Design Foundation
Course

More info

Start a design career at our highly recognised Marbella Design Academy!

The 12-week Design Foundation Course is the perfect solution for all students who would like to improve their passion for Design or who have the dream of a BA university degree in Design, but do not have the required academic background to enter directly into our Bachelor of Arts Validated programmes.

The aim of this Design Foundation Course is to introduce students to the practice of being a designer. It will help them develop creative expression and their ideas, add meaning and context to their designs, and to identify where their design skills best lie.

On successful completion of the Design Foundation Course of the Marbella Design Academy, students are awarded a Design Foundation Course certificate of completion. Additionally, they will be eligible to enrol in one of our three-year International Bachelor of Arts with Honours validated programmes:

Fashion Design & Development, Interior Architecture & Design, Graphic Design & Media, validated and awarded by our UK partner – the University of Bedfordshire.

To ensure that all students have the possibility to access our three-year undergraduate design programmes, we are now offering the very flexible opportunity of attending this Design Foundation Course either at the Academy itself or even without leaving the confines of the home on both February and May intake.

Any student who chooses to attend virtually will still benefit from tutor attention and guidance through an interactive live-streaming system.  Students will be able to connect with our tutor in real-time and ask any questions they might have as they arise..

Why should you take the Design Foundation Course at Marbella Design Academy?

This 12-week Design Foundation Course, developed under the sole responsibility of Marbella Design Academy, is the perfect solution for students that: 

  • Do not fulfil the entrance requirements for entering our three-year Bachelor of Arts validated programmes.
  • Are in doubt as to which BA (Hons) validated programme in Design to choose.

Course Structure

The Design Foundation Course is divided into Introduction, Experimentation, Specialisation and Presentation.

In the introduction, the course will cover the fundamentals as follows:

  • Visual Communication
  • Colour Theory
  • Drawing Skills

The experimentation stage is to challenge your creativity and enhance your skills.

You will work with traditional media, photography and computers to develop the basic skills required; through research and exploratory drawings, you will create some basic design projects.

Each project is designed to encourage you to develop your own ideas and to familiarise you with the design process to produce a high-quality body of work and cover a range of design-industry-standard mediums.

In the Specialisation stage, you will decide which area of design interests you the most. You will be involved in graphic, interior and fashion projects.

The Specialisation stage will also introduce you to the concept of working with a given brief and provide you with an understanding of how design works in the commercial world.

An essential aspect of being a designer is compiling and presenting your work. The Presentation stage will be divided into two parts to help you gain confidence in showing your work:

First, you will give a short presentation of your work, where you focus on the relevant parts of your projects and explain your design options.

Then, you will build a portfolio fit for degree level interviews. It will show finished pieces along with research, development and the thinking process.

More about our design foundation course

Design Foundation Course – The Students’ Experience

Design Foundation Course – The Students’ Experience

We have three intakes per year.
Next coming intakes are:

2025 Starting on:

03rd February 2025 to 25th April 2025 (Live streaming and on campus)

19th May 2025 to 08th August 2025 (Live streaming and on campus)

22nd September 2025 to 12th December 2025 (Live streaming and on campus)

Tuition Language: English

Duration: 12 weeks

Schedule: From 9am to 1pm (Monday to Friday) (Spanish time zone)

Application form Contact Us online BROCHURE
Bachelor of Arts degree by University of Bedfordshire - Marbella Design School

When awarded your undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree by University of Bedfordshire, you can apply for a Master validated programme at any university of your choice.

Study Plan & Material list

Registration Fee of 4000€.

Duration: 12 weeks.

Study Plan – Introduction (2 weeks)

Basic visual communication and introduction to the design process. In the introduction of the course we will cover the following:

  • Visual Elements
  • Composition
  • Visual Perception
  • Introduction to Colour Theory

Through interactive lectures and exploratory exercises, the students will be able to understand the basics of visual communication and perception. The students will work with photography, developing the basic skills required.

Study Plan – Experimentation (5 weeks)

During this period the students will tackle a wide range of design and drawing challenges, spanning many areas of design. The students will be introduced to industry-standard software (Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign). Therefore it is relevant for the students to bring their computers with the required software installed. This stage aims to enable the students to understand their interests and abilities in different design fields.

The experimental stage is to challenge the creativity of the students; through an established project where they will complete a variety of design work. The project is organized so that the students try elements of each discipline, from fashion, graphics and interior architecture.

The students will also have the opportunity to visit a museum and/or a gallery to open their horizons in the art and design field. Through their research and documented drawings, the students will have the opportunity to design a new brand, create a space and design a fashion item.

The project is written to encourage the students to develop their ideas. They will start with a design brief, then are expected to research the topic, and produce a high-quality body of work.

This will be perfect training for what the students will be facing after enrolling in one of the Marbella Design Academy three-year Bachelor of Arts Validated programmes.

Study Plan – Specialisation (4 weeks)

Students will be involved in several areas of design and engage in self-directed work. This stage aims to enable the students to conduct the project in different design fields. At this stage, students will know which area of design interests them the most.

All the project will be discussed and agreed in advance with the tutor. The tutor will be able to suggest solutions, although the student will be encouraged to develop ideas and concepts of their own.

Study Plan – Presentation (1 week)

The students are expected to present their self-directed project. They will also build a portfolio of their work to show prospective degree courses. An essential aspect of being a designer is compiling and presenting a project. This short stage will be divided into two parts to helps students gain confidence in showing their work.

Students will give a short presentation (15 minutes maximum) of their projects. They will not aim to show everything that they have done, but focus in on the best of their projects.

Then, each student will build a portfolio fit for degree level interviews. It will be neat, orderly and show all the work developed for the project. It will show sketches alongside to finished deliverables, all sustained by a development process.

The specialisation stage will introduce students to the concept of working accordingly to a brief. The project will give the students an understanding of how design works in the commercial world.

Each student will participate in a project covering interior architecture, graphic design and fashion design.

More Details

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Testimonials

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“This course has taught me so much more than I could ever imagine. The teacher inspired me so much during this course, and I thought it was amazing to have his help throughout all projects.
Thanks for everything.”
Mikaela Söderholm – Sweden
Design Foundation course
It was a pleasure for me to be part of the Design Foundation Course.
It was a wonderful class. I was able to discover many things and new software.
The Design Foundation Course taught me so much, especially how to be creative and have a designer mindset.
The course was challenging, and the teacher was always there supporting us and ready to help.
I enjoyed the course tremendously.
Benedicte Ndongo Kulengula – Republic of Congo
Online Design Foundation Course
I joined the Design Foundation Course because I didn´t know what to study. It was a really good tool for me to check what I wanted to do.
I ended up doing Fashion, as this is what I really wanted to do.
I would recommend the course, it has been an amazing experience, and I met so many good people.
Gabriel Carús – Spain/UAE
Design Foundation Course
I really loved my summer Design Foundation Course, and I found it really interesting.
It was quite beautiful and enjoyable being at the academy with this weather. It really did not feel like extra education.
At the start of my Design Foundation Course, I wasn´t sure if I was going to go to Fashion or Graphics.
I am now at the end of first year of Graphic Design and I have been absolutely loving it.
Sofya Koroleva – Russia
Design Foundation Course
I would definitely recommend the Design Foundation Course, especially for people who don´t know what they want to study yet, because it gives you a basic knowledge of all 3 courses. At the end of the course, you have an understanding of what you are going into.
JP was a great teacher during the course. He really helped when you needed help. Overall it was just good vibes.
Razan Esfahani – Bahrain
Design Foundation Course

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