Welcome to the Art & Design Department at Glasgow Kelvin College—a creative community where your ideas and imagination can truly take flight! Whether you’re just starting your artistic journey or looking to refine your skills for a professional career, our department offers a vibrant mix of courses designed to help you grow as a visual communicator, designer, or illustrator.
Here, you’ll explore everything from traditional drawing and painting to digital media, graphic design, and contemporary illustration. Our hands-on courses encourage experimentation, collaboration, and the development of your own unique style, all within a friendly and supportive environment. You’ll have access to specialist studios, industry-standard software, and opportunities to showcase your work in exhibitions and gallery spaces.
Our dedicated team of experienced tutors will guide you through building a strong portfolio, developing your creative process, and preparing for further study or exciting careers in the creative industries. Whether your passion lies in fine art, digital design, or illustration, you’ll find the inspiration and support you need to take your next step with confidence.
We are proud to partner with Strange Field and The Pipe Factory where our students have the unique opportunity to build relationships and gain experience within a working arts organisation in the heart of Glasgow’s East End.
Our students undertake workshops with professional artists and designers off site, learn the process of creating art and design work for public audiences, produce public exhibitions of their work in historic buildings and learn to teach their practice in community settings supported by working artists at Strange Field and course Lecturers.
🎨 Discover Illustration & Graphic Design at Glasgow Kelvin College
Former student Georgia, now studying HND Art & Design, shares her experience of the Digital Design course — from learning Photoshop and Illustrator to building a strong creative portfolio.
Find out how this course can help you develop your digital skills and take the next step in your design journey.
My name is Catriona. I am in the fine art course at Glasgow Kelvin College.
This block I'm doing trees, kind of their energy and how I feel about that.
Started off just kind of like taking photos of like random places where I go for walks and then just kind of copying that down. This is like the energy I feel when I'm out in the trees at night.
I use different mediums. This is like blind drawings where like I don't look at the paper, I just look at a tree. This is just like energies and just do a lot of like printmaking, sculpting, we use clay and paper mache, paint, we use everything.
My favourite medium is mixed media. Anything I can get my hands on so I usually start with a base of paint or watercolour and then I add paper or sticks, twigs, leaves.
My favourite thing is the free supplies and also just kind of the instructions. I would have to take a lot of workshops to try and learn all the things that I learnt here. #
Also just like a bit of a community, I get very inspired by other people's art and it's also really interesting to see how people change the brief and make it their own. Stuff that I wouldn't have thought of and now have in my brain. Pattern I can use or like concept I can use.
Inspiring place to be and very accepting of all kind of art.
Hi, my name is Georgia. I am an ex-student of the HNC Digital Design and Illustration class. I am now currently studying HND Art and Design.
I actually studied art before. I came from more of a conceptual art background studying contemporary art. I had to start thinking logically about future potential in the arts, better ways in which I can kind of stylise my art and how I can make it appeal to a mass market. I saw this course as an opportunity for me to hone in my skills in digital design.
Photoshop is kind of like one of the bigger things in Illustrator. Those are kind of the main programs that you'll be using. It's basically just helping you understand basic principles of design, working with clients. It really sets you up for prompt work.
I'd say the lectures are a really, really good part of the course. They're really supportive.
