Graphic Design
Our Adobe Illustrator courses are designed for both beginners looking to build a strong foundation in vector design and illustration, and experienced users wanting to develop more advanced creative and production workflows.
Delivered in Belfast, Dublin, and across the UK, these instructor-led courses provide practical, hands-on training in creating professional vector artwork, illustrations, logos, icons, marketing assets, and digital graphics using Adobe Illustrator.
The Beginner course focuses on core tools and essential design workflows, helping learners understand the Illustrator interface, shapes, paths, typography, colour, layers, and how to create clean, scalable artwork for print and digital use.
The Advanced course is designed for users who already understand the fundamentals and want to refine their skills through advanced illustration techniques, precision drawing, complex vector workflows, branding assets, creative effects, workflow automation, and professional production processes.
Suitable for designers, marketers, illustrators, content creators, and communications professionals, the courses emphasise practical workflows, creative confidence, and industry-standard techniques used across branding, advertising, social media, packaging, and digital content creation.
By the end of the course, participants will be able to confidently create polished, professional vector artwork and design assets using efficient Adobe Illustrator workflows for both print and digital projects.
Understand the difference between vector vs raster
Identify best use cases for Illustrator
Understand scalability and resolution independence
Navigate the Welcome Screen
Create new documents for print, web, and social
Understand artboards vs canvas
Customise workspaces and panels
Topics:
Properties Panel (CC 2026 updates)
Control Bar vs Contextual Task Bar
Toolbars: Basic vs Advanced
Smart Guides overview
Create and resize artboards
Use multiple artboards for layouts
Reorder and rename artboards
Export individual artboards
Create rectangles, ellipses, polygons, stars
Use Live Shapes and corner controls
Modify shapes non-destructively
Understand anchor points and paths
Create straight and curved paths
Control handles accurately
Edit existing paths
Exercises:
Tracing simple icons
Creating clean geometric shapes
Draw smooth curves quickly
Edit paths without handles
Combine Pen + Curvature tools
Use Selection vs Direct Selection tools
Select anchor points, paths, and objects
Group, isolate, and lock artwork
Align objects precisely
Use key objects
Distribute spacing evenly
Use Smart Guides effectively
Understand RGB vs CMYK
Apply fills and strokes
Create and manage swatches
Use Global Colours
Create linear, radial, and freeform gradients
Apply gradients to strokes
Use the Gradient Tool interactively
Use Point Type, Area Type, and Type on a Path
Adjust character and paragraph settings
Use OpenType features
Outline text safely
Edit anchor points in letterforms
Prepare typography for logos
Combine shapes visually
Subtract and merge areas
Create custom icons and logos
Unite, Minus Front, Intersect, Exclude
Use destructive vs non-destructive workflows
Organise complex artwork
Lock, hide, and reorder layers
Use sub-layers correctly
Name layers properly
Prepare files for handoff
Avoid common beginner mistakes
Stack multiple fills and strokes
Apply effects non-destructively
Re-edit effects at any stage
Apply shadows and glows correctly
Avoid rasterising artwork accidentally
Sketch → build → refine
Use grids and alignment
Balance typography and icon design
Create a clean, scalable logo mark
Save AI files properly
Export SVG, PDF, PNG, JPG
Understand print-ready PDFs
Use Export for Screens
Optimise SVGs
Export multiple sizes efficiently
Avoid common Illustrator mistakes
Improve speed and accuracy
Build confidence with daily practice
Know when to use Illustrator vs Photoshop vs InDesign
Set up documents for scalability
Plan page architecture before design begins
Avoid structural mistakes that slow production later
Build complex parent page hierarchies
Use multiple parent pages within large documents
Apply and override parent items safely
Manage page numbers, running headers, and folios
Use text variables for dynamic content
Maintain consistency across large publications
Build advanced paragraph and character style systems
Use nested styles and GREP styles
Control typography across hundreds of pages
Manage complex text reflow
Control widows, orphans, and hyphenation
Use baseline grids effectively
Create and apply object styles
Combine object styles with text styles
Update layouts globally with confidence
Use smart suggestions to speed up formatting
Reduce repetitive manual tasks
Maintain creative control while using automation
Manage linked assets efficiently
Control image resolution and colour profiles
Avoid common print and export issues
Use Creative Cloud Libraries strategically
Maintain brand consistency across documents
Update shared assets across multiple files
Build and style advanced tables
Use footnotes and endnotes correctly
Create live cross-references
Manage Book (.indb) files
Synchronise styles across documents
Handle large-scale publishing projects
Use Data Merge for bulk content
Build personalised layouts efficiently
Combine Data Merge with styles for clean output
Speed up work using Quick Apply
Use scripts to automate tasks
Reduce manual production time
Manage CMYK, RGB, and spot colours
Use global colour updates
Maintain brand colour accuracy
Build custom preflight profiles
Catch errors before export
Prepare documents confidently for print
Create print-ready PDFs
Export interactive and digital PDFs
Control compression, marks, and bleed settings
Package files correctly for printers or teams
Deliver clean, organised projects
Avoid common production handoff mistakes
Claire Youd
Both course content and instructor knowledge is exceptional – fresh, engaging and relevant. The ongoing support that Big Rock Designs provides is a real plus. I plan to attend future courses and would recommend other do too!
Joanne Doherty
Although my Photoshop knowledge was very limited, I found the organised sessions very easy to follow and I was over the moon at the amount I had learned. I’m looking forward to putting it all into practice in the coming months ahead.
Lorna McGivern
As someone who has attended numerous digital workshops and training I can honestly say Big Rock Academy’s introduction to Photoshop was the best I’ve ever experienced. They excelled in teaching us the logic behind the main tools in a very easy to understand way.
Rachael Weir
I just completed the Advanced Photoshop course at Big Rock Academy and I’m extremely pleased with what I’ve learnt. I now feel equipped to put it into practice in my job. I had a great teacher and I was able to really get to grasps with the software very quickly.
Live, instructor-led training in graphic design, marketing & video production.
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