any time. You start with just your first name and email, and you can take one whole course that way. After that, a free account lets you continue past lesson 1.
Sources we rely on
28 published sources, mostly regulators and official bodies, listed below so you can check the original guidance yourself.

By the end you can

Describe the main kinds of design work and apply six layout principles
Set type, color and layout that meet basic contrast and alt-text guidance
Use AI design tools within their terms and explain who owns the output
Check licenses for templates, stock, fonts and logos and avoid trade mark problems
Run a client job with written terms, honest claims and a floor price, and avoid design scams

Downloads

Graphic design starter kit .xlsxNiche picker, design brief, style sheet and contrast log, AI terms checklist, asset and license log, project terms, rate calculator, scam checks and 30-day plan, with Priya’s fictional examples.

Rules by country

Australia: Copyright protects expression, not ideas; human authorship needed; IP Australia trade mark search; ACCC: claims must be accurate and on reasonable grounds; ATO on platform income.
United Kingdom: Copyright automatic; CDPA s9(3) computer-generated works (unsettled for AI); UK IPO trade marks; ASA: affiliate marketing obviously identifiable; HMRC Self Assessment.
United States: Copyright Office: prompts alone don’t make you the author; works made for hire need a written agreement; USPTO trademarks; FTC: no AI exemption; IRS $400 threshold.

Learning time

About 1 hour of learning. May count towards your CPD or professional development; check your professional body's rules. Estimated from reading time, exercises, quick checks and downloads.

Sources

Check the originals.

How these courses are made. Spotted an error or out-of-date rule? Send a correction.

Education only. We make no earnings or income claims: results depend on your skills, effort, market and many other factors, and most new ventures earn little at first. We don't teach investing, crypto trading, network marketing or dropshipping schemes, and we don't use affiliate links.

Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum) · W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
An alt decision tree · W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
AI Product Terms · Canva
Terms of Use · OpenAI
Terms of Service · Midjourney
Adobe Firefly FAQ · Adobe Help Center
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability (January 2025) · US Copyright Office
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 9 (authorship of work) · legislation.gov.uk (UK)
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group (CAIRG) · Attorney-General’s Department (Australia)
How copyright protects your work · GOV.UK (Intellectual Property Office)
What is copyright? · U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright basics · Attorney-General’s Department (Australia)
Content License Agreement · Canva
The SIL Open Font License · SIL International
What is a trademark? · United States Patent and Trademark Office
Trade marks · IP Australia
Register a trade mark · GOV.UK (Intellectual Property Office)
Circular 30: Works made for hire · U.S. Copyright Office
False or misleading claims · Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
FTC announces crackdown on deceptive AI claims and schemes (Operation AI Comply, 25 September 2024) · Federal Trade Commission (US)
Affiliate marketing (advice online) · Advertising Standards Authority / CAP (UK)
Income and deductions for providing services (sharing economy) · Australian Taxation Office
Register for Self Assessment if you’re self-employed or a sole trader · HM Revenue & Customs, GOV.UK
Self-employed individuals tax center · Internal Revenue Service (US)
Recognize red flags and avoid scams · Upwork Help
How to spot, avoid, and report fake check scams · Federal Trade Commission
Bogus business opportunities · Federal Trade Commission, Business Guidance (US)
Report Fraud: the place to report, prevent and learn about cyber crime and fraud · Report Fraud, City of London Police (UK)

Publisher

Who publishes this course.

Published by trainyourself.org, a trading name of Combine TRS Pty Ltd (ABN 42 112 983 678), Brisbane, Australia.

How it's made: researched from published official, regulator and platform guidance, then run through automated quality checks against our course depth standard and automated source checks that match each rule to its official source, listed above. Read how these courses are made.

Last updated: 1 November 2026

General information, not tax, accounting, legal or professional advice. Spotted an error or an out-of-date rule? Send us a correction.

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Design Ready: graphic design course for beginners, with AI

graphic design course for beginners, with AI.

Who it's for

How it works

Sources we rely on