Foundations

Design Foundations

The irreducible core. Seeing, Thinking, Making, Knowing — every designer, regardless of discipline, needs these before anything else.

Four Silos · 28 Courses

F1 9 courses

Seeing

Drawing, Perception, Photography Basics, Colour, Composition

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F2 7 courses

Thinking

Mind Mapping, Systems Thinking, Design Process, Idea Generation

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F3 7 courses

Making

Materials, Form, Construction, Model Making

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F4 5 courses

Knowing

Liberal Arts, Aesthetics, Cultural Studies, Semiotics

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Start Here

Not sure where to begin? These three courses are the most foundational.

HD·F2·02

Systems Thinking

The meta-skill that makes all other design skills more effective.

Begin → HD·F2·03

Design Process

A clear methodology for moving from problem to solution.

Begin → HD·F1·07

Gestalt Principles

The perceptual laws that govern how humans see visual information.

Begin →

Foundations are not prerequisites to skip — they are the discipline itself, compressed into first principles. A designer who has deeply studied Seeing, Thinking, Making, and Knowing will outperform one who has only learned tools, every time, in every context.