8 Best Illustrator Courses and Classes - March 2021
- Published on March 2, 2021
Our team of Illustrator experts has assembled the 8 Best Illustrator courses and classes for 2021. This list includes online Illustrator courses from high-quality design schools that you can access from anywhere. The courses include one-day and two-day intensive Illustrator workshops, a four-day Illustrator bootcamp, as well as multi-week courses that follow a traditional academic schedule. These Illustrator classes teach you this powerful drawing and illustration tool.
This list of best Illustrator classes online emphasizes introductory and foundational courses to cover the needs of learners who are just starting to use Illustrator or who need basic skills. The best Illustrator classes list was assembled by subject matter experts who are the authors of more than 10 Illustrator books who also teach Illustrator classes. These recommendations come after a thorough review of the curriculum, materials, and instructors presenting these Illustrator courses. More than 40 courses were reviewed to determine the final list of eight classes.
The best Illustrator classes includes those that are teaching current Creative Cloud versions of Illustrator. The free trial version of Illustrator can be used for the first week of classes. For classes that last longer than a week, a subscription to Illustrator is required. Both the free and trial version of Illustrator are available from Adobe here.
Best Illustrator Courses and Classes
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Introduction to Illustrator Training Class from AGI
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Illustrator Bootcamp at AGI
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Illustrator I from UCLA Extension
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Illustrator I from UC Berkeley Extension
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Illustrator Basics Class from Indiana University
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Adobe Illustrator Basics Course from the University of Wisconsin
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Beginning Illustrator from Portland Community College
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Adobe Illustrator I from UNC Chapel Hill
8 Best Illustrator Courses Online for 2021
Introduction to Illustrator Training Class
Learn to use Illustrator to craft artwork including illustrations, logos, business graphics, charts and graphs. This course starts at the beginning and provides foundation skills for learning to draw, color, and organize artwork in this powerful illustration tool.
Benefits of the advanced Illustrator Training Class:
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Live instructor-led class
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Learn essential skills including working with color and drawing tools
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Create a variety of artwork, graphics, and logos with in-class projects
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Learn to share images for use online, in print, and digitally in various formats
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Understand how to integrate Illustrator artwork with other Creative Cloud apps
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Master the Illustrator interface to find the tools and options you need.
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Course offered as a two-day intensive or four-night
Format: Live class meets at scheduled times
Delivery options: Online or in-person
Provider: American Graphics Institute
Student review: “The instructor’s teaching methodology was clear and concise. I truly appreciate her taking the time to make sure everything was clear to me and being available to answer questions I may have going forward. I enjoyed the Illustrator class so much that I’m now signed up for an InDesign class in a few weeks.” -Christine B.
Illustrator Bootcamp
By combining the coursework of the introductory and advanced Illustrator courses, this comprehensive bootcamp teaches both foundational skills and sophisticated design techniques. Participants learn to transform existing shapes, adjust layers, and troubleshoot production. This crash course equips learners with a solid foundation that will allow them to create versatile vector artwork.
Benefits of the Illustrator Bootcamp:
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Live instructor-led class
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Optimize your Illustrator workspace and save shortcuts
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Explore the Appearance panel
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Learn to cut and join paths
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Experiment with multiple opacities
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Apply graphic styles to layers and symbols
Format: Live class meets at scheduled times either online or in person
Delivery options: Online or in-person
Provider: American Graphics Institute
Illustrator Class from UCLA
This Illustrator course focuses on how this tool integrates into the suite of design tools offered by Adobe and includes lessons on templates, drawing paths, auto-tracing, gradient meshes, and more. If you want to pursue a career in graphic design or build upon your self-taught design skills, this course might be a good fit for you.
Benefits of the Illustrator class from UCLA:
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Live instructor-led class
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Credit toward a Design Communication Arts certificate
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Learn to wrap type in your artwork
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Explore blending modes
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Understand fundamental design principles
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Begin building a portfolio
Format: Live course offered in fall, winter, spring, and summer quarters
Delivery Options: Online or in-person
Provider: UCLA Extension
Illustrator Class from UC Berkeley
This Illustrator course is geared toward design professionals. The class teaches participants vector-based drawing skills and mastery of the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. Lessons offered include opacity masks, blend modes, perspective drawing, and more. For a full list of topics covered in this course, explore course details and dates below.
