Last week students on our UAL Extended Diploma in Graphic Design course had the opportunity to visit digital design agency Hedgehog Lab at their Newcastle office. This trip is an example of the industry focus that is taken very seriously within our creative courses.

Hedgehog lab has worked with international brands across many industries such as food delivery service app Deliveroo, banking brand Santander, tech company Microsoft plus many many more. As their website states:

“We help global brands with digital products on mobile, web and connected platforms…Our award-winning design team have worked with some of the world’s biggest organisations and are here to embed user-focused design in your app or product journey”Graphic Design Lecturer Lucy Tranter said, “The trip to Hedgehog Lab provided our students with an informative and interactive session, allowing them to form an understanding of the processes used within the industry. Including how Hedgehog Lab work as a team and deliver their outcomes through a series of design stages, all while considering commercial application and understanding. The team at Hedgehog Lab were brilliant at mapping industry examples into the student’s current knowledge, that they can further adapt in their Graphic Design studies in the future.”

Students across both first and second year had the opportunity to take part in the interactive session first year Graphic Design student, Lucy Chidley commented, “The trip to Hedgehog Lab helped by showing us a different side of the graphic design industry with the collaboration of the team and it was great to see how they prioritise how the workplace performs through teamwork and planning to achieve their outcome. I learned that working as a team is very important in the design process and relevant research is key to the design process before sketches and programming begin.”The session allowed an insight into a real working environment in which the skills learnt on our graphic design course can be applied in action, student Rose Richardson commented: “It helped me realise just how building everyday skills for the people in industry is just as important as technical designing skills”

The trip also allowed students to see the opportunities and positions that are available to them within their field of study, graphic design final year student Jono Mudd mentioned, “It was great getting an insight into the pathways I can take within the industry as well as learning new methods of work.”

If you are interested in finding out more about Hedgehog Lab you can check out their website hedgehoglab.com or check out their instagram @hedgehog_lab or take a look at their Facebook and Linkedin.

If you are a young creative in Tees Valley interested in graphic design our UAL Extended Diploma in Graphic Design is an established, well connected course that offers students real life opportunities and skills that will help you establish a career path within the creative industries. All our young graphic designers benefit from working in a supportive community in our new campus on Newport Road which has just been rated outstanding by Ofsted. Don’t miss out apply now for September!