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Creative Direction

  • Live Sessions
  • Industry Speakers
  • Virtual Graduation

At a glance

  • Duration: 8 weeks
  • Location: Online
  • Overall course fee: £795 (including VAT)
  • Start date: 8 April 2024

Upcoming Dates in 2024: 8th April, 24th June, 7th October

 

This short online course is designed for anyone with an interest in, and fascination for the creation of exciting, engaging visual communication concepts.  Perfect for those wishing to explore a range of different aspects of Creative Direction and understand the broad spectrum of creative roles that exist in this profession, including Brand Director and Art Director. This is an interactive online course, aiming to enhance your content creation style, technique, and suitability to an audience.

Overview

This course provides an introduction to the principles of Creative Direction as a profession, uncovering insights into how fashion design or brand vision is created, conceptualised, planned, and successfully executed. You will learn how to tap into your own creative vision, and explore how visual and real-life experiences are created to attract consumer and audience attention in the fashion and the creative industries. You will also gain insights into how a Creative Director works with a team and leads the creation of their visionary ideas, and explore what the future of Creative Direction as a role in the industry might look like.

Every week there will be a range of activities for you to get involved with some of these will be individual, and some you will do during live sessions with the rest of the group studying on the course. 

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have gained a broad introductory knowledge of:

  • the principles of creative direction,
  • how to develop a creative vision,
  • defining brand language,
  • communication strategies,
  • messages, interfaces, and experiences,
  • how to build a dream team,
  • managing creativity and collaboration,
  • and future creative directions.

There will be opportunities to create your own visual concepts throughout the course too.

Virtual Graduation

At the end of the course, we will hold a Virtual Graduation Event to which all the students are invited to join with the Course Leader, industry guests and College Academics. This is a wonderful opportunity for us all to celebrate your achievements and all the new knowledge you have gained from your six weeks of learning with the Condé Nast College.

Why choose this course?

The Conde Nast College has unrivalled access to the best and brightest minds in the industry, including the teams at Vogue, LOVE, Glamour, GQ and a host of other Condé Nast titles. The College is in the elevated position of being able to combine academic excellence with unrivalled links to the fashion and media industry. This creates a unique educational environment for students to thrive in.

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Creative Direction course was  beyond my high expectations, I strongly recommend it to everyone. I just completed the course and I feel very refreshed, filled with brand new ideas, empowered by the new knowledge and tools I have acquired. I loved every task and challenge of this course, and the industry speakers were absolutely inspiring. I also feel very inspired by the other students who were in my class. During the course, I’ve been learning from everybody for which I feel super grateful! To read full review click here. Alice Tramontina, Online: Creative Direction, August 2022
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The course broadened my understanding of what is means precisely to be a creative director. The course enables you to increase your industry knowledge by drawing on inspiration from influential creative directors of the past and present, it teaches you how the role has evolved overtime and showcases the numerous facets it entails. Despite only studying short courses online at the College; my personal growth, development and industry knowledge have all evolved monumentally in such a short span of time. Equally, if you are new to the industry and have a limited background, which I had prior, they show you that your dreams, aspirations and goals are more accessible than you may believe if you put the work in. Click here to read the full review. Hannah Tappin, Creative Direction - January 2021, Fashion & Image - July 2020 and One Week Business of Beauty - September 2019
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The Industry Guest Speaker sessions were incredibly inspiring and truly helped us to see that there are so many alternative ways to get into the industry and many more jobs than we ever thought possible! The speakers and mentors on the course were always there to offer tips and advice for any questions I had about the industry and how to get into my chosen field. Click here to read the full review and a link to view Alicia's coursework page. Alicia Nicholds, Fashion & Image- July 2021, Creative Direction - April 2021, Fashion Styling - February 2021

Course Award

By the end of the course, those who complete and pass all the course tasks will receive a Condé Nast Certificate of Achievement. 

This course will act as a good stepping stone to other Condé Nast online courses or our in-person courses at higher levels such as BA or MA.

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Understand different roles and responsibilities in creative direction
  • Acquire insights into how a creative concept is developed and defined
  • Identify methods, channels, and messages for communicating a creative concept
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how creative directors collaborate and manage creativity
  • Identify emerging consumer needs, future trends, and changing industry landscapes

The course is delivered entirely online and lasts six weeks with around 6-7 hours worth of online learning activities each week, along with guidance and advice on what to read, see and hear, followed by two weeks at the end of the course for you to complete your final assignments.

The course is interactive, multimedia-driven, and academically rigorous, delivered by expert academics and industry professionals.

Course Schedule

The course learning activities can be accessed at any time and own pace.

Each week will have a set of activities that will need to be completed before the learner can proceed to the next week.

Most of the lectures are narrated, pre-recorded lectures by our academics and industry contributors. These can be watched multiple times and at any time within the week that they are set. 

