Shillington School

My Shillington experience was incredible. Every day working on new challenging briefs that taught me specific skills I needed to be a graphic designer but while learning in a way that is identical to what I encounter now, Skills that I use day in and day out I really wouldn't be where I am today without it. Since Shillington I've worked as a designer now for 5 years and loving every second, freelancing for companies like the BBC I couldn't recommend Shillington more. Read less

Moving to New York and going to Shillington was one of the coolest / best decisions I have made. The course as well as the connections you make will last a lifetime. 

Before going to Shillington I had minimal experience working as a designer, and had a dream to become one. In less than a yer from graduating I now work as a design studio I only ever admired.

The curriculum is so hands on, the teachers are exceptional and every member of the staff cares for you, and connects with you, every step of the way. 

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I attended the full-time Shillington course in NYC and it honestly changed my life. I went in with a curiosity for design and the hope that I could find a way to make a career out of it and came out with the exact knowledge and tools I needed to make the change. The teachers are absolutely amazing, honestly, just the entire experience was incredible. I got a design job in under a month from graduating and projects I've made at Shillington have won/been nominated for a few awards. If you're thinking of doing it, just make the jump. You absolutely will not regret it! 

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Shillington was a deeply disappointing experience. The course lacked constructive feedback, felt unbalanced, and stifled creativity. Favoritism was blatant, with the same two students praised daily, both of whom conveniently mirrored the instructors' personal styles. Instead of fostering diverse perspectives, the program seemed more interested in producing carbon copies of its own aesthetic.

As a practicing artist with prior graphic design education and a career in tech, I enrolled simply to update my skill set. However, what I found was not an enriching learning environment but a rigid system of conformity. One instructor, in particular, was atrocious, more focused on showcasing his own work than actually teaching. His critiques were not insightful or skill-based but arbitrary, with his biggest piece of advice being that I needed a better Pinterest board. Truly laughable.

The reviews were overwhelmingly negative, with little to no encouragement. Just because someone is a graphic designer doesn’t mean they are a good teacher. A real educator inspires students, recognizes strengths, and helps refine them, none of which happened here. Having taught art myself and holding multiple art degrees from a major university, I know what quality instruction looks like. This was not it.

If you're looking for real creative growth, look elsewhere. This program is overpriced, uninspiring, and ultimately a waste of money. Read less

As a creative person, I was always interested in design but I never knew how to become a creative myself. I found the course a total life changer it opened my eyes to a creative industry that I had always wanted to be involved in. Shillington gave me the tools and the direction to showcase my creativity, my talented teachers and peers gave me the drive to succeed within the industry Read less

What an experience! I started with no technical adobe suite knowledge and a heart full of passion and excitement, and finished with a working knowledge of Adobe Suite, a group of amazing people I can now call friends, a portfolio of work that I am proud of and a creative support network. The course is full on and a lot of hard work, but because I was keen to expand my skillset and push myself to rise to the challenge I thoroughly enjoyed every step of the way. I can honestly say it has been one of the best experiences of my life.  Read less

I attended Shillington College of Graphic Design at the Sydney campus in a full-time capacity which was an exciting decision for me. I completely did a 180 from working full time after many years to studying full time. I was unsure of how it would all turn out but looking back can advise it was well worth diving in and meeting liked minded new friends and entered a new community. We all quickly discovered how hard we would work but it saw us produce a large variety of creative and fun projects. We had fun always along the way and learned so much from each other as we all had different abilities and it was truly wonderful to discover different methods and techniques and evolve our designs within a supportive environment.

To compile our own portfolio, in the end, was a pleasant way to conclude the course and reflect on all the work we had achieved. I was happy to discover my creative side through all the projects and the information resources were amazing and relevant /up to date. I appreciate (during the course), designers presenting and now after the course all the inspiration it is endless!!! I would highly recommend this course to anyone seeking to discover their creative self, the entire experience was special and I won't forget my time there, thank you :) Read less

I choose Shillington for my design education based on its reputation and flexibility to study part-time. My experience at Shillington was extremely positive and my design skills and confidence in my abilities improved dramatically. By the end of the course, I made the decision to switch to a career in design full-time and found a job one month after graduation with my Shillington portfolio. Read less

