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.

Items 31-45 of 57

Page
per page
Set Descending Direction
  1. Affinity photo: introduction
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 18 Jul 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Michael Harding
    Affinity Photo is a British engineered and fully featured cross-platform editing alternative to Adobe Photoshop. For photographers at all levels. We’ll show you how to use it effectively to process and edit your images to the highest standard.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00
  2. Graphic design collage workshop
    Course start date:  Mon 29 Jul 2024

    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.



    In this workshop, learn the importance of ‘play’ and risk-taking in the design process – through the brilliant medium of collage, which perfectly lends itself to consequence-free visual exploration.







    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. City Lit Pro: Adobe Illustrator intensive
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Gita Hahn
    A comprehensive introduction to creating vector graphics using Illustrator. Learn how to use the pen tool, shapes, brushes, patterns, live trace and effects and gain experience in techniques and strategies useful to graphic designers and illustrators.
    Full fee £349.00 Senior fee £349.00 Concession £349.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  4. Illustrated Maps: summer school intensive
    Course start date:  Mon 5 Aug 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lucia Vinti
    Learn to create unique illustrated maps using a combination of analogue and digital techniques. We’ll create illustrations of local attractions, landmarks and people; learn how to create a cohesive colour palette; and combine text and image to create a balanced composition. You’ll end this intensive and fun course with an illustrated map that captures the character of your favourite place.
    Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00
  5. Developing graphic design
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 12 Sep 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Pam Williams
    Our 'Developing' courses help you take your next step in a chosen creative field.







    Graphic Design is everywhere; in our books, magazines, and newspapers. Emblazoning packaging at the corner shop to the mall. On our screens- phones, TVs, computers and tablets. To say it’s important would be an understatement.







    Don’t just consume. Learn how to use image and type to communicate your messages, emotions, and ideas. Beyond this, learn about the movements and styles which have shaped the field of Graphic Design over the years, and how to find your place there.
    Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00
  6. Typography, typefaces and font workshop
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 30 Sep 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Andrew McCarten
    All designers know, images are powerful. But have you ever considered the look of your text? In other words, the typeface? It’s amazing how many designers overlook this powerful aspect of communication. Words are powerful (of course), but it’s not just what they say, it’s how they say it. On this workshop, learn how to harness the power of type.







    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
  7. Illustrating animals workshop
    Course start date:  Wed 2 Oct 2024 (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. 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
  11. Introduction to graphic novels
    Course start date:  Tue 15 Oct 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Our 'Introduction' courses provide a perfect way-in to a 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 £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00
  12. 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
  13. From traditional to digital illustration workshop
    Course start date:  Wed 30 Oct 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Adobe Creative Suite is the principal software used by Illustrators and Designers all over the world. On this course, learn how to take scribbly sketches and inky splotches into Adobe Photoshop and transform them into illustrations, collages, pattern designs… the possibilities are almost endless; thankfully, you will also be taught a crucial skill of digital illustration - knowing when to stop!







    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
  14. Adobe Illustrator: stage 1
    Course start date:  Thu 31 Oct 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Gita Hahn
    Explore basic design and illustration techniques using Adobe Illustrator – the key high-end graphics software used to create logos and icons. Discover what you can achieve using paths, pens, colour, and type as you learn about infographics and designing with vectors.
    Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00
    Rating:
    96% of 100
  15. Illustrating people and places workshop
    Course start date:  Mon 4 Nov 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lucia Vinti
    ‘People’ and/or ‘place’ are present in most illustrations – and yet you’d be amazed how many illustrators try to avoid them!







    If you’re one of these ‘avoiders’, or someone who wants to improve their existing style of tackling these subject-matters, this course is for you!







    Through a combination of drawing on location, and from films and photographs back in the studio, you’ll get your ‘people and places’ practice mastered.







    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
Page
per page
Set Descending Direction

Can't see a course you want?

Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.

Add me to waiting list