The prestigious British Inchbald School of Design has been educating leading house and garden designers since 1960.
It specialises in interior design, interior decoration and garden design courses, including MAs, post and undergraduate diplomas and certificate courses, as well as short courses in computer-aided design.
Now it is extending its interactive online learning programme to amateur students who can be hampered by the constraints of a full-time job and/or family, are keen to work informally for friends or want to acquire a broader understanding of design to augment their work in associated careers.
Each 12-week course offers students the opportunity to develop their design ideas while receiving specialist guidance and advice from an assigned personal tutor who is a practising professional. Lively teaching sessions are lavishly illustrated and include a series of practical projects. Students get unlimited access to course materials and the dedicated micro-website for the three month course duration.
Students are also encouraged to work as a group, communicating via email to exchange ideas and stimulate inspiration, as well as working alongside their tutor.
Jacqueline Duncan, the school’s principal, says the online short courses offer a comprehensive introduction, not only to the principles of design, but to the skills for which English houses and gardens have become famous.
“At Inchbald we are committed to preserving and developing our students’ personal design flair and to informing their knowledge of those decorative details that presently risk dilution through mass manufacture.
“The time has come to re-appraise our perspectives on design fashion and to review the expertise and attention to detail on which all great designs depend and for which England in particular is renowned.”
• The next Design Your Living Space and Design Your Garden courses start on September 10 and cost $2370 (£1200 including VAT).
