Visual Arts (Photography & Graphics)

Diploma , Level 2
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What Our Students Say

“Actually what we’re encouraged to do here is work a lot in our sketchbooks and our studio books, and make sure we’re always sketching our ideas up. We have art classes upstairs and so we can use screen printing, we do lino print, and then we have a photography class as well – so I’ve learned how to use DSLR cameras, we’re actually learning the fundamentals of the traditional, and developing them further if we are wanting to make them digital.””
“

Fran, Graphic Design

“Drawing a person, drawing a character from a TV show and whatnot that’s one thing, it’s fun, but it’s just one thing – but then when you see the buildings and billboards, and they just stand the test of time – hundreds of thousands to millions of people can see them, and knowing that if I have kids in the future maybe one day I could point them at a billboard and say – yeah your dad made that!”

Jay, Graphic Design

I particularly enjoyed feeling part of an artistic community, and gaining confidence in myself and my work.

I feel each project throughout the course in a way allowed for creative thinking and allowed me to create work I felt passionate about, whilst still keeping in line with the proposed themes.

This course has allowed me to learn and make use of various mediums and materials that I haven’t used before and given me the courage to continue to experiment with them.

Course Information

Introduction

Combined course in photography and graphic design for broader learning before specialising at level 3. Also includes fundamental art skills.

Overview

Video Transcript

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Discover Visual Arts at Leeds City College | Creative Arts

Location: Quarry Hill Campus, Leeds City College

WCAG 2.1 Doc

Speakers featured:

Narrator / Voiceover

Student Speakers / Interviewees

[00:00 – 00:17] The video opens in a bright, sunlit, and modern art studio. A focused art student with long blonde hair sits gracefully on a stool, intently painting vibrant, deep magenta floral patterns onto a large canvas. The camera zooms in to showcase her delicate hand movements as she uses a fine-tip paintbrush, illustrating the high-level focus and artistic skill fostered at the college.

Narrator: “The arts unify people in their search for joy. The arts promote courage, community, and communication beyond language. A painting, a poem, a film, a song… the arts underpin the emotional structure of humankind.”

Meanwhile, another dedicated student with braided hair works expertly on a sculpted 3D artwork, carefully applying powder and detail with precision in an inspiring studio environment. The view transitions to a digital tablet displaying colourful, modern floral graphic designs, demonstrating how students interact with cutting-edge digital media and modern artistic styles. Next, two students collaborate smoothly on a professional screen-printing press, pressing a vibrant blue graphic design onto fabric with confidence and teamwork.

[00:18 – 00:26] The camera moves into a darkroom illuminated by soft red lighting, where a student carefully inspects newly developed, high-quality darkroom photographs.

Student Speaker: “Being able to create, and it’s almost like limitless. You can just think of anything and then make whatever, whenever.”

In a spacious fashion design studio equipped with professional dress forms, a student thoughtfully cuts crisp white pattern paper using tailor’s scissors, demonstrating meticulous craftsmanship. Outside the studio entrance, a vibrant, modern poster proudly advertises the “IGNITE: End of Year Show – Creative Arts,” while dedicated students in the background work on large-scale mural installations.

[00:27 – 01:00] In a brightly lit studio space, a fashion student meticulously pins intricate embellishments onto a striking red embroidered evening dress fitted on a mannequin. Cut to a sleek runway showcase where a model confidently walks the catwalk wearing a stylish contemporary outfit, showcasing the high-calibre results of the fashion program.

Student Speaker: “Make your idea, you sketch your designs, and you like bring that sketch to life.”

Voiceover / Staff: “We’ve got the art and design courses, and they give a breadth of experience in terms of fundamental art skills. Photography, which obviously straight away has got a clear pathway into industry. Graphic design, again, which can work quite well with photography. And we do fashion and textiles, and it’s the fastest-growing course I think we’ve had. Differences within the courses that can take you in different pathways.”

During this narration, dynamic scenes showcase the diverse, industry-standard equipment available:

A student with a durag works on sophisticated 3D digital character modeling on a desktop computer.