Shillington’s full-time intensive course caters for the needs of a career changer. The course is structured to prepare students for a fast-paced and high-pressure profession. It was a wonderful experience working alongside classmates and tutors who deeply appreciate design. Read less

Shillington was an amazing experience. All of the teachers were fantastic. They were super cool, nice and helpful at all times. The course was intense. I learned so much. It's truly amazing how much they teach you/prepare you in such a small window of time. Highly Recommended! Read less

Through the Shillington design course I changed careers from being a lawyer to becoming a graphic designer in 3 short months. I was proud of my portfolio and was able to get a job and job interviews quickly. It requires hard work and focus, but the teachers and the school back and support you 110%. It was one of the best and most inspiring experiences of my life. Shillington gave me skills and courage to follow my dream! Read less

I left Shillington with a broad knowledge of design fundamentals, history, principles and technical skills. The truth is, you can’t learn everything about design in 3 months, but after Shillington, I feel confident in my design skills, my ability to generate creative ideas and most importantly, I know how to ask the right questions and learn what I don’t know yet.

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What led me to Shillington was its focus on portfolio development, and formal training with design software (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Sketch). Prior to the program I had little to no experience with each, and was hoping to transition to the field of graphic design.

Coming out of the program I'm fluent in each software, armed with an understanding of design principles and the portfolio I needed. The projects were very similar to the work I wished I could be doing while working at an agency beforehand, and now I'm confident in my abilities to complete those design projects and more. You gain significant practice reps - completing 30+ projects in a 3 month window. If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth it! 

Shillington provides all the resources to make it possible, with hands-on learning, one-on-one teaching, and tons of positive energy throughout. NYC also immerses you in a world of design to learn from.

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My overall experience was great. I was able to submerge myself in an environment I sought for so long. I met very engaged, supportive, and passionate people from all over the world. I'm very glad I did it. 

However, DO NOT expect this program to change your life immediately or make you an expert. For beginners, it'll be a crash course in Design where you will be introduced to a bit of everything. The on going flow of work will make it very challenging to find time to practice and let concepts and techniques to really set in. It might feel like a sink or swim situation at times.This program is BEST for people with previous knowledge.

I highly recommend to maintain ties with your current employer and take this course as a short leave of absence for personal or proffesional development. Alllow yourself some sort of security. Since there isn't real job assistance, besides a recruiting program and an email telling you to keep your chin up, you willl need to work harder to find your place in design and a job. 

It's essentially a Portofolio program. I appreciate the push to meet deadlines as in the "real world", but considering time management can be learned, Portfolio week should be giving more care and time. Promoting NO SLEEP in order to finish certain projects for "sign off" is a bad move. 

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Please only consider this course if you have money to burn. You will spend in excess of £10,000 (not just fees, extra they get you to buy that you don’t actually need, materials, software - the price also goes up every year) for an overly hyped course, that is only slightly useful if you have previous experience and are naturally very talented in that area - despite the fact they market it for beginners. My two male teachers were incredibly dismissive of people in the group they felt to be not very good, looked exasperated when people asked for help or they were clearly tired or had a bad day, made snide comments about previous students. It’s a very pretentious bubble that Shillington live in. You will be better off learning the tricks of the trade online, saving that money, and investing in your own professionally printed portfolio  for about £30 to £40 as you can learn everything they teach you online. I ended up having to pick up most of it on YouTube due to rushed/poorly planned evening classes. 

You are ultimately paying for the name with Shillington, and no connections are offered and it quickly became apparent the course is designed to pick out new talent, rather than the desire to teach graphic design.

 

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Plain and simple, Shillington changed my life in the best way possible.

I always loved art and creative "stuff", but never thought I could make my passion into a career. After graduating college with a BS in Advertising from Syracuse University, I got a job in NYC at an ad agency as an account exec. While it was an incredible place to work, I felt that something was missing. I realized that the best part of my days were when I got to sit with my creative team or go to brainstorms. It became clear that I needed to go with my gut and try something new.

I looked into every single program in New York (and some outside of the city) and found generally only two options, neither of which would work for me. The first was a 2-3 year graduate program at a university like NYU, Parsons, FIT, etc which were way too costly and too big of a time commitment. The second option was one-off classes for continuing education, which seemed more for people who felt like dabbling in an interest of theirs on the side. Not intense enough for me.

