Graphic Design Portfolio for 15 - 17 Year Olds
- Level(s) of Study: Short course
- Course Fee:
£525
- Start Date(s): 28 July 2025
- Duration: Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, one week
- Study Mode(s): Part-time
- Campus: City Campus
- Entry Requirements: More information
Introduction:
Course dates:
28 July - 1 August 2025, Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm
Develop your creative skills on this graphic design summer course and generate striking designs for your portfolio, ideal for the next generation of ambitious designers.
You'll work alongside like-minded creatives, exploring all aspects of visual communication in a vibrant studio environment.
This course will provide you with the fundamentals of graphic design and will introduce you to designing with a focus on making and experimentation.
With an emphasis on communication and visualisation skills, you’ll create artwork from the point of view of a creative thinker and as an advocate for a cause and social change, and any other ideas you’d like to communicate.
You’ll build portfolio-standard work that’ll support a college or university application and will help you to gain further experience and transferable skills in effective design.
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You’ll be part of a design community in our creative studio culture; one that promotes discussion and collaboration, and encourages experimentation and the constant swapping of ideas. -
With a limited class size you'll have the one-to-one attention you need to ensure you leave with the skills to continue developing your portfolio. -
Benefit from learning with an experienced tutor who has established links to the profession and significant experience working in varied practices. -
On successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance.
Doing your Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential Award?
This course can count as your Gold DofE Residential Award and is an amazing opportunity to make new friends and memories. It will be fun and gently challenging, allowing you to follow your passion and discover talents you never knew you had.
DofE participants must book both the course and accommodation on campus for this to count towards your Gold Award.
You must also attend the social events that are planned on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and you must plan and attend your own social activities with other participants on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Here's what our previous attendees have said:
‘We explored aspects of graphic design unknown to me before, created a final design that can be used in my portfolio. The teacher was very helpful and let us explore and create freely, and we met and worked with a professional. It was great! I learned a lot!'
‘Very fun five days, thank you!’
‘Craig is very approachable and helpful, thank you.’
'From doing this course I have gained Adobe illustrator skills and I’ve learnt about the principles of design.'
'I most enjoyed creating a zine, working in illustrator and making a poster.'
'Illustrator is amazing and there is much more to graphic design than I originally thought.'
What you’ll study
You’ll be encouraged to think creatively during your time at NTU, gaining technical skills based on a design brief around a current social, political or environmental issue.
Practical tasks will be set each day, culminating in exciting visuals suitable for a portfolio.
The tasks set will challenge preconceptions about the things around you and will help you develop, explore and experiment with unusual starting points.
By the end of the course
You'll have the beginnings of a portfolio of work, one that has been produced in an informal and creative, yet challenging, environment.
You’ll leave with a real hand-on experience of what it is like to be a design student at university, and an understanding of what admissions tutors are looking for.
Social events
We appoint NTU Student Ambassadors who host social events on Monday and Wednesday evening to help you make friends across the whole of our summer school programme for 15-17 year olds, which are free to attend.
- learn about and practise the process behind effective graphic design
- be introduced to the language associated with graphic design
- consider formal elements such as colour, layout, composition and typography
- discuss current events and issues and their impact on design
- practise creating graphic design content that speaks to your audience
- make a design a day to experiment and get ideas flowing
- appreciate how the choices we make with regards to design and typography shape the tone of a message.
How you’re taught
This course will be delivered in person on Nottingham Trent University city campus.
96% of previous course attendees were satisfied with the course, received the attention they needed and would consider doing another short course at NTU.
Contact hours
You will receive 25 contact hours of quality tuition with an experienced tutor.
Careers and employability
The course is designed to give you a real experience of university life, make new friends who share similar interests and develop your portfolio so that ultimately, you can make an informed decision about your future.
On successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, which will further enhance your CV.
Campus and facilities
You will be based in the School of Art and Design on the City Campus.
You’ll find collaborative working spaces where you develop your sketches and concepts, and IT suites equipped with industry standard software including Adobe Creative Cloud.
You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing.
Entry requirements
Level: Open to all
Entry requirement: You should have an enthusiasm for design, communication and visual arts, and an interest in developing your creative and technical skills.
You must be 15, 16 or 17 years old at the time of the course in order to attend.
Fees and funding
The fee for this course is £525.
Payment is due at the time of booking.
Secure your place with a deposit - If you're booking more than two months before the course starts, we can accept a £200 deposit to secure your place, and the balance is due one month before the course starts.
Your course fees cover the cost of studies and include great benefits such as the use of our modern library and free use of the IT equipment and software on the campus during your course.
Please bring with you on the first day:
- Layout pad
- Basic drawing equipment: a selection of pencils and marker pens, as well as other mark making materials
- Scalpel and Ruler
- Digital camera, useful but not essential
- Masking tape.
Read our booking terms and conditions.
Need accommodation?
Accommodation can be booked separately to the course; the rooms are only a few minutes’ walk from our studios and classrooms, and cost £259 per week, which is ideal if you're looking to be based in Nottingham's lively city centre and want an economical place to stay.
These are single rooms with a private bathroom in shared apartments in Nottingham Trent University’s city campus accommodation.
If you're aged 16 or 17 then you can stay unaccompanied with agreement from a parent/guardian (to support safeguarding, all guests aged 16 and 17 will be accommodated together in the same halls of residence and there is a dedicated Warden available).
If you're aged 15 then you can stay as long as you are accompanied by a parent/guardian (you must book two separate rooms and let us know so we can place you in rooms next to each other).
This option is particularly popular with students completing their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential Award.
Find out more and book your accommodation here.
Looking to turn your one-week course into a two-week experience?
If you can match this with any second course, you’ll receive a 10% refund on your course fees (email the short course team with your order number to claim the refund).
How to apply
You can book this course for the following dates via the NTU online store:
28 July - 1 August 2025, Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm
Browse all our summer courses for 15 – 17 year olds.
Any questions?
Contact the short course team:
- Email: creativeshortcourses@ntu.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2813