Graphic Design & AI Creativity

Week 1 — Design Basics and Colour

• What graphic designers do and where they work
• Design principles: balance, contrast, alignment, hierarchy
• Colour theory and building colour palettes
• Raster vs vector, resolution, RGB vs CMYK
• Canva quick start for fast designs

Week 2 — Adobe Photoshop Part 1

• Workspace, layers and selections
• Cropping, resizing and colour correction
• Masks and non-destructive editing
• Retouching and background removal
• Practical: product photo edit

Week 3 — Adobe Photoshop Part 2

• Blending modes and adjustment layers
• Photo manipulation and compositing
• Text effects and mockups
• Generative Fill and AI features in Photoshop
• Practical: social media ad design

Week 4 — Adobe Illustrator Part 1

• Workspace, shapes and the pen tool
• Pathfinder and shape builder
• Colour, gradients and strokes
• Icons and simple illustrations
• Practical: icon set

Week 5 — Adobe Illustrator Part 2

• Image trace and vector illustration
• Patterns and repeat designs
• Infographics and charts
• Working with artboards and export
• Practical: vector illustration poster

Week 6 — Typography and Layout

• Choosing and pairing fonts
• Grids, margins and white space
• Text hierarchy and readability
• Layout for posters and flyers
• Practical: event poster

Week 7 — Logo Design

• Logo types and the logo design process
• Research, mood boards and sketching
• Sketch to vector logo in Illustrator
• Logo variations and colour versions
• Practical: logo for a real business

Week 8 — Brand Identity

• Brand guidelines: logo use, colours, fonts
• Business cards, letterheads and envelopes
• Brand stationery and templates
• Presenting a brand to a client
• Practical: complete brand kit

Week 9 — Adobe InDesign and Print Design

• InDesign workspace, pages and master pages
• Brochures, menus and flyers
• Multi-page documents and catalogues
• Print setup: bleed, margins, CMYK and export
• Practical: tri-fold brochure

Week 10 — Social Media and Ad Design

• Post, story, cover and banner sizes for every platform
• Carousel and template design
• Ad creatives that convert
• Simple motion posts and GIFs
• Practical: 10-post social media pack

Week 11 — Packaging, Mockups and AI Tools

• Packaging and label design
• Realistic mockups for presentation
• AI tools: Firefly, Gemini, Canva AI
• Writing image prompts and editing AI output
• Using AI responsibly in client work

Week 12 — Portfolio and Freelancing

• Building a Behance portfolio
• Presenting work with mockups and case studies
• Finding design clients on Upwork and LinkedIn
• Pricing, revisions and client briefs
• Final project review and certificate