Semester III:
Eliciting support
Many of us have experienced this to one degree or another, but for those who have really struggled with this idea, this will hit very close to home. This semester's course in Eliciting Support will walk you though the struggle of being in a relationship or having friends and family who don't support you or struggle to do so in your pursuit of a creative career. We'll be looking at communication cues and practices and the laws of reciprocity when working on getting your significant other or family on board with your creative business.
the art of saying no
Learning how to say NO to potential business, clients, family, friends and even yourself will help you build a stronger and more successful creative business.
This course is a great companion to the Creative Process, Branding and Pricing courses in knowing who you are as a business owner, where you're going, and how to get there.
Saying no to potential work and clients seems like a backwards way to grow your business, we know! But in this course we'll get into how valuable it truly is and how to use it in your favor to better target your ideal clients, create more time in your work day, only get the work you want, and stay sane through all of it.
We will also explore the delicate and necessary art of "spin" aka the best ways to say no.
paper + printing flow chart
Commercial printing, whether you outsource or print in-house, is never as easy as just hitting Ctrl+P. Learn the ins and outs, save yourself time, money and sanity as we walk you through choosing the correct design + paper + printing method for yourself and your clients from the start. If you've ever struggled to finish a project on time due to printing snafus, last minute design changes based on printing methods, or struggled to reconcile your client's vision with your printing capabilities, this is the course for you!
In addition to the nitty gritty of actual printing, we'll also be looking at helping your clients make their paper/printing decisions correctly through education, correct presentation and bringing in some "spin" that we'll learn in the Art of Saying No.
Creative: digitizing calligraphy and artwork
Do you have awesome artwork or calligraphy skills on paper and no idea how to translate that to the computer? Digitizing your work is the first step in translating your beautiful artwork from paper to pixel. We'll be starting at the beginning and walking you through scanning, editing and using calligraphy and artwork in your layouts and designs. This will be a beginner to intermediate course.
Although instruction will be using specific examples and methods in the Adobe Creative Suite (specifically, Photoshop), we do not require you to purchase Photoshop in order to take the course. The same principles could be applied to other photo-editing software, including free alternatives like GIMP, or take advantage of the free trial from Adobe to see if Photoshop is for you.
CREATIVE: ribbon + fabric
We love spools of dreamy hand-dyed silk ribbon from other creatives as much as anyone. Trust me, we have boxes on boxes of ribbons in the office! But sometimes you just need a few pieces for a small project, or perhaps you just can't quite find the right color to match your project. Maybe the price is too high for you and your client, or you just love fabric and would love to know how to dye it yourself.
No matter the reason, this course will teach you the basics of sourcing, dyeing, and using fabric in your creative pursuits. We'll look at everything including how to tear fabric down to ribbons, dye fabric to match specific projects, and use fabric for large scale lettering and painting projects.
As a bonus, we'll also touch on how to price fabric-related projects, using principles we discussed in Pricing I and II.
CREATIVE: line botanicals
Botanical sketches are traditionally very detailed and precise. These make for beautiful drawings and paintings, and we absolutely love them!
This course, on the other hand, will explore a more whimsical interpretation of line botanicals. We'll be learning how to loosen up a bit and create botanicals with loose movement, imprecisions. I'll walk you through how to embrace imperfections in your piece and stylize your botanical drawings.
For this course, we'll use both pen and brush to explore this style so you can see how it can apply to many different mediums.
BONUS CONTENT
PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP
Registering for any Prep School course grants you admission to our online private Facebook group; a place to share our struggles, get encouragement, share successes, ask questions, problem solve, and create a community of artists striving to become better together. Any course also earns you our "I'm attending Design House Prep School 2017" social media badge to share across your social media platforms to help spread the word about our community.
LIVE Q&A
We will hold a live Q&A session at least once each semester to chat, get to know one another, address specific or commonly asked questions, and further our community.
HOMEWORK
Each course also includes a homework assignment you can share on the Facebook group for peer review or on social media. Assignments provide you a jumping board to process your ideas or put into practice skills you've learned during the course.
Since this is the launch semester for Semester III, any homework shared in the Facebook group before November 16, 2017 will get direct feedback from the DHPS team.
Bonus videos
Every semester, new classes will come with a bonus video or two. We usually choose topics that are current, relevant or interesting in our industry, but may not take up a full course.
COURSE COMPLETION INCENTIVES
Why?
Check out our blog post where we ramble about why we think it's important to finish the online courses we purchase rather than letting them languish on the internet, and why we're rewarding our students who do! :)
SPecial access
Students who have completed their courses by November 16th will get to participate in a Live Q&A session just for them! Less students in the Q&A means more time to go in-depth into your questions and issues with specific examples so we can really work through and try to find solutions. Prior to the Q&A, you’ll get the chance to send in your specific questions to make sure we answer everything for you!
You might ask, how is this different from our regular school-wide live sessions? We like to use those as a chance to make announcements, discuss the school, and get to hang out with you, our awesome students! In comparison, these sessions will focus on problem-solving and us being there to help you specifically.
even SPecial-er access
Finishing your classes by November 16 will automatically enter you into a random drawing for a 45 minute one-on-one mentor session with Victoria to ask or discuss anything you would like.
Seriously, anything!
Three lucky students will be chosen at random, to be announced late November, and we’ll get the mentoring on the books for January.