Ellen Oosterhof graduated from the Minerva Academy in Groningen. She works as an independent graphic designer & photographer and regularly gives workshops and courses in this field.

Graphic Design Basics

Discover the art of graphic design and learn to visually shape your ideas

In this course you will explore the basics of graphic design with elements such as shape, color, typography and layout. The main goal is to use this to convey your message as best as possible.

Each lesson highlights an aspect using examples and you will work on this manually. By sketching and experimenting with different graphic techniques (including template, collage, stamping technique) you explore the visual effects of visual elements, materials, scale and composition. You then use this knowledge to design posters that you put together on the computer.

The following components are covered:

Briefing
Concept development
Sketch phase
Elaboration

The course consists of 6 lessons and takes place on Thursday evenings from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM.

Price: €239,-

Necessary materials:

Own laptop
Application Canva (free) or CanvaPro
USB stick or external SSD drive with USB 3.2 connection to standard USB
Mobile phone with camera
Small scissors
Pencil, black pen, eraser
Magazines that you can cut out
Sheets of white drawing paper (A4 or larger)

The rest of the material we use is there.

The lessons are for anyone who wants to get acquainted with the essence of graphic design.

We work a lot analogue and partly digitally. If you are particularly interested in the use of graphic design in digital form, take a look at the course 'Graphic design for digital presentations'

Class dates 2024

September 12 - 1st lesson

September 19 - 2nd lesson

September 26 - 3rd lesson

October 3 - 4th lesson

October 10 - 5th lesson

October 17 - 6th lesson

This course will be followed in February by the illustrative design course.

This information will be available online from the autumn.

Graphic design for digital presentations

Learn to convey your ideas efficiently and visually from a designer's perspective

What you remember from a presentation depends greatly on the way the information is shown. Designing presentations is an art in itself.

In this course you create your own slideshow with text, image, shape, color palette, typography and layout. The design principles can be applied to all forms of presentation.

You choose your own topic for your slide show. This could be a project, research, service or product. You then develop a story structure, the look & feel and combine everything into a complete presentation.

The following components are covered:

Different types of presentations
Structure of the content
Making a storyboard
Mood board
Sketch phase
Slide design
Subtle effects and transitions

You don't need any prior knowledge. This course is suitable for anyone who wants to improve their visual communication skills.

The course consists of 6 lessons and takes place on Thursday evenings from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM.

Price: €239,-

Necessary materials:

Own laptop
Free Google account with Google slides
USB stick or external SSD drive with USB 3.2 connection to standard USB
Pencil, black pen, eraser
Note book/paper for sketching

Teaching dates first block 2024 / 2025
This course is started twice a year. The lesson dates for the 2nd block will be available online from December.

October 31 - 1st lesson

November 7 - 2nd lesson

November 14 - 3rd lesson

November 21 - 4th lesson

November 28 - 5th lesson

December 5 - 6th lesson