Track 06 — The Studio Floor
Graphic Design & Branding
Good design is not a talent you either have or lack — it is a set of decisions you can learn to make on purpose. Four months on the craft: type, colour, image and layout first, then logos, identity systems and the guidelines that keep a brand consistent, then the print and social work that pays for most of it.
( What you'll learn )
Design fundamentals
Composition, hierarchy, spacing, alignment, contrast and grids — the grammar behind every layout that feels right and every one that does not.
Typography as craft
Choosing and pairing typefaces, setting a scale, kerning, rhythm and line length. The single fastest way to look professional instead of homemade.
Colour & contrast
Building a palette that holds up in print and on screen, carries meaning, and stays legible for people who do not see colour the way you do.
Illustrator & vector craft
Paths, the pen tool, shape building, grids and geometry. Drawing marks that stay sharp at a business card and on a billboard.
Photoshop & image
Retouching, masking, compositing and colour correction — plus knowing when an edit stops being a fix and starts being a lie.
Logo & mark design
Sketching, reduction, geometry and negative space. Why most logos fail in one colour at 16px, and how to test yours before you present it.
Identity systems
A logo is not a brand. Type, colour, layout, photography and tone working together across everything a business puts its name on.
Brand guidelines
Writing the document that keeps a brand consistent after you have left the room — rules people can actually follow, not a 90-page PDF nobody opens.
Print & production
CMYK, bleed, trim, resolution, paper and finishes. Everything that decides whether the file you send comes back right.
Packaging
Dielines, mockups and the shelf test: what has to be readable at arm's length, and what only matters once the box is in someone's hands.
Social & campaign creative
Template systems, ad sets and formats that survive being cropped — plus enough motion in After Effects to make a static post move.
Portfolio & case studies
Writing up your work as a narrative: problem, process, decisions, outcome. This is what actually gets you interviews.
( Curriculum — 17 weeks )
Fundamentals
The grammar of visual design, and enough of the tools to start making real things with it.
- Composition and hierarchy
- Grids, spacing and alignment
- Typography and type scales
- Colour theory and palettes
- Contrast and legibility
- Illustrator: paths and the pen tool
- Photoshop: masking and correction
- Redrawing existing work to learn
Vector, image & layout
Getting properly good with the two tools the job runs on, and laying out work that has to hold a reader.
- Shape building and geometry
- Icon and illustration basics
- Retouching and compositing
- Editorial and poster layout
- Type on a grid, at length
- Image and type together
- Mockups that do not oversell
- Critique: giving and taking it
Identity & print
From a single mark to a system a business can use everywhere, and the production knowledge to get it printed right.
- Research and moodboarding a brand
- Logo sketching and reduction
- Identity systems and applications
- Writing brand guidelines
- Stationery and collateral
- Packaging and dielines
- Print production: CMYK, bleed, stock
- Presenting work to a client
Social, motion & portfolio
The work that pays the bills between identity projects, and packaging everything so it gets replies.
- Social template systems
- Campaign and ad creative
- Motion basics in After Effects
- Exporting for every platform
- Writing case studies
- Portfolio structure and curation
- Building your portfolio site
- Freelance rates, briefs and scope
( Tools you'll master )
( Projects you'll build )
Brand identity
A complete identity for a real or invented business: mark, type, colour, applications and a written guideline document someone else could follow.
Print or packaging piece
An editorial spread or a packaging design taken all the way to a production-ready file — bleed, trim, colour space, the lot.
Social campaign kit
A template system and a full set of campaign creative for one brand, in every format the platforms actually ask for.
Portfolio site & case studies
Your own portfolio, built and live, with three case studies that explain decisions rather than just showing pictures.
( Where this leads )
( Is this you? )
A good fit if
- You notice when things look wrong, even if you cannot yet say why
- You want to make logos, identities, print and campaign work
- You are willing to redo work after feedback, repeatedly
- You are prepared to defend your decisions rather than say 'it felt right'
Probably not yet if
- You want to design apps, dashboards or software interfaces — that is UI/UX Design, track 07
- You take critique personally — this track runs on critique
- You are looking for templates rather than a skill
- You cannot spend time on your portfolio outside class
Portfolio over certificate.
No design employer has ever hired someone for a certificate. They hire for the portfolio, and specifically for what your case studies reveal about how you think. So the last month of this track is spent almost entirely on writing your work up properly — the problem, the constraints, what you tried, what you rejected, and what actually happened.
You will leave with a live portfolio site and three written case studies, reviewed by a mentor before you send it anywhere.
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