Art & Design Short Courses
Jump to
Art & Design short courses take place throughout the year delivered live online and on campus in subjects including curating, contemporary art, graphic design and portfolio development.
Typography - 10% Easter Discount
3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24 & 27 June 2025 | Book Typography now
“Typography is part science and part art. This course aims to acquaint you with the core principles of typography (the science) and inspire you to develop your powers of typographic expression (the art).”
Adrian Shaughnessy, Short Course Leader
The Graphic Novel: Visual Storytelling - 10% Easter Discount
30 June, 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21 & 24 July 2025 | Book The Graphic Novel now
“How we start a story can prove difficult but to make this possible we are offering you a starting point. Composition, tone, colour, pacing and tempo are the things we have to engage with.”
Professor Andrzej Klimowski, Short Course Leader
Curating Contemporary Art and Design: 10% Easter Discount
7–18 July 2025 | Applications now open
“We provide a highly interactive environment in which participants develop their own curatorial practices and critical perspectives while building new networks and working collaboratively together.”
Elizabeth Del Prete, Short Course Convenor
Futures through design (on campus): 10% Easter Discount
7–9 July 2025 | Register interest
"For over a decade, the RCA has been a leader in design futures research and practice, and today offers a one year MDes in Design Futures. Now we are looking to create more opportunities with this short course. This in-person, intensive three-day experience is designed for organisational leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals and high-performing recent graduates who are seeking to transform strategic uncertainty into innovative opportunity."
John V Willshire and Dr Robert Phillips, Course Leaders, Framing design futures
Architecture Summer School (on campus) – 10% Easter Discount
14–18 July 2025 | Applications now open
"An intense and immersive architecture, art and design summer school focusing on observation, developing key skills and offering design studio experience, lectures and visits."
Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri, Short Course Leaders
Contemporary Art Summer School – 10% Easter Discount
21 July—8 August 2025 | Applications now open
“This course offers the unique opportunity to look at your practice differently. I want people to walk away with a new joy in their practice and a different way of looking at what they have been working on so far.”
Dr Despina Zacharopoulou, Short Course Leader
RCA-Imperial Design for Global Challenges Summer School
31 July—8 August 2025 | Register interest now
"The Imperial-RCA Global Challenges Course is a truly engaging and dynamic experience, the insightful academic environment and the exposure to international perspectives are unparalleled. The teams from both Imperial College and RCA are amazing and well co-ordinated, they were cooperative and very supportive."
Sandy Gu, Education Director, Global University Online China
Art and Design Portfolio Development
Future dates to be announced | Register your interest
“The portfolio as a practice is inherently multidisciplinary. As a self-authored publication, a portfolio translates a body of work through thoughtful art direction, critical writing and content curation.”
Richard Nash, Short Course Leader
Editorial Design
Fully book for April 2025
“Learn the craft and art of editorial design, which is defined as the presentation of information (text and image) in a coherent, relevant and innovative manner, allowing the reader access to subject matter of all kinds and on various platforms."
Adrian Shaughnessy and Astrid Stavro, Short Course Leaders
About our Art & Design Short Courses
RCA Short Courses
We have been running Art & Design short courses for more than eight years and have attracted a global mix of participants from over 60 countries.
In 2024/25 we continue to deliver short courses on campus and live online with a keen focus on life long learning.
From becoming graduates of the RCA to setting up their own gallery, many of our participants successfully finish our courses ready to take the next step on their creative journey.
Key benefits
- Advanced level lectures and seminars by RCA academic faculty who teach on the postgraduate degree programmes.
- Notable guest speakers and professional practitioners connected to industry.
- Real time interaction with the course leaders to exchange ideas and receive feedback.
- Learn about the RCA's most recent case studies and practices.
- Opportunity to collaborate and connect with an international network of peers.
- Certificate of Achievement on completion.
Who should attend
Our short courses reflect our advanced level of teaching and are aimed at:
- postgraduate or undergraduate students preparing for Master’s study
- career changers or those interested in art and design
- professionals seeking to develop specific knowledge and skills.
Online delivery
The majority of our art and design short courses are delivered in a live virtual environment.
Our online courses are rigorous and highly interactive.
Participants:
- Engage with the RCA’s esteemed academics and facilitators via the audio and video conferencing service Zoom.
- Access resources on the College's learning platform Moodle.
- Work with peers in breakout rooms in real time using visual collaboration tools such as Miro.
On campus delivery
The RCA’s new state-of-the-art research and innovation Battersea campus was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and opened and opened in 2022, marking the most significant campus development in the College’s history.
We run the majority of our in-person short courses from the top floor of the Rausing Research & Innovation Building – which boasts eight floors of dedicated independent and confidential research space for areas such as materials science, soft robotics, advanced manufacturing, intelligent mobility and AR/VR visualisation.
'The top floor spaces have been specifically designed for the delivery of Executive Education. It's an incredible space with windows all around and 360 degree views across London - simply put, it's a really lovely, immersive, inspiring place to learn.' Hattie Allen, Executive Education Manager
7th Floor Executive Education event spaces in Battersea, London:
Custom short courses
Our experts can develop custom short courses and many of our existing short courses can be adapted, combined or customised for the particular needs of an organisation. The courses are ideally suited for groups of 15 to 30 or more participants.
Courses may be delivered online or at one of the RCA's central London sites, at your premises or other venues in the UK and internationally.
Contact us to discuss developing a custom programme:
Peter Christian, Head of Executive Education
Hattie Allen, Executive Education Manager
Art & Design Short Courses at the RCA
Contact us
Get in touch with us if you'd like to find out more about this or any of our other short courses.
short-courses@rca.ac.uk
