Winter School

I have been taking part in something called Winter School, an online class by Make It in Design and I thought you might like to know a little more.


Winter School takes place over a month and consists of two main briefs which are given to you at the beginning and middle of the course. Their are three main tracks that you can sign up for, ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’.


I didn’t really know what to sign up for so I thought that intermediate would be a safe bet! I’m pleased I did purely from the standpoint of the briefs on that track which have really appealed to me.


My briefs have been ‘celestial ‘ and ‘animal attraction’ and for each brief you get a pdf/iBook full of trend ideas and designers to research for further inspiration.

You get plenty of content to get you going and access to an active Facebook group full of talented and aspiring designers. It’s great to see everyone’s unique take on the briefs and it spurs you on to want to create and contribute to the group.


It’s a great space to ask questions, get feedback and feel part of a community. You also get to see what people are creating on the other ‘tracks’ and it seems that the advanced requires a bit more technical ability, whereas the beginners seems a lot more playful.


In between the briefs you also get challenges/activities to help shake up your art practice and further generate ideas. It’s up to you whether you want to do this or not, but if you share your work then you can win access to other courses.


To be honest, I have felt so busy getting to grips with the workload and content, that these extra opportunities have slipped me by. However if you upload your work from both briefs to the galleries then you could win a place on ‘Module 2 - Creating your Professional Identity’ if you are lucky enough to be picked from the draw.


The other main prize is to have fabric and gift wrap printed with your design on which would be hugely exciting! There are three prizes for those on my track and winners are picked by Fashion Formula - - https://www.fashion-formula.com/ a global print on demand company.

Would I recommend this course? Yes! It’s been brilliant! I love getting on trend briefs and being part of the community. The thought of winning something is also appealing and you never know who might see your work when the galleries get shared.


Make it in Design was founded by Beth Kempton and Rachael Taylor. I have been aware of Beth Kempton for some time because of her work with agent Lilla Rogers and Make art That Sells - I have also read her book Freedom Seeker which is wonderful and so I had faith that this course would be worth doing.


Rachael Taylor is an internationally renowned designer with over 10 years in the business and so has a wealth of knowledge! She also joins in on the Facebook page and it is great to get words of encouragement from her!


https://makeitindesign.com/winter-school/