Should you do the Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design?

Short answer? Yes. Absolutely. But let me explain why, as well as let you in on some information & tips about the course, and also explain how I ended up deciding to do the Advanced Diploma. This is quite a long read, so I hope you’ve got a coffee & snacks ready!

Background story (You can skip this part if you just want the info & tips):

I finished my Diploma of Graphic Design halfway through 2023 (August, I think?) and was so ready to join the industry. Was it confidence or eagerness? I’m not sure. But I was also in the same boat as a lot of the current diploma students — not sure if I should continue my studies into the Advanced Diploma, or if I should just jump into the industry and get the experience there.

For me, my reasons for being unsure might be a little different to others. I was an online diploma student, which worked for me because of my debilitating chronic illnesses (endometriosis, specifically) and the fact that the bus ride to AC Arts takes me 45 minutes each way, so I’d be spending an hour and a half just sitting on the bus and at least another half hour just waiting for it. I was worried about how well I’d go attending in-person full-time, with my unpredictable chronic illness (I could be fine one moment and then be in 10/10 extreme pain the next - it was a lot worse in 2023 as I didn’t have all of the same management tools I have now) - I didn’t want to disappoint anyone or make my health worse, and of course being chronically ill, I hadn’t had a job for a while because I was bed-ridden most of the time, so the cost of the course was a huge factor as well.

I ended up attending the info night for the Advanced Diploma half-way intake and I was blown away. I finally met Lyn and Tim in person (being an online student for a year, finally meeting them felt like meeting celebrities) and we were shown the graduate showreel from 2022. Seeing the level of work the Advanced Dip students were making really did blow me away, I felt a mix of awe, amazement, insecurity (of my own level of work) and excitement. It wasn’t until Lyn specifically said, “You can do this course blended, so you can come in when you can and study online otherwise” that I KNEW this is what I wanted to do, I went home so excited and applied the second I was able. But the path wasn’t that simple.

I was accepted into the mid year intake — I wasn’t aware mid year intake meant joining a full class of people who have already been studying the Adv Dip for half a year, since in the diploma, it doesn’t matter when you join because it’s structured in a way that allows you to join at any point without any disadvantage & you’re very likely going to be joining with a huge group of others that are just starting. I attended the first day in term 3, found out I needed to have a ‘pitch’ ready for the 2023 grad exhibition within a week and instantly thought, ‘absolutely not’. I didn’t have the experience, the knowledge or the confidence of all these people around me, I genuinely felt like a fish out of water. I panicked, had a whole mental breakdown of ‘is this really what I want?! I can’t plan an exhibition, that sounds like craziness, I can’t do that!!” (Little did past me know the capabilities I have now hehe) and I deferred my studies until the start of 2024.

I spent the 6ish months until 2024 doing everything I could to get my health managed and eventually I applied for a job with a big company that was looking for a remote junior designer just out of their studies. I was so excited, I got through THREE interview processes with them and was at the final one, when they told me, “We really loved your application and getting to know you, but we’ve decided to go with someone who has more experience in the field”. I was so gutted, I had all kinds of imposter syndrome feelings and started to question if graphic design was even for me. I started looking at all my work throughout the diploma and hating it, noticing so many imperfections. I worked on some personal projects when I could, but I’d lost the passion and the drive to do graphic design — it felt like more of a chore that I was forcing myself to do than anything.

Then, I got a job at both Kmart and Kaisercraft over the christmas period. Kaisercraft was an ongoing role, so I had to consider if I really wanted to still do the Adv Dip or not. I love my job at Kaisercraft, so I knew ultimately I would not be leaving Kaiser regardless of the decision. But full-time studies while working part-time at Kaiser AND managing my unpredictable chronic illness? No way could I do that! But maybe I could? These were the thoughts going through my brain and it drove me insane for the entirety of December 2023, because I knew I needed to make a decision soon. I’m awful at making decisions, so eventually I end up just going THAT’S IT and choosing one and refusing to go back on that decision.

Thankfully, that decision was to do the Advanced Diploma.

I knew in my heart, if I didn’t do it, I’d regret it. And I knew, if it wasn’t working out, the worst that’s happened is I’ve wasted my money, but at least then I KNOW it wasn’t for me.

The Advanced Diploma — info / structure / experience:

Fast forward to February 2024, I was beyond excited to get started. Scared! But excited. I was online for the first day (the excitement and anxiety made my endometriosis flare up, typical) and met everyone in my class on the second day, when I attended in-person. My class was mostly made up of people who were all in the same Diploma class the previous year & they’d all finished at the end of 2023. There was one other person from my Diploma class, but we’d never met or talked prior because we were both online students. So every single person here was new to me & it was terrifying, but it’s funny to think back on that because they’re genuinely the nicest bunch of people I’ve ever met.

I’ll touch on some of the projects for each term, because presumably, this will be the same structure you would do also. In term 1, we worked with AADC & MHCSA to create posters for their AdMental event, we created posters for the Refugee Week 2024 exhibition and we created chocolate packaging. From the AdMental project, I was lucky enough to win a paid contract working with MHCSA doing all of their graphic design for Mental Health Month. I began working with them in late April and finished late October. I, along with 2 other students, were lucky enough to have our Refugee Week posters chosen as finalists, meaning our work would be shown in their exhibition, which travels all over SA from July 2024 to July 2025!

