Starting your Creative Career - 5 week course

This five-week course led by Ollie England helps young creatives understand the local creative industry around Bournemouth and Dorset and develop foundational skills needed to begin a freelance career.

Through guided portfolio development, idea-generation tasks and a look at real-life briefs, learners gain confidence, structure, and clarity about their next steps. Ideal for anyone with creative talent who wants to try and find meaningful work experience and start building a career.

What we cover each week:

Week 1 – Portfolio & Creative Identity

• Portfolio review, skills audit, influences and goals

Week 2 – Understanding the Creative Industry

• Creative roles, pathways, niches and local opportunities

Week 3 – Working With Briefs & Developing Ideas

• How to understand a brief, generate ideas, and present concepts

Week 4 – Tools, Workflow & Organisation

• Software, planning, file management and time-management basics

Week 5 – Becoming “Client Ready”

• What a strong starter portfolio looks like and how to prepare for real work

This course has been designed with input from a range of local experts in marketing, design, animation and video production.