The Program
The Graphic Design Accelerator
A live, three-month graphic design accelerator course that teaches you how to become a working designer, NOW■
Cohort One· Sep 15 – Nov 5· Office Hours to Dec 4· 15 seats
A two-way conversation, not a sales pitch.
Key Dates
What to Expect
Live classes■
Real critique■
Live classes Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00–8:15pm Pacific. Critique in every class. Plan for 4–5 hours of work outside class each week.
Design in the platform you already know — Adobe, Figma or Canva. We teach the thinking; the tool is your call.
The Curriculum
Sixteen classes■ Week by week■
Two live classes a week for eight weeks. Open a week to see exactly what each class covers.
-
Class 1 — The Red Five Method™: We Are Storytellers
What separates professional design from guesswork — the philosophy behind everything that follows.
Class 2 — AI and the Designer: The Future of DesignThe biggest question in the room, answered on day two: will there be design jobs after AI?
-
Class 3 — The Brief: Always Ask Why
Reading between the lines of what clients ask for to find what they actually need.
Class 4 — Research & Creative DirectionTurning research into direction — moodboards, competitive analysis, and creative territories.
-
Class 5 — Design Fundamentals I: Colour, Hierarchy & Composition
The visual grammar of communication — taught as decisions, not decoration.
Class 6 — Design Fundamentals II: Typography, Voice & ToneType as a brand’s voice — selection, pairing, hierarchy and readability.
-
Class 7 — Professional Software Workflow: Adobe, Figma or Canva
How working designers actually use their tools — file habits, workflow and speed.
Class 8 — Logo Design: Start With WhyMarks, wordmarks and icons built from strategy — scalable, simple, memorable.
-
Class 9 — Brand Is More Than a Logo
Thinking in systems — colour, type, imagery and usage rules, built into a brand standards guide.
Class 10 — Designing Alongside AI: Tools & WorkflowThe hands-on AI class — tools, prompt craft, ethics, and where human judgment stays irreplaceable.
-
Class 11 — Campaign Rollout: One Idea, Five Formats
One concept rolled across brochure, social, ads, banners and decks — without losing the idea.
Class 12 — Client Presentation: Selling the IdeaDesign is half the job — explaining why is the other half. Presenting, defending, and surviving ‘make it pop.’
-
Class 13 — Prepress & Production Reality
Where amateur mistakes happen — bleed, colour modes, resolution, proofing and clean handoffs.
Class 14 — Run It Like an AgencyThe operations nobody teaches — job dockets, file systems, time and payment tracking.
-
Class 15 — Career Launch: Portfolio, Resume & Finding Clients
Where you fit and how to get there — case studies, resume review, positioning and first clients.
Class 16 — The Red Five Studio ReviewYour complete final project, presented to a live review panel exactly as you would to a paying client.
Course Structure
Three phases■ Many career possibilities■
Strategy, briefs, research, design fundamentals, typography, professional software workflow. Adobe, Figma or Canva — your choice.
The classroom becomes a simulated agency. Assignments arrive as client emails — briefs, budgets, revisions, difficult feedback. Ends with your capstone defended at the Studio Review.
Live group sessions twice a week — portfolio, resume, interviews, first clients.
The System
The Red Five Method™
Taught in Class 1. The critique standard in every class after. The rubric your capstone is defended against.
AI in the Curriculum
AI won’t kill design■ It will make you a better designer■
AI runs through the program from week one. Class 2 — AI and the Designer — answers the biggest question in the room: will there be design jobs after AI? Yes there will be — for designers who evolve and become strategic thinkers. From there, AI works as your research partner in every brief, and Class 10 builds your professional AI-assisted workflow: tools, prompt craft, ethics and copyright, and where human judgment stays irreplaceable. You leave using AI the way working agencies do — making you a faster, sharper, more profitable designer.
Who It’s For
Is this for me?
- Career changers. You have always wanted to be a branding and graphic designer but don’t have the time for a full 2 or 4 year program.
- Recent grads and junior designers who know software but not the business processes of a design agency. How to find work, get clients, handle a client discovery session and feedback and bill your clients.
- Self-taught freelancers ready to raise their rates.
- Marketing/comms people who inherited design duties.
- This is for anyone who is serious, ready to do the work and get their design career going right now. The course is a condensed intensive program that requires dedication.
- People looking for a passive video course.
- Anyone who can’t commit to live classes and homework.
- Software-tutorial hunters.
Tuition
Flat rate■
No surprises■
One price for every student. No tiers, no upsells. A money-back guarantee that means it.
Employed or self-employed?
Up to 80% may be reimbursed through the B.C. Employer Training Grant — employers apply for their staff, and freelancers can apply as their own employer. See the Funding and Employer Grant pages.