In term 2 we worked on wayfinding, marketing and advertising. Wayfinding was cool, not my favourite thing in the world, but it opened my eyes to how much wayfinding is all around us (and how much it isn’t in some areas) and how the design principles are used to create effective wayfinding. Marketing was not at all my cup of tea, but we had an amazing lecturer for that class (Lyndsay Swan) so it wasn’t that bad, I ended up learning a lot and didn’t dislike it as much by the end! Advertising was absoluuutely my favourite, which is why I’ve ended the course with a strong eagerness to get into advertising! We worked with Re:act Road Safety, to design a billboard aimed at younger drivers (16-25) that will deter them from using their phones while driving. We had to present twice in a board room, in front of the client, their partners (Ooh! Media, SAPOL & NRMA), our whole class, and multiple lecturers. It was every bit as terrifying as you can imagine. My legs were complete JELLY and I was so sure I was going to forget every single thing as soon as I was up at the board talking. But I did it! We did the same thing for the AdMental project in the term prior, and I presented after having the worst flare of my life and pushing through it to go to TAFE and present in person, because I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity. Luckily for me, I was chosen as the winner of the Re:act project and I continued to work with Re:act and their partners until early October to get my work up on billboards all over Adelaide for all of September! It was a surreal experience and one that I’ll always treasure.

At the end of term 2, we had to begin planning what our individual visions of the graduation exhibition were and pitch it to the class. Then, the class had to vote what they liked best. Benjamin Anstey & I had an equal number of votes and we decided to plan the whole thing together. At this point I was freaking out inside, because being project lead is a HUGE responsibility and workload, but I was taking it on while still working my part time job, working with Re:act AND doing the humungous project with MHCSA. Not to mention, still trying to complete all of my regular TAFE work!!! I was in over my head, but I knew I could do it. Like I said in my previous blog — not ONCE did I not believe I could do anything this year. I genuinely believe you can do anything you put your mind to, within reason.

Term 3 was a big one for me. To be honest, I don’t even remember most of the stuff we did, because my brain was so focussed on the MHCSA project, Re:act project and Grad Exhibition planning — As well as branding identity, I was also in charge of the social media team & the fundraising team, as well as an overview and assistant to every other team. For our general TAFE work, I believe we worked on our personal branding and wine labels, but I wasn’t able to put much time into either of them because there just wasn’t enough of me to stretch across everything. My health at this point was suffering, I was so beyond burnt out, but there was no room for me to stop because there was just so much going on that relied on me maintaining a high level of workflow. Don’t do what I did - please prioritise your health. If you read my previous blog post, you’ll know I ultimately had a heart attack at the end of the year (literally the day of the graduation exhibition) and I largely blame that on how hard I overworked myself despite the constant warning signs of how much it was affecting my health.

Term 4 is all about the Graduation Exhibition. You do 3 or 4 classes, but they all revolve around the Grad Exhibition and getting your work together for it.

Tips:

Don’t join half-way through the year: I see it as a disadvantage, when you join halfway and don’t get all of the skill, knowledge and confidence building from the first two terms, before ultimately doing the graduation exhibition. I’ve seen it work, we had 6 people join our class halfway and most were exceptional at achieving the same level of work as the rest of us that had an extra half year under our belt. But I’ve also seen it not work, and experienced it myself, so ultimately I think you get a WAY better experience out of the course, if you join at the beginning of the year.

Prioritise yourself & your health: I know not everyone has chronic health issues like me, but it’s still so SO important to prioritise yourself when you need to, particularly your mental health. There were many times this year, where I felt my mental health drop to the lowest possible depths, because I was so ridiculously overworked and burnt-out. I made it through because I have an incredible support system of friends & family, and the lecturers at AC Arts are incredibly supportive and understanding.

Put your all into every project, don’t half-ass it: Within reason!! Don’t overwork yourself and burn yourself out like I did, but seriously, if you put the effort in, it will show. People will notice. You can tell when someone has put in 100% effort and when someone has barely tried. It pays off SO MUCH when you put your all into something. Sometimes it may feel like it doesn’t, for example I spent 3-4 days straight doing JUST embroidery for my refugee week poster design. I put an insane amount of time and effort and energy into that project, and ultimately it was a finalist, but it didn’t win the big prize. At the time, I was pretty upset. But, guess what? It was a finalist at the AADC awards and was a favourite of many at the Graduation Exhibition, as well as a great talking point when initiating conversations with industry people at the event. So in the end, it really did pay off to put all of that effort into it. If you’re ever thinking, “Hmm, I could do this, but is it even worth it?” Yes. Yes it is. DO IT. SERIOUSLY. The right people will notice.

PUSH YOUR CONCEPTS: This one was drilled into me by Emily Caust, because I used to be awful at pushing my concepts. I’d draw up a bunch of thumbnail designs, choose one and refine it almost identically to what the thumbnail sketch was and think I’m done with it. No! Push it! Change the layout, play around with different type/font/copy, maybe change the colours — whatever you do, push it. What I do is continually create a duplicated artboard on Illustrator every time I make another change - another trick I learnt from Emily Caust. Changed the font? Dupe the artboard, see what else I can alter. Then stare at them for a little while, zoom out and look at it from across the room, look at them from different angles, print them even. You’ll notice things that you do or don’t like and make those changes. Keep doing this until your idea communicates exactly what you’re trying to say. It may never have the ‘finished’ feeling, so don’t wait for that, in my experience, it rarely ever feels finished. But sometimes you just know when it’s ‘done’.

Reach out to the past Advanced Diploma students!: We’re literally the nicest bunch you could ever imagine, I can’t see any one of us turning down the opportunity to help out. Please reach out to us! Even if it’s just to chat, or get feedback on your work, we’re happy to help. Head to our graduate website to find everyone’s portfolios & contact info!

Reach out to your peers and lecturers for help & advice: One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen people make is not asking for advice and feedback. It’s so important to get that raw honest feedback so you can improve your work. They’ll notice things you didn’t, and you’ll begin to notice those things more over time as well!

Anyway, sorry for the long read! Hope it was worth your while & I hope this makes any Diploma students who are still unsure, a little more sure! It’s absolutely worth it, I promise.