Hi all.
I am a self taught graphic designer with about 18 years experience in the graphic design/printing industry (I'm 36 and in full time employment). The majority of my work involves working in the pre-press department of a printers which does involve some graphic design work but about 95% of the work comes in from external designers so we just set it up for the presses. I'm looking to get out of the printing industry and move into a 100% graphic design role as this is what I love doing. I have a pretty decent portfolio and was accepted onto the BA course through Hertfordshire University with no real qualifications on the basis of my experience and portfolio. After further investigation and discussions with the course advisor, the money was a big issue as i just couldn't afford £14k.
Being self taught obviously brings with it a lot of bad habits and sometimes I can get frustrated with not really having an theory or composition knowledge to fall back on and was trying to look for a decent online course that didn't cost the world or take longer than 2 years to complete. I came across the Pitman Training Diploma and was wondering if anyone had completed this course and how the feel it helped them and if it was worth taking. If not has anyone else taken a decent course that doesn't cost over £2000.
I'm not necessarily in it for the qualification perse as I know I have a lot of experience but would like to have a solid base to fall back on. I guess I'm not at the level I want to be at and want to do something about it.
Any help or pointers would be very much appreciated.
I am a self taught graphic designer with about 18 years experience in the graphic design/printing industry (I'm 36 and in full time employment). The majority of my work involves working in the pre-press department of a printers which does involve some graphic design work but about 95% of the work comes in from external designers so we just set it up for the presses. I'm looking to get out of the printing industry and move into a 100% graphic design role as this is what I love doing. I have a pretty decent portfolio and was accepted onto the BA course through Hertfordshire University with no real qualifications on the basis of my experience and portfolio. After further investigation and discussions with the course advisor, the money was a big issue as i just couldn't afford £14k.
Being self taught obviously brings with it a lot of bad habits and sometimes I can get frustrated with not really having an theory or composition knowledge to fall back on and was trying to look for a decent online course that didn't cost the world or take longer than 2 years to complete. I came across the Pitman Training Diploma and was wondering if anyone had completed this course and how the feel it helped them and if it was worth taking. If not has anyone else taken a decent course that doesn't cost over £2000.
I'm not necessarily in it for the qualification perse as I know I have a lot of experience but would like to have a solid base to fall back on. I guess I'm not at the level I want to be at and want to do something about it.
Any help or pointers would be very much appreciated.