Continued Education Resources – Free, Some Free, and Not Free – all over the web to help grow your skills and expertise. ×

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but what if you just perpetually taught the dog new tricks? Education doesn’t end when you’ve graduated – whether that’s from high school, a vocational/tech school, or any type of college. Heck, it doesn’t end with school itself. You’re always learning even when you don’t realize it.

But this post isn’t about the parts when you don’t realize you’re learning, it’s about the times where you want to learn more. Good ol’ Continued Education.

Some schools offer this within their own programs – like workshops, outside or online classes, conferences, and more. These same things and a ton extra can be found online, too. Many of which can be completed at your own pace.

I’ve got a fever… and the only prescription isn’t more cowbell, it’s more knowledge. I’m always looking to learn new things from my peers, younger designers, and the wisdom of the elders.

Where to find it out in the world?

Most of the time you can find it in blogs, podcasts, and even on social media. But, for more direct ways of learning, there are a ton of great websites out there that offer courses, tutorials, and more.

Some of these are free, a few have a few courses free, and others are paid – ranging from lower to fairly high. But always good to see a range and see what works best for you.

And, don’t forget, if there’s a course that you may not be able to afford, but you’re currently in school – ask your faculty advisor if there’s financial assistance [if the website doesn’t already have a student price], or if you’re currently employed at an agency/design-studio/etc., reach out to your employer and show them the benefits of taking the course and how it will help not only you but also their company, too!

I’ve personally used YouTube for tutorials, courses, live events, and more. As well as have been certified in both of Front Office Sports current courses. I also have a few courses on deck from The Futur, and Domestika, plus a book or two from Hype4 Academy. Many of these (like on many of my blog posts 😅) are on my ever-growing to-do list. If there are any others you recommend, please give a shout-out for a volume two! Now let’s get to learnin’!

FREE

Currently, all of these are free to learn from. There may be additional in-app purchases in the future, but check out these sources! Great for Designers, Web Designers/Developers, and more!

1. YouTube

There are millions upon millions of videos out there, and a bunch of them are fantastic tutorials, courses, trouble-shooting, and more. Half the time I google and issue or try to figure out how to do something, it takes me to a great YouTube video. Check back for a potential blog post in the future for great YouTubers to follow!

2. Adobe Live

Behance has been one of my favorite ‘social’ sites since the dawn of me getting out there with my work. And, now that Adobe owns it, they now have Adobe Live‘s through Behance! There’s a ton of live streams, many of which you can view afterward [don’t quote me on their longevity, but possibly forever?]. They have Lives for Graphic Design, Photoshop, Illustrator, Fresco, Photography, Illustration, UI/UX, Motion, and more!

3. Front Office Sports

Front Office Sports is a great resource for all those in the sports and design industry. From their newsletter to their podcast The Leadoff, I follow them on a bunch of different platforms. Recently, I completed their Athlete Marketing Essentials NIL Certification Course with Instagram and Facebook, and their Sports Marketing Essentials Course presented by Pepsi Sports. Even if you’re not in the sports industry, these courses are great for tips on marketing and design. Definitely recommend.

4. Free Code Camp

This one even has FREE in the name! Free Code Camp is free for those who want to learn how to code! I have not personally used it yet, but it is filled with a ton of great verified certifications like Responsive Web Design, JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures, Front End Development Libraries, Back End Development and APIs, Quality Assurance, Information Security, and, you guessed it… more!

5. Grasshopper App

Grasshopper is another great place for learning code – but this one is a little more visual-forward. Plus, it’s also an app! You can download it on Google Play or the Apple App Store, plus all web browsers. The curriculum seems very digestible, yum 😁 I’ve done it a few ways back when, and do remember it was very user-friendly.

SOME FREE

These sites have a few free courses and offerings scattered within them as well as paid ones, too. Although free is wonderful, a lot of hard work goes into the courses, so if there are a couple of classes here and there you need to pay for, it’s always good to support good people doing good work so you can be good, too!

5. Coursera

I’ve seen Coursera a lot on LinkedIn and elsewhere on the internet recently, but have not tried a course yet. Their tagline is Learn Without Limits – Build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online from world-class universities and companies. You’re able to join for free [there are paid options] and earn certificates and more for free, as well as paid courses [there is financial aid available, too]. Learn things like Computer Science, Arts and Humanities, Business, Personal Development, Language Learning, Information Technology, and a bunch more!

