Graphic Design

To succeed in graphic design, you need to be able to support your talent and drive with highly-focused and hands-on design education. VCAD's graphic design program gives you the knowledge, skills and professional connections you need to launch your career in graphic design.

We cover all the basis from colour theory, drawing and typography to standard software used in the industry— this program will teach you the theoretical and practical skills you need to turn your creative ideas into reality. Students will build a portfolio of designs for packaging, advertising, publications, websites and branding.

Graduates of this program will have the confidence, skills, and portfolio to apply for graphic design jobs in any industry.

Please check with the campus for availability.

Job Opportunities

• Graphic Designer
• Illustrator
• Artist  
• Medical or Scientific Illustrator
• Layout Designer
• Page Designer
• Graphic Artist
• Advertising Designers Advertising Designers are responsible for creating ad campaigns to increase sales or awareness through design, layout and messaging.
• UX/UI Designers 

Skills Gained

• Propose creative solutions to design problems.
• Communicate ideas using color.
• Create digital graphics and illustrations.
• Determine the appropriate media based on project requirements.
• Manage project and time constraints.
• Optimize the readability of typography.
• Visually assess photographic images on quality and effectiveness.
• Produce graphic documents of high resolution.

Courses Timeline

Your program begins with teaching you the fundamental skills necessary for your future in design. These traditional, digital and informational skills give you a strong foundation in colour theory, history and application basics — all focused on building your skills and knowledge to succeed in the fashion industry.

Term 1

Drawing I
This course develops students' perceptual and descriptive skills through drawing media, techniques and subject matter by focusing on elements and organization principles of drawing. Students will learn contour lines, positive & negative space, perspective, sighting of angles and measurements of relationships. By mastering basic skills and experimenting with techniques and materials, students will begin to explore creative expression beyond preconceived boun..

Photoshop I
Through this 'hands-on' course, the student will learn the fundamentals of design, advanced features and tips to prepare images for digital output and print. By the end of this course, the student will be able to create, modify, and enhance sophisticated images using raster editing tools and features; craft special effects; work in 3D space; and prepare files for export to various applications in web, mobile, print, and manufacturing.

Colour & Design
Understanding colour and design principles through exploration and application across media, visual, and applied design genres. This course will introduce students to the fundamental principles of colour theory through design, such as layout, composition, balance, colour science as well as a diverse range of colour theories, and how to employ them creatively. These concepts will be reinforced through specific practical exercises, and activities that will serve to d.

Illustrator I
This course introduces the students to vector image editing using Adobe Illustrator. By the end of this course, the student will be able to create, modify, and enhance vector artwork, craft special effects, work in 3D space, and prepare files for export to variations applications in web, mobile, print, and manufacturing.

Term 2

Typography
This course examines letterforms, fonts, type, and typography. Students will learn how typography evolved from basic symbols to the present-day's sophisticated fonts and letterforms. Students will discover the fundamentals of working with type, including the components, typographic measurement units, and typefaces for classical and modern fonts. Outcomes will demonstrate the potential of innovative typography, the functional foundation, and its place and import...

Digital Photography
This course combines technical lessons in digital cameras and related technology with the direction needed to craft bespoke outcomes and beautiful imagery. Students will develop compositional, photo-illustrative skills to capture public narratives and editorial records. As students develop technical skills, creative approaches and applications for photography will be pursued and utilized in final advanced design solutions such as advertising, product photography, a...

Life Drawing I
This course will lay the foundation for a robust understanding of anatomy for applied illustration purposes. Topics emphasize a variety of figure drawing techniques applicable to both human, and animal morphology, helping to tie the subject matter into later 3D, and illustration expectations.

Concept Development
This course will apply human-centred design to frame learning and develop solutions to design problems, emphasizing the various techniques and tools used in design thinking, conceptualizing, ideating, and processes. Through projects exploring UI/UX and creative fluidity, students will learn to integrate research, problem-solving, project development, and critical thinking techniques to develop solutions to design challenges while focusing on the audience and user e...

Term 3

Photoshop II
This course explores raster-design software where students learn photo editing techniques, mobile design, and video and 3D editing. This course addresses new technical skills while focusing on understanding and seeing the problems that hold digital artists back from creating beautiful and believable works. Assignments will explore the development processes, design thinking, briefs, presentations, and project reports.

Publication Design
Through wireframing, planning, style guidelines, single, and multi-page documents, master layout pages, colour palettes, libraries, style sheets, tables, and charts, this course focuses on the design of publications that combine grids, types, graphics, and colours through art direction processes while addressing commonplace printing and publication challenges, design conceptualization, ideation for various outputs, topics, and audiences.

Electronic Design II
This course explores the criteria for the print, interactive, online, and mobile design applications and their integration by balancing a robust understanding of professional workflows, project, and file management, with a variety of applied uses touching on information visualization, style guides, rule books, and other requirements for the development of professional quality and technique-focused projects.

Packaging Design
This course introduces the fundamentals of package design including the typical package materials, processes, decisions, and production of a package — including current trends and concerns surrounding packaging. Through case studies, students will learn to combine creative design concepts and materials to develop packaging solutions that focus on user experience.

Term 4

Advertising Design I
This course focuses on branded storytelling and narratives for advertising and their integrability. Students will explore the relationship between graphic design and advertising through contemporary examples of promotion and marketing, target markets, consumerism, visual stimuli, advertising theories and strategies, product placement, and how they impact the design process. The course will explore some of the contemporary issues and challenges in design.

Experimental Media I
This course explores the production of interactive multimedia projects by designing animated prototypes. Students will prototype elements, components, and UI patterns within a graphical user interface, a combination of animation, audio, video, gesture control and navigation patterns and receive feedback using various input/output methods. Interface types will range from websites to native apps used in the game industry, education, simulators, computer-based training...

Illustrator II
This course focuses on professional-level vector illustration development covering a range of styles as determined by each student’s professional aspirations. Students learn technical competencies, art direction, market research, and creative approaches to vector design software. Additionally, students will apply knowledge of integrated software design to work fluidly between vector, raster, layout, and moving media software.

Web Development I
This course introduces the fundamentals of web site development. The students will learn about the structure, and components of code-based languages, and website programming. Students will learn to work with text, tables, tags, images, forms, and hyperlinks to design, and create a fully functional website.

Term 5

Advertising Design II
This course will explore the strategic role of graphic design in advertising. Students learn the relationship of context advertising through the current trends in promotion and marketing, establishing a target market, consumerism, visual stimuli, advertising theories and strategies, product placement, and how they impact the design process. Students will learn the importance of meeting deadlines, professional presentation, and attention to detail when designing adv..

Experimental Media II
In this course, students will build the skills to create interactive content in various outcomes, from animation to video production, projection mapping, application design, and augmented and virtual reality design. Students will continue to apply and learn the fundamentals of user interface design with applications and websites while understanding the functionality, standards, and patterns interface design requires within the context of experiential design.

Web Development II
This course will combine knowledge gained from earlier print, publication, web, and dynamic media courses to develop, manage, and produce a variety of electronic outputs with a focus on technical capacity and production management skills.

Portfolio Development II
This course will prepare students for graduation and their final portfolio and be able to explain and defend their portfolio and pieces to a panel of their peers, faculty, and industry via presentations, written defences, portfolios, and portfolio events. All portfolio components should demonstrate the student's mastery of the program's core competencies while highlighting the uniqueness of their work.

Costs & Requirements

• High school graduation or equivalent  (From an English language teaching institution)
• OR Mature student status (19 years of age upon starting classes and passing the college’s admissions test.)

For tuition prices and costs, fill out the request info form to speak with an admissions representative.