Turn creative ideas into professional digital content while developing practical design skills and workplace experience.

JSTA’s Digital Design programme gives participants opportunities to explore graphic design, visual communication, branding, digital illustration and UI design through practical assignments and creative projects.

Programme at a Glance

Duration: 3 Months | 6 Months | 1 Year
Learning Format: Initial Training | Individual Creative Tasks | Group Projects | Hybrid Working
Group Size: Up to 10 participants

Participants start with guided training before moving into individual design briefs and collaborative projects. The hybrid working module introduces participants to digital collaboration, online feedback sessions, project coordination and managing creative work to deadlines.

What Participants May Work On

Participants can experience activities commonly associated with junior graphic and digital design roles, including:

• Creating social media graphics and digital advertisements
• Designing posters, flyers, brochures and promotional materials
• Developing logos, brand assets and visual identities
• Editing and enhancing photographs and digital images
• Preparing graphics for websites and online platforms
• Creating layouts using typography, colour and composition
• Producing presentations and marketing materials
• Interpreting creative briefs and incorporating feedback

As skills develop, participants may progress to more advanced activities such as brand guideline development, UI layouts, design systems, digital illustration, campaign concepts, responsive web graphics and multi-format creative assets.

Creative & Technical Skills

The existing JSTA programme introduces participants to important areas including graphic design, typography, digital illustration, web design and user-interface design. It also covers design principles such as colour theory and composition.

Graphic Design – Learn how typography, colour, imagery, layout and composition work together to communicate effectively.

Design Software – Develop experience with industry-standard creative tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, which are already part of the programme’s existing course content.

Branding & Visual Identity – Explore logos, brand colours, typography, visual consistency and the creation of branded marketing materials.

Digital & UI Design – Understand how visual design is applied to websites, interfaces, digital campaigns and online content.

Creative Thinking – Develop ideas from a brief, experiment with different concepts, evaluate designs and respond constructively to feedback—building on the creativity and critical-thinking focus of the existing programme.

Practical Design Projects

Participants may apply their skills to practical or simulated projects such as:

• Brand Identity Project – Logo concepts, colour palettes and brand materials
• Marketing Campaign – Posters, flyers, advertisements and campaign graphics
• Social Media Content – Branded posts, banners and promotional assets
• Website/UI Project – Page layouts, interface concepts and visual elements
• Publication Design – Brochures, reports, newsletters or digital publications
• Community & Business Projects – Creative materials supporting charities, SMEs, social enterprises or JSTA initiatives

These projects provide opportunities to build a design portfolio while strengthening creativity, communication, teamwork, attention to detail and the ability to work with a professional brief.

Career & Portfolio Development

The programme can support participants exploring pathways such as Junior Graphic Designer, Digital Designer, Junior UI Designer, Marketing Designer, Content Designer, Creative Assistant, Brand Assistant and other entry-level creative and digital roles.

Participants can also develop project examples that demonstrate their skills when applying for employment, internships, further training or freelance opportunities.

Learn by Creating

JSTA’s existing course emphasises hands-on projects, professional input and critique of participants’ work. The revised programme should retain this practical approach, giving participants opportunities to develop ideas, create designs, receive feedback, refine their work and understand how creative projects progress from an initial brief to a finished outcome.

Please Note: Our core mentoring, workshops and work-experience programmes are 100% free for eligible young people aged 16–25. We also deliver paid commercial training to businesses and individuals; 100% of that profit is reinvested into our free youth programmes.