6. The Futur

I’m definitely a fan of The Futur and Chris Do – currently reading his book, A Pocket Full of Do [which will appear on my Resources page, plus a little book blog post coming up, too]. Their mission: Courses, Coaching and Community for Creatives. On a mission to help one billion people make a living do what they love (without losing their soul). We’re like a private art school – minus the crippling debt. The Futur has a ton of courses, kits, training, and more. There are a bunch of free items on there along with ones that are paid. The price range is a bit more geared towards the professional end for those – $xx-$xxx, but there are more affordable options for students, too. And, as a reminder, if there’s something you really want to get, but don’t have the funds – always check for student pricing, or for payment plans. If not those, see if your school will assist or have any programs/funding, as well as if your employer will get it, too.

7. Codeacademy

Codeacademy is yet another great coding-based resource. They have free courses, resources, articles, etc., along with a pro version for additional courses and learning! Like Data Scientist, Full-Stack Engineer, Front-End Engineer, Computer Science, and more! Check out their full catalog.

8. HYP4 Academy

HYP4 Academy is a great resource when looking into the UI/UX portion of Web and Mobile design. I’ve recently followed them on Instagram, which is filled with tips, and saw they also have courses, books, etc. Which, I grabbed their $5 ebook – 64 Design Tips!

NOT FREE

The following are all places where you either need to pay a monthly fee to learn or pay per course [now there might be some sneaky ones in there that I’ve missed that could be free, but I lean more towards the ‘you most likely gotta pay’ end], which again, always happy to pay when able to for educational resources to continue to build my skills, which should also turn into more money and confidence for yourself, too!

9. SkillShare

Way back when [whoa, just checked, it was nearly exactly seven years ago today!], Skillshare reached out to me to teach a course on my illustrations as they found me on Behance [which my Behance was completely different with older illustrations on it than what’s there now], but at the time I was still figuring out my style and my skills and wanted to work on that before I even thought of teaching. [omg, did I ever email them back?… Sorry Skillshare!] Anyways, Skillshare is filled with a bunch of great courses for all sorts of things! Many of your favorite designs, illustrators, and photographers, have courses on there!

10. Domestika

I just found out about Domestika from one of my new favorite podcasts, Per Our Last Email. Weekend Creative, the hosts, just launched a course on Creative Product Photography from Start to Finish. Although Photography isn’t my main area of expertise, I’ve done photoshoots from Primanti Bros social, Just Roll’d Up, ocreations social and website, and a few ‘naked’ bar photos for Ready® Nutrition, too – plus my own personal ones and other clients. I’m pretty pumped to check out the course and get more into product photography. Plus, they have 1000 courses for $9.99 each! Not too bad at all – and no monthly fee to sign up. There is a Pro version here, too.

11. LinkedIn Learning

I’ve had a LinkedIn forever! This past year, I’ve seen a ton of my contacts getting certified in a variety of things through LinkedIn Learning! This one is a monthly subscription, normally right after a free month trial. I’ve personally not used it, but there are also options for companies to buy for their team, so check if your team has it, and use it!

12. Masterclass

Masterclass – this one seems like it’s been around forever, but also always felt unattainable. They do have a monthly plan, which at this moment is half-off. Without the discount, it is pretty up there for monthly subscriptions, but again, it’s what you can do to take away from it. If you utilize the courses and learn and grow your skills, gain experience, and money, it’s definitely worth it. It’s how you value yourself when pricing out [if you’re pricing things], as well as how you present your expertise and get job offers, promotions, etc., too!

13. CreativeLive

One I’m not familiar with, but that all my social media was pointing me towards as I was looking up the others above. CreativeLive has a bunch of courses on all sorts of things, including Photo & Video, Self-Improvement, Graphic Design, Posing, Entrepreneurship, and more!

14. Udemy

Another site I found while looking at the sites I know, Udemy seems like it’s in a similar vein of Domestika. No monthly fee [that I saw], and courses start around $9.99. Top Categories include Design, Development, Marketing, Personal Development, Business, Music, and… yup. More!

15. SVA NYC

This one is definitely different from the ones above. SVA NYC, or School of Visual Arts New York City, has continued education courses that you can sign up for. Overall the more on the expensive one-time purchase side, since it’s really like signing up for an individual course at a college, this is still a great option for continued education. Some courses are $150, others’ around $500. Some of them are Online and some in person, so double-check before signing up for anything – unless you’re good to travel or live in NYC. This is also different than the others, since you’re on a structured schedule – for the most part – compared to a lot of online learning you can grab the course and complete it on your own time [though not all].

Do You Have a Go-To Education Resource?

I’d love to add it to the list or create a volume two! The more, the merrier, and not only happy to share, but I’m also happy to try, too! Send me a note and I’ll be sure to check it out! 

Curious what Fonts I used? Check out my very first blog post for the rundown. 

This post is not sponsored or an advertisement. these are just genuine recommendations, or/and thoughts.