An Unexpected Arrival to the Passion of Graphic Design.

Hi. I’m Liliana, a graduate in Business Management with Marketing, aspiring to freelance in graphic design. I have started at the Creative Design School in 2024, after graduating from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

LILIANA HORVATH, EDINBURGH, UK

GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 2

Might be a cliché way of starting an article, but it is a fundamental stepping stone in me ultimately associating graphic design with passion. I have always loved creating. As a child, I would make puppets of socks, build countless figures of chestnuts, use magazine pieces to make art or build pictures out of cork pieces. However, I was never exceptional at drawing so I didn’t consider design as a viable career path.

After graduating from university…

After having graduated from Business Management with Marketing, I knew I wanted to be creative. I first thought copywriting in advertising would be the most suitable for me, as it would have allowed me to constantly come up with ideas and always doing something new. To increase my chances of getting a job in advertising, I found the Advertising Design course at the Creative Design School and thought I would utilise the newfound skills to better communicate ideas.

My Design Journey

After having graduated from Business However, probably right around the very first module, I realised that I loved design and it satisfied my need for creative activities, and explained what I wanted to do with my life. But, not having done much design before this, halfway through the course I changed to a lower level course, Graphic Design Level 2, to understand the fundamentals of design.

About the Course

The Graphic Design Level 2 course was absolutely perfect for me and help me understand design and increase my knowledge. Throughout the course, I have learnt about layouts, editorial graphic design, corporate identity, brand identity, and so on. This course helped me understand design process, which I believe has founded my grasp on design. Before learning about the process, I would come up with an idea and jump straight onto designing it. This usually meant that it didn’t work out as I imagined it and I ended up redoing the whole thing, again and again. But the course’s requirement of showing the process meant that I had to force myself to take a step back and slow down, and approach the final design from a different angle.

The course applied a very practical approach, which not only helped me learn the use of software but ensured that I get to enjoy learning. I got to design book covers, brand identities, magazines, and packaging. The assignments also encouraged the exploration of different styles, which I believe was the best way to get me out of my comfort zone and find love for varying design styles.

What’s next…

Now that I finished my course, I will be trying myself out in freelancing, reaching out to magazines and small businesses.

I honestly really enjoyed this course and would highly recommend it to anyone who is even remotely interested in design. You not only receive design knowledge and skills, but strong 1-1 support, whether that is career guidance, a bit of motivational speech, or tailored design advice.