Benefits of Illustrator 101 from UC Berkeley Extension:
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Live instructor-led class
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Credit toward graphic design or user experience design certificate
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Learn the major tools and panels of Adobe Illustrator
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Transfer thumbnails and sketches into the vector-based environment
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Create charts and graphs
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Lesson on typography
Format: Scheduled course dates with an instructor, as well as additional assigned coursework
Delivery options: Online or in-person
Provider: UC Berkeley
Illustrator Basics Class from Indiana University
This Illustrator training explores basic skills and relevant concepts of creating artwork using Adobe Illustrator. Participants create a basic landscape drawing along with simple logos to establish familiarity with paths, anchor points, and saving finished projects in different formats. This course focuses on illustration fundamentals such as color, creating and combining shapes, and using gradients, this course could be a good fit for you.
Benefits of Illustrator Basics Class from Indiana University
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Live instructor-led class
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Gain familiarity with Illustrator’s interface
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Draw, edit, and manipulate art elements
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Work with the shape and pen tools
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Create complex shapes by combining and transforming simple shapes
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Learn how to save in various formats
Format: Live class meets at scheduled times
Delivery: Online or in-person
Adobe Illustrator Basics Course from the University of Wisconsin
This Illustrator class is focused on familiarizing students with the Illustrator workspace. It is a one-day crash-course which covers the basics. This class is open to all, regardless of artistic ability. This course is geared toward marketing professionals, web designers, publishers, pre-press professionals and those who use Illustrator to create illustrations, logos, advertisements, web icons, or other graphic elements.
Benefits of Adobe Illustrator Basics Course at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
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Live instructor-led class
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Credit toward digital marketing or managing digital content certificate
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Create graphics that contain custom text
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Learn to create logos
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Create objects using photographs
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Use customized paths to form graphics
Format: Live class meets at scheduled times
Delivery: Online
Student review: “The instructor was very engaged, informative and very supportive with the various skill levels of her students. She stayed within the coursework which she clearly outlined at the beginning of class, but also took the effort to add in additional bits of information that made Illustrator more manageable and achievable.”
Beginning Illustrator from Portland Community College
This introductory course teaches students to create vector graphics and illustration components for the web using Adobe Illustrator. Lessons cover the processes used to create, import, and manipulate text and graphics through the use of software features.
Benefits of Beginning Illustrator at Portland Community College:
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Live instructor-led class
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Credit toward digital marketing or managing digital content certificate
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Affordable way to diversify your skillset
Format: Live class meets at scheduled times
Delivery: Online or in-person
Adobe Illustrator I at UNC Chapel Hill
This is a hands-on Illustrator class which covers the basics of building and editing vector artwork. Participants learn drawing, combining shapes, the pen tool, and working with type.
Benefits of Adobe Illustrator I at UNC Chapel Hill:
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Live class
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Includes projects
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Entry level course with no previous experience required
Format: Live class meets at scheduled times
Delivery: Online or in-person
Best Illustrator Classes Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Following are frequently asked questions about Illustrator courses and classes. We've assembled answers to many common questions regarding learning Illustrator that you may wish to consider before enrolling in any of the best Illustrator courses,
Is Illustrator worth learning
Illustrator is worth learning for anyone working in design or marketing roles. Illustrator is also worth learning for artists and other creatives. This is because Illustrator is the most widely used digital drawing tool. It is used by professional designers working in agencies as well as freelance professionals. Most design jobs consider Illustrator an essential skill.
Is it hard to learn Illustrator
Learning Illustrator is not hard to learn if you attend a live,instructor-led class. It can be difficult to learn if you are attempting to teach yourself Illustrator, as there are many different tools, options, and functions that need to be learned. It can take 12 or more hours of class time to learn Illustrator in a classroom, and more than twice as many hours if learning on your own.
Is Illustrator harder than Photoshop
Illustrator is not harder than Photoshop. They are different tools used for different purposes. As a drawing tool, Illustrator requires learning skills for digital drawing, applying colors, patterns, and transparency.
How Can you learn Illustrator fast
The fastest way to learn Illustrator is through an intensive Illustrator class, such as the introductory course offered at American Graphics Institute. This live class helps you to learn Illustrator in two days.
How to become Illustrator certified
After taking an Illustrator class you can become Illustrator certified by taking the Illustrator Certification exam online or by taking the Adobe Certified Associate exam for Illustrator.
