Focusing on a new career path in graphic design

After making a decision to follow a new path towards a career in graphic design, Liam Hanley chose to go back to college to pick up the skills and expertise that he would need to achieve his goals.

Liam says: “I started my career journey a little older than most – I was 22 years old when I started my Level 2 at Leicester College. I had been working in warehouse jobs, on zero-hour contracts, but wanted to focus on a new direction and career.  

“Art had always been my favourite subject at school. I love technology and was used to video editing on my phone so I decided to pool all of these creative interests to study a range of courses at Leicester College including Level 2 in Creative Media, Level 3 in Multimedia and a degree in Professional Studies, taken at Leicester College and authenticated by De Montfort University.

“It was the best decision I made. I loved the programmes and tools that we used, such as Photoshop and how they gave me limitless opportunities when it comes to image manipulation.”

‘The possibilities are endless’

The qualifications that Liam achieved at Leicester College enabled him to successfully follow a career in graphic design. He now works for Lutterworth-based ISI Global, a creative retail design company, where he started as a motion graphics designer and is now head of digital.

Liam continues: “I never thought that I would get where I am today but the Leicester College courses meant that my possibilities to satisfy my creative bug are endless. I’m really enjoying my senior role and although I have no plans to move on, I could perhaps look at developing my own business later in my career.

“For people in the same position in which I found myself before going back to further education, I would recommend that they do their research, figure out their strengths, and go and talk to the people at Leicester College on one of the open days.

“They really sold the course to me and I love the fact that I’ve stayed in touch with my tutors – they’ve been so supportive.”