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. Design with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 12 May 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Gita Hahn
    A fun and challenging introduction to these three programs, regularly used together for everything from infographics to packaging and magazine work. Learn how to integrate vector graphics, photographic images and page layout and design.
    Full fee £549.00 Senior fee £549.00 Concession £357.00
    Rating:
    91% of 100
  2. Character design workshop
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 25 May 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

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



    In this workshop, learn how to create compelling characters for illustration projects, and beyond.







    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
  3. Adobe Illustrator: a detailed introduction
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 15 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  George Stickney
    Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based graphic design and drawing application that is the industry standard for digital illustration and graphic design professionals. Illustrator can be used to create infographics, logos, icons, posters and digital artwork.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00
  4. Adobe Photoshop: a detailed introduction
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 22 Jun 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Andrea Marzano
    This course is a solid introduction to Adobe Photoshop and has been designed for students who want to learn the professional and most effective way to use Photoshop from the ground up.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00
    Rating:
    90% of 100
  5. Adobe InDesign: a detailed introduction
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 7 Jul 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Andrea Marzano
    This course is a solid introduction to Adobe InDesign and has been designed for students who want to learn the professional and most effective way to use InDesign from the ground up.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00
  6. Zine making: weekend workshop
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 5 Oct 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Pam Williams
    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 £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00
  7. Creative collage: weekend workshop
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 14 Dec 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    From the early 20th century onwards, the advent of ‘mass’ media – newspapers, magazines, leaflets, packaging - led to some of the most innovative artistic movements in Western culture: Dada, Surrealism, Bauhaus, Punk.







    Arguably, these movements (all of which centralised ‘collage’), have had more of a bearing on contemporary graphic design than anything else. Think of the countless adverts, websites, and social media posts which owe a debt to Jamie Reid’s ‘Sex Pistols’ album designs (which, in turn, owe their existence to the Dadaists).







    The methodology of collage should therefore play a role in any good design practice.







    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 £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00
  8. Film poster design: weekend workshop
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 1 Feb 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Rebecca Thomas
    Despite declining cinema audiences (as many of us now ‘stream’ films into our living rooms at home), film posters are still an essential aspect of film advertising. Physical posters still plaster the urban landscape, and digital ‘posters’ plaster our screens.







    Using iconic film posters from the 20th century as inspiration (think Saul Bass, and anything from Poland), learn how to design and create a compelling poster for your favourite film!







    -



    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 £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00
  9. Book cover design: weekend workshop
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 5 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Alison Barratt
    DO judge a book by its cover! That’s what buyers do, which publishers know only too well of course. That’s why ‘cover designer’ is a whole job in itself – often distinct from book designers (who deal with the rest of the book).







    If you’re an author/illustrator submitting picturebooks to agents and publishers – a compelling cover design is essential. And the same goes if you’re self-publishing, of course.







    Learn from a seasoned designer/illustrator all the ingredients of brilliant cover design, and, most importantly, how to create one for your book – be that something you’ve created yourself, or a favourite tome you want to pay homage to.







    You’ll journey from traditional media to Photoshop, applying the keystone principles of layout design as you go. You’ll also learn about effective typography, and how to apply type to your designs.











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    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 £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00
  10. Pet Illustration: weekend workshop
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 12 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Learn techniques to create a winning illustration of your furry/feathery/scaly little darlings! Over a fast and furious 2 days explore a dazzling range of image-making techniques: drawing and painting, photo-manipulation, collage, table-top printmaking... for starters. Take home an evocative illustration (or several) for your pet’s approval.







    -



    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 £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00
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