Precision hands operate a high-tech 3D printer and keyboard setup.

A student fine-tunes a detailed watercolor landscape painting with soft, expressive strokes.

A high-end DSLR camera sits ready in a professional photography setup, followed by liquid chemical pouring in the darkroom lab.

Students analyze digital photography work side-by-side using professional image-editing software.

A student works efficiently with a large-format commercial printer.

An impressive poster for “Creative Decisions” by a college student is proudly displayed on a street column in the vibrant city center of Leeds.

In a professional photo studio, a student model poses gracefully under studio softbox lighting while being photographed.

Hands skillfully sew fabric pieces using an advanced sewing machine.

A close-up highlights a detailed butterfly embroidery craft inside a wooden hoop.

[01:00 – 01:25] A student wearing a green headscarf and apron operates a heavy-duty heat press machine with proficient, confident movements.

Student Speaker: “I feel like my course has really helped me develop myself. I definitely feel like I’ve found my style.”

Student Speaker: “You are taught, but you’re also pushed to do your own research, and you naturally do that too. It’s good and it’s healthy. You will find something you are interested in.”

The video highlights supportive staff and student interactions:

A friendly student with an afro discusses a project animatedly with a supportive staff member in a media lab.

A student puts on protective safety glasses to work with cutting-edge laser machinery, which precision-engraves a teal block reading “MY WILL MPUS”.

Two female students collaborate warmly over a laptop labeled “MacBook Pro”.

Voiceover / Staff: “The transferable skills you get from a creative course give you a much wider and, I suppose, better chance or opportunity of what you might do following college.”

Visuals illustrate printmaking mastery as a tutor and student collaboratively align paper on a heavy-duty etching press, followed by close-up footage of a 3D printer building intricate metallic models layer by layer.

[01:26 – 01:40] A close-up shot shows paint being mixed on a palette while a student continues painting.

Guest / Local Business Partner: “I have an outdoor advertising company. I think it’s really good that the college invite local business in. It’s really important to get people who are in a career in the same field that the students are to come in and talk to them about it.”

Visuals highlight dynamic career connections:

A student designs a cute 3D character on a desktop.

A 3D printer accurately prints a bold red logo emblem.

A photographer adjusts studio lighting while capturing a poised model in an elegant evening gown, who then performs on a runway stage under bright spotlights.

A group of trendy, creative students walk up the steps of the modern campus building together, smiling and chatting.

[01:41 – 02:18] People gather around the “IGNITE” exhibition posters and explore a detailed architectural scale model of a modern city skyline.

Student Speaker: “Working to a live brief really forced me to come out of my comfort zone. I created artwork that, say, in high school I would have never been able to create.”

Voiceover / Staff: “The staff and the students, they interact in a way that is as it would be in industry.”

A smiling tutor with glasses wearing a staff lanyard chats warmly with visitors in an art gallery filled with student paintings and photo prints. An interactive art piece featuring a mirror reads, “WHAT DOES LOVE MEAN TO YOU?”. Nearby, an artwork display showing a red dragon and fantasy castle is admired by a visitor. Behind the scenes at a fashion show, stylists adjust a luxurious white gown featuring a red rose motif.

Student Speaker: “The tutors themselves, they’re all for a start incredibly talented, creative, but they’re also like humans too, and they just know how to speak to you. There’s a really good support network.”

Voiceover / Staff: “What makes me most proud, I think, is the students’ realization of what is possible.”

Students are seen engaged in hands-on work: drawing monster concepts on sketchpads, monitoring high-precision 3D resin printers, working with vinyl decal stickers, and walking the fashion show runway in custom designer garments.

[02:19 – 02:30] The camera pans past clean studio aprons hanging in a brightly lit hallway. A student sitting at a well-organized workstation carefully paints ceramic jars.

Student Speaker: “Honestly, I feel like coming to Leeds City College has really made it feel like I have more of a future. Leeds City College is a good place for us to study, where we can pursue our dreams.”

