Visual Communication

Graphic Design & Illustration Courses

At City Lit, our exciting range of graphic design and ilustration courses will give you a creative insight into working with images and text in an emerging and innovative area. Explore a range of concepts and creative processes, within the areas of graphic design, illustration, children’s book illustration and animation, learning how to produce work visually in a diverse and exciting way. 

Working with industry professionals and experienced tutors in our fully equipped design studios, students will have access to everything they need to complete their next creative challenge. Our studios offer space for creativity with all the equipment your need, including Apple Mac computers, Adobe CC software, Wacom tablets, a range of printers and scanners including access to our 3D printing and laser cutting digital suite.

We encourage playful experimentation, working with both analogue and digital tools. Our courses range from drafting story boards and cartoon design to film poster graphics, from typography and magazine layout to printed creative packaging and digital illustrations.

We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.

To arrange a conversation with our Visual communication coordinator about your interests, options and courses available, please contact our Visual Arts team at visualarts@citylit.ac.uk  

Courses available both in-person and online

We offer a range of long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, we've got the class for you.

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  1. Drawing cartoons workshop
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 20 Sep 2024 (and 3 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Stephen Marchant
    Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication Workshops.



    Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.



    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no conceptual or contextual elements, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
  2. Children's book illustration: portfolio preparation
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Dee Shulman
    This course is for experienced Children’s Book Illustration learners who wish to put together a portfolio of their illustration work for applications to City Lit Advanced courses, higher education, or agents and publishers. Some learners may also wish to create a ‘dummy’ picture book, for the same purposes.
    Full fee £499.00 Senior fee £399.00 Concession £324.00
  3. Developing graphic novels
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 31 May 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Stephen Marchant
    Our 'Developing' courses help you take your next step in your chosen creative field.







    Comics – once considered lowbrow, or seen as exclusively for children, now occupy a higher cultural domain. Partly thanks to a re-brand, (as ‘Graphic Novels’), no weighty subject is off-limits. A graphic novel has even been nominated for The Booker Prize!







    Alongside official publishing channels, exists a lively ‘zine’ culture, where comic and graphic-novel artists can legitimately self-publish and sell their work through a network of independent shops and fairs.







    Learn how to create Comics and Graphic-novels with City Lit, and – once you have developed your practice – how to navigate this thriving sector.
    Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00
  4. Design with Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 7 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Gita Hahn
    A thorough, step-by-step introduction to Adobe InDesign and Photoshop – programs widely used in the creative industries. Learn and integrate the basics of Adobe’s flagship publishing and image editing programs. Explore a range of techniques that combine page layout and design with pixel based photographic images.
    Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00
    Rating:
    80% of 100
  5. Procreate for illustration workshop
    Course start date:  Fri 7 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lucia Vinti
    Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication WORKSHOPS.







    Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.







    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no theory or context, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00
  6. Botanical illustration workshop
    Course start date:  Fri 7 Jun 2024 (and 6 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lucia Vinti
    Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication workshops.







    Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.







    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no conceptual or contextual elements, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00
  7. Illustrating animals workshop
    Course start date:  Fri 2 May 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Ciara Flood
    Animals are all around us – even in London! From Trafalgar Square’s flocks of pigeons, to rodents on the Underground, to the dog-filled squares and parks. Despite their ubiquity, animals are notoriously hard to draw – as, anatomically speaking, they’re so different to humans – as well as to each other! And, they don’t like to pose!







    Learn how to overcome these challenges in our ‘Illustrating Animals’ workshop.







    Our Workshops enable you to take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool.



    They throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.







    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no theory or context, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
  8. Design with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 4 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Gita Hahn
    A thorough, step-by-step introduction to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator – programs widely used by designers and illustrators in the creative industries. Learn and experiment with a range of techniques that integrate vector and pixel-based images for design and illustration.
    Full fee £349.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £227.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  9. City Lit Children's book illustration course
    Course start date:  Fri 4 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Dee Shulman
    This 20-week course will take you on a journey from beginner to intermediate, direct.







    The Children’s Book industry is thriving, largely due to globally rising literacy levels, and a growing awareness of the importance of early childhood education. As a result, Children’s Book creators are in demand.







    Our tutors will teach you the many and various skills you’ll need to illustrate books for children - from drawing and painting (analogue and digital), sequencing and pacing the narrative, to editing the images digitally and overlaying text.







    You'll learn about the children’s publishing sector; gaining a sense of the different genres and markets for children's books, and where your illustration style might fit.
    Full fee £1,599.00 Senior fee £1,279.00 Concession £1,039.00
  10. Children's book illustration studio
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 25 Oct 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Tim Ellis
    City Lit Studios provide time each week for you to commit to working on a personal project or portfolio, alongside your peers. A tutor will be on-hand to provide insights and guidance, as and when you need it.







    Studios are for experienced learners with a burgeoning creative practice they wish to hone, in a supportive environment. For example, those who have completed a Beginners and Developing course in a relevant subject, or have equivalent industry experience.
    Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00
  11. Procreate for illustration
    Course start date:  Fri 28 Mar 2025 (and 3 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lucia Vinti
    Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication Workshops.







    Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.







    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no theory or context, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
  12. Storyboards and narrative illustration
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 13 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Learn how to tell a story in pictures!







    Storyboarding (telling a story through a sequence of images) is an essential skill for children’s book creators, illustrators, and moving-image practitioners. Not only do drawings need to communicate character, setting and action, but these must be consistent across the whole sequence. Quite a tricky skill to master, but one that will enable creators to get ‘buy in’ from editors and art directors at the early stages of a project.







    -



    Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication Workshops.







    Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.







    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no conceptual or contextual elements, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
  13. Storyboards and narrative illustration
    Course start date:  Fri 13 Jun 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Learn how to tell a story in pictures!







    Storyboarding (telling a story through a sequence of images) is an essential skill for children’s book creators, illustrators, and moving-image practitioners. Not only do drawings need to communicate character, setting and action, but these must be consistent across the whole sequence. Quite a tricky skill to master, but one that will enable creators to get ‘buy in’ from editors and art directors at the early stages of a project.







    -



    Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication Workshops.







    Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.







    Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no conceptual or contextual elements, although this varies by course.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
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