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2-Week Summer Courses (15-18yrs)
Games Art and Character Design

Games Art and Character Design

Ages: 15-18
Dates: 4-15 August 2025

Overview

This 2-week summer course is perfect for students aged 15-18 that want to design imagery and assets for innovative games on a variety of platforms.

Booking will open soon for this course; please check back. Alternatively, sign up for updates and be the first to find out when this course is open for bookings.

What you need to know

Monday 4 August – Friday 15 August 2025

Weekdays (Monday – Friday), 09.00-17.00

Saturday 9 August, 10.00-16.00

Age

Suitable for aspiring artists aged 15-18.

Experience or qualifications required

There are no formal academic entry requirements or qualifications needed to study this course. We only ask that you come with a passion for the creative arts and plenty of enthusiasm!

English language

This course will be taught in English. We don't require you hold an English language qualification, however we recommend you have an intermediate level of English in order to benefit fully from your experience, and be able to communicate with your tutors and fellow students.

If you'd like to discuss if this course is suitable for you, get in touch with us: summercourses@aub.ac.uk or +44 (0) 1202 363222.

All course materials and equipment/resources are included in the course fee.

Optional extras

You can choose to add the following optional extras to your course fee:

Residential and full-board catering
Private taxi transfer to/from any London airport

See below for further details about our residential package.

Deposit

You can secure your place on the course today with just a 25% deposit of your total fee. Choose this option when you book your place. Refer to the table below for prices.

Package	Price	25% deposit
Course fee only	£1,699	£425
Course and residential catering	£2,645	£662
Course, catering and airport taxi	£2,965	£742

Residential packages for 2-week summer courses (15-18yrs)

Experience life as an AUB student by booking a residential package as part of your Summer Course. Stay in AUB's halls of residence.

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FAQs for 2-week summer courses

These FAQs have been carefully curated to answer any questions you may have about studying a creative summer course with us here at AUB.

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Terms and conditions for 2-week summer courses

Please read our terms and conditions before booking a summer course and contact us if you have any questions.

About this course

The UK gaming market alone is a growing industry hitting record annual income generation exceeding £8 billion. To support this growing and evolving sector, and the creative talent to supply it, we've developed this hands-on summer course. This course is perfect for ambitious students who want to design imagery and assets for innovative games on a variety of different platforms; this includes character and environment design, with a focus on visual narrative and play.

Throughout the course, you'll be introduced to the key skills, elements, and principles of games design to support the creation of a credible portfolio of work. You can then build on your portfolio to showcase your individual talent to support application to undergraduate studies and/or underpin future career aspirations.

Working in a friendly and inclusive environment, you'll be introduced to the practical and analytical uses for games art and character design, through a series of immersive and practical group projects; exploring core concepts, components, and practices of games art and character design focusing on the practical elements that will be underpinned by exploration and imaginative experimentation.

Beginning at the concept planning stages, you'll develop a strong set of core skills. This will include exploring and practising concept art and asset production to support in the design process.

You'll learn how to create characters, props and environments using 2D and 3D content creation software to fit in with the game development pipeline.

You'll be supported by a series of inspirational talks by your tutor throughout the course, which will culminate with a special showcase to celebrate your imagination, skills, and creative abilities.

A broad history of games art and visual styles in the games industry.
Techniques for researching, brainstorming, and creating reference material for games design and digital concept art.
Key principles of concept art.
Key principles for character design and designing the associated props and environments.
An introduction to 3D modelling props, environments, and characters.
An introduction to the 12 principles of animation and how to apply them within industry standard 3D animation software.
Storytelling through a range of collaborative and independent imaginative projects using various narrative techniques.
How to create a game brief and pitch.
Experimental image-making, asset creation and concept artwork.
Explore and apply the creative approaches required to create artwork for digital games.
A full itinerary of extracurricular evening and weekend activities, including a weekend cultural excursion at no additional cost.

Develop confidence in your creative skills and abilities.
Develop team participation and collaboration with your peers.
Provide experience and appreciation of connected creative subjects including art, design, animation, film, special visual effects, film, graphic design, illustration, and visual communication, to name but a few.
Develop a varied portfolio of creative work to demonstrate your skills and creative identity in games art and character design.
Provide extended practical sessions to experiment with personal ideas and creative processes in a professional Higher Education setting.
Develop your observational and drawing skills to enhance your aesthetic awareness and inform your research activities.
Provide opportunities to experience a wide variety of newfound skills and techniques.
Develop your understanding of research methods and idea development, and cultivate your personal visual voice.
Provide opportunities for self-evaluation and critique to enhance your confidence and reflective skills when considering your own and your peer group work.
Develop your understanding of the field of games art and character design, and to understand what opportunities await in the field of employment.

Work produced during the course will be collated into a digital journal for you to add to your portfolio or for future development.
Your course tutors will offer guidance and support you with your creative applications, as well as feedback on your work and offer advice for your future creative studies.
All students with 100% course attendance will be issued with an official AUB Summer Course certificate detailing course contents and study hours.

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Future options to study at AUB

During your time with us, you can attend a session to talk more about our Foundation Diploma in Art and Design or BA (Hons) undergraduate degree courses, and discuss your personal portfolio with an expert academic. You may even be eligible for a pre-application interview, to secure your future place at AUB!

If you're an International fee-paying summer student that progresses to study full-time at AUB – to either the one-year Foundation Diploma in Art, Design and Media or a three-year undergraduate degree – you're guaranteed to receive a £3,000 bursary for your first year of study.

Each year, we’re proud to offer many of our summer students places on AUB’s incredible full-time creative courses. Explore courses that you may wish to consider below.