The video concludes with a shot of the “Creative Decisions” outdoor advertising pillar in central Leeds. The screen transitions to a vibrant red logo screen featuring the white geometric emblem of “SCHOOL OF CREATIVE ARTS – LEEDS CITY COLLEGE”, leaving an inspiring and professional lasting impression.


Harness your creativity and gain an introductory insight into the industries of Graphic Design and Photography with this programme. You’ll build a portfolio to showcase your work within photography, graphic design and art. You’ll explore traditional art techniques such as drawing, illustration, typography, printmaking and painting to underpin fundamental skills within visual and creative arts. You will explore elements of media used in the industries of Graphic Design and Photography, opening up exciting progression opportunities in traditional and digital media.

Video Transcript

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LCC PHOTOGRAPHY WCAG 2.1AA TRANSCRIPT

 

SCHOOL OF CREATIVE ARTS , LEEDS CITY COLLEGE TRANSCRIPT

 

INTERVIEWEE – TYLER – Student of Level 3 Photography (SPEAKING)


INTERVIEWEE – LEON JOHNSON – Deputy Head of Department, Visual Arts (SPEAKING)

 

INTERVIEWEE – MAX – Student of Level 2 Photography (SPEAKING)

 

INTERVIEWEE – CIENNA – Student of Level 2 Photography (SPEAKING)

Scenery –  A student slots the camera lens into the camera.

Scenery –  A student lifts a camera up to their face and prepares to take a picture.

 

Tyler – “Well I’ve had a photographic background with my mum because she used to be a wedding photographer and stuff”

 

Scenery – A makeup brush presses down on some powder.

 

Scenery – A makeup artist applies the powder to a student’s face.

 

Tyler –  “But that’s not the road I wanted to go down as I don’t really like photographing people. I’m more into structures and urban-scapes. So I thought if I came into college and studied then I can go off and do what I want to focus on”.

Scenery – Tyler flicks through a film book. 

 

Scenery – A pan through a dark room, showing the equipment in each cubicle.

 

Tyler – “Like anything that’s run-down or overlooked by everyone else I like taking pictures of that cause it shows the hidden beauty that everyone ignores.”

Scenery – Tyler holds up a piece of film while in the dark room.

 

Tyler – “Obviously you walk past stuff and living in britain is quite grey so everything just looks dull and boring but when you put a camera to it you can take pictures of these places and you see it there and can do all the edit to make it look brighter, it’s almost like a relief that we don’t actually live in such a grey world that we make out. Because there’s a lot of hidden beauty in these places but people just don’t see it”.

 

Scenery –  A makeup artist continues to work on the students face

 

Leon Johnson – “We look for kids that are passionate about being artistic I suppose. With photography there’s two different ways you could look at this. You have quite a lot of students who come in with a technical mindset where they just want to understand and know how to do technical photography so they can get a job photographing weddings and jobs, that kinda thing”.

Scenery –  Student readies camera and takes a picture

 

Leon Johnson – “What they realise when they get here is actually that’s not necessarily the only important thing because when they’re photographing a wedding what you need is love and passion. That’s what will be seen and that’s what will be captured when students look at a scene and don’t look at it from a technical aspect but from a social aspect as well”.

 

Scenery –  Students set up a softbox.

 

Cienna – “It was in high school when I got an option to do photography and I was like I’ll just try  it out and I did and I ended up liking it alot, editing, sticking, doing the physical and practical on the computers, I got to learn all about photography there and I wanted to do it in college”.

 

Scenery – Students are using Mac’s to edit their photos

 

Cienna – “My favourite thing about photography is the practical side of it, doing shoots, going out, using the cameras and camera control. Stuff like that”.

 

Scenery – Student readies camera and takes a photo of a student model.

 

Max – “First thing I thought of photography, I thought I want to get my own pictures of photography one day because I like taking profile pictures. Within that section I discovered something called image manipulation and that’s like an image on top of another and it creates like… it’s like a piece of art”.