Then, I found Shillington and I thought...this honestly must not be real. I hadn't seen anything like it. It was literally everything I wanted to learn... in only three months. 

Turns out it is very real and was hands down the best decision I have ever made in my life. I will not sit here and say it was a walk in the park. It was definitely hard work, but the more you push yourself, the more likely you are to graduate with a portfolio that looks like you went to school for four years. The teachers, all practicing graphic designers, are some of the most incredible people I have ever met. They are talented designers and more importantly, they are passionate about teaching in a way that will help you develop your own style. I can easily say I learned more from my Shillington teachers in 3 months than I ever did from any of my professors in college. 

The course is set up perfectly so that even if you have never touched a Mac in your life, you can succeed. After having no experience with Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator, I am now sitting in front of a massive Mac desktop as a Graphic Designer for an awesome ad agency in NYC working on cool brands like Nike, BMW, LG, Hennessy, and more. Somebody smack me!!!!

If it isn't clear already, Shillington is unbelievable and I do not think there is anything out there like it. DO IT!

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I can say that I was a little bit scared about the program because I didn’t feel confident about the language (Spanish is my first language) and also I thought that three months are not enough to learn and change my career but, it wasn’t true!! I did it!

The teachers are so professional, patient, helpful and dedicated. They helped us a lot to learn the programs and also gave us advises all the time to improve our work.

Sincerely, this was the best decision ever!! I met wonderful persons and now I can call myself a Graphic Designer!

 

 

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I feel badly putting this out there for everyone to see, but it's important to make sure that future students have all of the information they need to make the right decision about their education so though conflicted I realize it's important. I have had good instructors and have definitely learned a lot. The small environment is really cool and in most situations I think that could really foster learning. Some instructors are incredibly talented and really do a great job sharing that and guiding those who want to learn. However, I find the overall mood or rather feel of Shillington to be negative and I think that is due to the director currently in place. I'm not sure if she is family to the owners, but I think she lacks experience not only in the field, but also in her type of position. If you go to her with a concern she is defensive and combative as opposed to understanding and helpful. She is gossipy and rather unprofessional. She will ice you out if she doesn't like you and that can be incredibly uncomfortable and overall unacceptable when paying so much money. Most recently I overheard her speaking about another student in a negative way where other people could hear. This was uncredibly disheartening because when I walked away I realized it could be me she was talking about next. I think so much of a positive learning experience is the atmopshere and the relationships you build, so having one kink in an overall great place, especially someone in charge can really bring down the enire operation. I do want to say that Rebecca Montanaro and Adam Dudd are great. Hopefully the director's bosses see this and really re-think the representation of their business. The model is great. It just needs better management.

 

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I can confidently say that going to The Shillington School of Graphic Design was the best decision that I have ever made.  I absolutely LOVED it.

I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Communications not sure of what I really wanted to do and then came across Shillington.  I was a little bit hesitant at first with the price for such a short amount of time but it was WELL WORTH IT.  

After being in traditional college and transitioning to a bootcamp atmosphere I believe that the you definitely do get your money's worth.  Everyday from 8:00 - 5:00pm you are learning and designing and it was SO MUCH FUN.  You have very little lecture time and more of the time is spent designing which I thought was fantastic.  You are given a real world brief and real world deadlines. The teachers are great and the class size is perfect.  I could not believe how much I learned and how much skill I had obtained at the end of each week.  If you have any doubts, 3 months is ABSOLUTELY enough time to learn graphic design.

At the end of the course you leave with a beautiful portfolio that your teachers make sure is perfect before putting you out in the "real world".  Each interview I went on, I could tell that people were impressed that I was a new graduate out of a three month program.  The quality of the work you will be able to create is aligned with top trends, top software and best practices.  If you have an eye for design, Shillington will take care of the rest. (But you do have to put in the work and have the drive for it).

When speaking about the Job assistance, there wasn't much.  They had some designers come in and speak about their positions and what options you have entering the field and what to expect.  They also had Creative Circle, a creative agency, come in and speak about how to get a job and how to go through recruiters. After graduation you can feel free to e-mail for assistance, but you are pretty much on your own.  To be honest, with the skills you acquire, along with the portfolio you create you really won't need much else.

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