6 Graphic Design courses in Prestonpans

OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Graphic design is a crucial tool that makes sure that you communicate with your people in an efficient manner. Graphic designers are trained professionals who understand the technique to persuade, engage, and entertain audiences using various elements. This course covers all the modules with the objective to understand the key points of Graphic Designing. The course is framed in a way to cover the entire major and minor subjects in co-relation to art and design. It will highlight a wide range of working methods, practices and techniques. At the end of the course, you will learn various technical skills that will encourage you to investigate new approaches, combine existing techniques and also explore old techniques to generate innovative outputs. 

From propaganda to advertising, posters are a ubiquitous, powerful vehicle to take a message to the masses. Over four weeks, learn how to approach poster design in a creative and practical way. Although some computer work will be introduced, it will only be used as another production tool, participants will be encouraged to experiment with analogue techniques such as collage and hand-generated type. You will learn about the history of poster design; learn to use aspects of Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop; develop approaches to letterform and layout. The emphasis of this course is on the development of a set of posters from research and design through to output. Week 1: History History of Poster Design: Looking at significant and famous posters from around the globe and their impact on society. Practical activity: After a quick introduction to InDesign we will recreate one of these posters, studying the component parts and their relationships to one another. Homework: Think of a concept for your design. What is it for? Who is your target audience? Where and how will it be displayed? Select a favourite poster to bring in or discuss with the group in week 2. Week 2: Image We will begin by discussing participant posters they have brought in to share and look at positives and potential negatives within the designs. Image selection can be a key factor to the success of your poster campaign. We will think about the choices between photography and illustration looking at examples of how this is done successfully. Think about the different ways we can generate and use images. Practical activity: Consider what medium the image might be and how it can be created. Learn about flatbed/film scanner for potential use in image creation. Week 3: Fonts We will look at how typography impacts designs and the messages that it can convey by itself. Consider various approaches to how we can generate type. How typographic selections work alongside selected images. Practical activity: Work through a few typographic workshops thinking about how typographic choices will alter the message you are trying to convey. We will consider various ways and techniques of creating type for our poster. Homework: Developing your typographic solution further, if required. Work through variations of layout. Week 4: Output Continue working on our posters making final tweaks and selecting the poster that is our most successful design for output. We will look at the various formats for output and how we prepare our posters for print. Look at usage of different poster sizes – why use one over the other?? Practical activity: Size your final poster and get it ready for output (if working analogue, scan final poster and upscale).   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

Do you use video as a tool to promote your charity, business, organisation or campaigns? And if you don’t, do you feel as if you ought to? Videos account for more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic. So the pressure to use video as a marketing and PR tool has increased enormously. But the cost can be prohibitive. Using a video production company [https://roughhousemedia.co.uk/rough-house-services/video-production-content-creation/], such as ours, might be ideal, but for many it is out of reach – particularly if, like many of our clients, you’re a charity. However, there is an alternative, which more and more organisations are choosing, especially those which need to produce regular digital content. That is to produce the video yourself. Nowadays, you do not even need to invest in a video camera. All you need is your smart phone, some simple equipment you can buy on Amazon for as little as £80, plus your laptop or PC. This is why we have developed a new smartphone video training course, Smart Video. OUR SMARTPHONE VIDEO TRAINING COURSE COVERS: * Equipment – including setting up your phone, microphones, tripods and editing programmes * Planning your video * Techniques to give your films broadcast-quality polish * Getting the perfect shot – including shot sizes, positioning the camera, framing, lighting, sound, sequences and backgrounds * Filming interviews * An introduction to editing * Producing videos for social media BESPOKE TRAINING The course can be tailored to the type of videos you need to make. If most of your videos will be interviews, we’ll focus on presenting your interviewee in the best possible light – literally. If, on the other hand, you need to film buildings, events or products, we’ll tailor the course accordingly. If your video needs a script, we’ll give you tips and techniques on how to “write to pictures”, so your messages comes across well. And on all our courses, we’ll give you a guide to the best equipment and apps to use to enhance your filming and editing. The smartphone video course will be led by Paul Curran [https://roughhousemedia.co.uk/rough-house-team/] who has many years experience producing, filming and editing films and videos, for the BBC and corporate clients.

One-to-one sketching with pen and watercolour tour run by the Edinburgh Sketcher at The Arienas Collective in Edinburgh City Centre

As well as being the owner and manager of The Scottish Soapworks, Jenny is an award-winning graphic designer with many years of experience creating brands for a range of clients including Arran Aromatics, Fairtrade and Matthew Algie Coffee. These one-to-one brand design surgeries are perfect for creatives who want to start making money from selling what they make, or for existing entrepreneurs and small creative businesses who want to review their current branding. In this 1.5 hour, one-to-one brand design surgery you will discuss: your business idea; a brief to create your brand identity; and how you will apply your brand to ensure you have a recognisable 'look' across all your digital and printed products and marketing materials - everything from packaging to social media, and business cards to aprons. Jenny will follow up your session with notes from the conversation, and practical suggestions on how to design your brand, and apply it to various marketing materials. Appointments are available throughout the day and evening starting from 9.30am. More information  The Arienas Collective workshops, courses and events are run from a supportive and welcoming home-based environment within a Georgian mews home in Edinburgh’s City Centre New Town. We invite you to join us, leave any day-to-day worries behind, and immerse yourself in being creative. Spaces on our workshops and courses are limited so that our creative team of artists and makers can offer you the hands-on help and support you need to make the most of your time with us.  All the equipment and materials you will need are included in the price, unless stated otherwise, plus light refreshments (a selection of Shibui teas, coffee, hot chocolate, and sweet or savoury snacks). On full day workshops you are welcome to bring your own lunch to eat inside or out; or there are a wide range of independent sit-in or takeaway delis, cafés, and restaurants, plus supermarkets, within a 5-10 minute walk. PLEASE NOTE: Our workshop space is on the first-floor of a Georgian mews building and unfortunately we do not have lift access. The workshop space is in our home which is not nut free. Please let us know of any skin or food allergies before booking. Private workshop bookings Most of our workshops are also available to book for small private get-togethers; themed wedding and birthday celebrations; corporate team building and well-being purposes; and as in-store retail events. For larger groups, many of our workshops can be brought to a location of your choice. Please email Lynn or phone 07732 901150 for more information. Age restrictions Our workshops are planned with adults in mind. Many are suitable for teenagers, but some may require under 16s to be accompanied for insurance purposes. Please check with us before booking.

Foundation Year, Bachelors degree, Masters, no IELTS needed, Student finance support