 

Leon Johnson – “The photography teaching team is a fantastic kind of new young team and they’re all experienced in the industry. First off teaching is something they’ve come into to I suppose share their passion within the industry and getting our young people to understand how photography fits in to our society”

 

Scenery – Student readies camera and model poses as the softboxes light up

 

Max – “Well for me, cause I’ve got autism and I sometimes have trouble understanding things cause I need stuff breaking down into detail and explaining to me in a perfect way. In a much more understanding way. I have tutors that understand a bit more”.

 

Scenery – Darkroom equipment is shown off.

 

Leon Johnson – “We have a darkroom, so we go right back to the beginning of photography. It’s not just about the way photography is done nowadays in digital formats. We go back to the beginning so they understand the process”. 

Scenery – A live demonstration of the darkroom’s equipment

 

Leon Johnson – “So they get to do traditional techniques, which then follows on to the idea of digital techniques and digital photography which leads naturally onto post production. So the sort of facilities we have are like computer rooms, mac suites where you can use photoshop and indesign”.

Scenery – Students are seen on photoshop touching up images

 

Leon Johnson –  “So photoshop for example for retouching or slightly adapting colours or lighting where it needs to be adapted but then also with programs like indesign it means that students can start to understand the context of how photographs work with text”.

 

Scenery – Students get a set ready. Placing a stool and raising softboxes.

 

Leon Johnson – “We’ve got state of the art studios where we have high quality softboxes, high quality cameras, tripods & lighting rigs all of the kind of things that students would need in a professional setting and it gives them the tools to understand how a photography studio would work if they got a job going on from getting a qualification”.

 

Scenery –  Tyler demonstrates the darkroom process.

 

Tyler – “Well, when you’ve got a digital camera you click it and it’s just done. Like you’ve not really had to put much effort into it. But when it comes to the darkroom sides of things you have to fiddle around with aperture and everything so you have to make sure everything’s right and then take the picture. But then you’re left in a suspense of whether your picture turned out the way you wanted it or not. When it does turn out the way you want it it’s a good feeling when you know you’ve got that picture.

 

Scenery – Tyler places the developed photo on a wall.

 

Leon Johnson – “We have a photography dispensary as well where we have all the equipment that’s necessary for students to work professionally. You know realistically if you think about communication which is one of the main criteria or the big skills that students learn at college doing these art courses or photography courses is that photography is a global language. It doesn’t matter if you speak Japanese or Iranian or if you’re muslim or christian. Photography transcends those language barriers and I think that it’s really exciting for students to go into a future of being able to communicate in that way”.

 

End Slide – Leeds City College (School of Creative Arts)

END

Who is this course for?

If you’re in year 11 or 12 and are looking to take the next steps towards your career this course is for you. Our vast selection of vocational courses span a range of subjects and combine academic study with practical skills. Study in industry standard facilities and use our industry links to prepare for progression.

Course units/modules

The course comprises 3 units which cover: developing art and design skills, personal development and responding to a creative brief.

Benefits and skills

Build a portfolio of photography and graphic design artwork that showcases your skills. This will include traditional art skills pieces such as drawings and paintings.

Deepen your knowledge of art and design, photography and graphic design practice and theory.

Explore a variety of traditional and contemporary arts techniques including photography, graphic design, drawing, printmaking.

Learn the basics of the Adobe Suite using programmes such as PhotoShop and InDesign.

Entry requirements

Four GCSEs at grade 3 or above including English or maths.

Available apprenticeships and progression options

Progression may include a level 3 qualification specialising in Photography, Graphic Design or Art & Design, an apprenticeship, or relevant employment.

Course details

Duration: 1 year full time
Start Date: 06/09/2027
Fees (16-18): No fee
Study Type: Full time
Course Code: 76750-01

Employment Statistics

  • Graphic and Multimedia Designers

    Average Salary
    £26,428
  • Interior Designers

    Average Salary
    £40,372
  • Design Occupations n.e.c.

    Average Salary
    £32,395

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