Live Sessions

There will be two live events per week scheduled to accommodate any timezone:

  • the College LIVE online Industry Speaker event 
  • a live lecture from an academic or Condé Nast specialist or industry professional

Recordings of the events will be available after and can be watched at any time.

Live Course Leader Sessions

Every week there will be a live online session with your course leader, where you can ask questions, and discuss anything with regard to the subject area, the course, and your experience with the College. Those sessions are not recorded, to provide a safe and comfortable environment for all students to share their thoughts.

Course Structure

Week 1 The Job of a Creative Director: Roles and Responsibilities

  • Understand the different roles and responsibilities of Creative Directors
  • Gain insights into the career trajectory for Creative Directors
Subject Specialists: 

Johannes Reponen – Director of Postgraduate Programmes, Condé Nast College.

Week 2 Developing a Creative Direction: Ideation & Insight

  • Developing brand vision
  • Creating visual concepts and ideation
  • Understanding how to translate audience insights into creative direction
Subject Specialists:

Fiona Hayes – Art Director

Ruth Marshall-Johnson – Cultural Analyst & Course Leader at Condé Nast College

Paul Nesbitt – Head of Audience Research, Condé Nast

Week 3 Defining a Concept: Products & Presentation

  • Visualising a brand identity
  • Visual communication
  • Defining and developing concepts and ideas
Subject Specialists: 

Rosarie King – Creative Director

Week 4 Communication Strategies: Messages, Interfaces and Experiences

  • Communicating brand messages
  • Brand tone of voice and messaging
Subject Specialists:

Nicole LeSurf – Head of Creative Operations, Bleach London

Agatha Connolly – PR & BrandConsultant

Week 5 Directing Creativity: Building a Dream Team, Brand Management & Collaboration

  • Understanding who do creative directors work with
  • How a creative director builds a dream team to create their vision
  • Managing the visual communication of a brand
  • Collaboration and developing a shared vision
Subject Specialists:

Sophie Stevens – Creative Director & Course Leader at Condé Nast College

Week 6 Future Creative Directions

  • Understanding the future of the role of creative director.
  • Exploring creativity for the future
  • Understanding future audiences
Subject Specialists:

Alex RuckheimSenior Consultant, Insights, Innovation & Strategy

Week
7 & 8
Complete your final assignments

*All the contributors are subject to change.

Required Technology

Hardware Operating System Visual & Audio
Laptop

PC / Mac desktop

Mobile / Tablet device

Windows 7 or higher (recommended)

MAC OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher (recommended)

The latest operating system on mobile / tablet devices

Speakers and microphone or headset

Webcam

Entry Requirements

This course has no academic prerequisites. It’s designed for anyone wishing to broaden their knowledge of how fashion is communicated and those wanting to explore an exciting and innovative way of learning from academics and experts from within the fashion industry.

Students must be aged at least 16 years old on 31st August at the start of the academic year in which they intend to join this course. An academic year runs 1st September-31st August annually. For the duration of the academic year, a student is considered to be their academic age for admissions purposes, regardless of when their birthday falls within that academic year.

English Language Requirements

There are no formal English language requirements for this course. However, if you are a non-UK student and English is not your first language, we recommend you have an Academic IELTS score of 5.5 or be able to use English at this level before commencing your studies. It is your responsibility to ensure you will be able to participate fully in a qualification delivered and assessed in English.

How to Apply

You can apply via the Book & Pay button on the course home page.

There are no application deadlines, however, places are allotted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Multiple Online Course Bookings

Some students may wish to explore different subject areas and may want to consider more than one online course. To ensure the utmost satisfaction and effective engagement with the material, a maximum of two online courses can be booked by a student per intake. Our online courses are thoughtfully curated to provide comprehensive knowledge and valuable insights. While these courses offer flexibility and convenience through their online format, it is important to note that the content covered in each is extensive and engaging.

In addition to the self-paced learning materials, each course includes a number of scheduled live sessions, but booking more than two courses risks some of these important sessions overlapping. These provide the opportunity to interact with instructors and fellow students, fostering a vibrant learning community. By restricting course selection to a maximum of two, our online students are able to fully immerse themselves in the rich content and take full advantage of these valuable live sessions. We are committed to providing the best possible learning experience, and overcrowding the course load may compromise that experience.

We, therefore, encourage careful consideration of course subject selection and prioritise quality over quantity.

If you are accepted on to the course, you will be required to pay the full fee in advance in order to secure your place.

Alumni Discount

Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design offers course fee reduction to our alumni.

For complete fees information visit Terms and Conditions

Course Leader

Ruth Marshall-Johnson

Ruth is an experienced cultural analyst who specialises in connecting the dots between creative business, trend forecasting and innovation practice.