YDA PATHWAYS
At YDA, there are five exciting design pathways to explore, each offering a different way to discover your creativity and develop your skills. Whether you’re interested in architecture, fashion, interiors or other areas of design, you’ll have the opportunity to try new ideas, work on inspiring projects and discover what you love doing. As you grow in confidence and experience, you’ll develop your own ideas, build your portfolio and find out where your creativity could take you.
ARCHITECTURE PATHWAY
Explore architecture through drawing, model-making and practical design projects. Develop the skills architects use to understand spaces, solve problems and communicate ideas.
INTERIOR DESIGN PATHWAY
Explore how people use spaces and learn to design interiors through floor plans, models, furniture layouts and creative design projects.
DRAWING & VISUAL COMMUNICATION PATHWAY
Build strong drawing skills and learn to use them to communicate ideas through illustration, composition, graphic design, pattern and visual storytelling.
GAME DESIGN PATHWAY
Explore how games are designed through character creation, world building, gameplay, user experience and interactive design.
FASHION & TEXTILES PATHWAY
Discover fashion through illustration, textiles and garment design, then develop technical skills and create original collections and fashion concepts.
HOW YOU PROGRESS
Each of our five pathways is made up of five core areas, unique to that discipline, giving you the chance to explore different aspects of design and discover what interests you most. Within each pathway, you’ll progress through three stages: Explorer, Developer and Innovator. You’ll begin by learning the fundamentals, move on to developing your skills and understanding how designers communicate ideas and solve problems, and then take things further by experimenting, thinking creatively and developing your own design solutions. At each stage, you’ll build on what you’ve learnt, grow in confidence and develop your own approach to design.
EXPLORER
Learn the fundamentals. Explore design principles, experiment with different techniques and materials, build your confidence and discover how designers observe the world and develop ideas.
DEVELOPER
Develop your skills. Apply what you’ve learnt to more challenging projects, strengthen your technical abilities and learn how to communicate ideas and solve design problems.
INNOVATOR
Develop your own approach to design. Explore original ideas, experiment with different possibilities and tackle more complex challenges with greater independence. Develop your creative voice and build a portfolio of your work.
THE YDA DISCOVERY PROGRAMME
The YDA Discovery Programme is an intensive, studio-based introduction to creative design for aspiring designers and students aged 18+ who want to explore their options before choosing a direction. Over three terms, students experience a range of design disciplines through practical projects, developing creative, technical and presentation skills while discovering where their interests and strengths lie.
DISCOVERY PROGRAMME
FOR GAP YEAR STUDENTS
Explore different areas of design through practical projects, develop new skills and discover which creative disciplines interest you most.
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3 terms of guided learning
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6 design disciplines to explore
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Develop your ideas through creative design projects
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Build your creative, technical and presentation skills
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Create a strong portfolio of your work
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Discover the design areas that best match your interests and strengths
Design Disciplines:
Concept Design · Industrial & Product Design · Architecture, Interiors & Spatial Design · Fashion & Textile Design · Visual Storytelling Design