Entrepreneur: Design and Digital Marketing Certificate

Learn the principles of design, design thinking, marketing strategies, and the business practices to run an effective creative business

Through this program, you will learn the principles of design, design software, HTML and CSS, the methodology behind design thinking, and the business practices to run an effective creative business. In Effective Design: Color & Typography, you will develop the visual problem-solving skills critical to marketing and content creation. In Business Practices for Creatives, you will better understand the best methods for creating, managing, and maintaining a creative business. In Design Thinking Methodology, you will learn the critical thinking necessary to solve problems and provide your clients with innovative solutions.

CCE Entrepreneur Certificate

Course Info

Courses are offered at varying times year-round. Select classes begin in January, April, July, and September. Beyond the three required courses, certificate students must complete two additional credits in each of three other subject areas: print design, web design, and social media marketing.

LENGTH OF CERTIFICATE: An avergae of 36 months

COURSES TO COMPLETE: 9 classes total

To receive a Certificate, students must achieve an overall 2.0 G.P.A. or better.

Outcomes

  • Understand principles of design, typography, and composition
  • Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite software such as Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign
  • Learn fundamentals of website structure through hypertext markup language (HTML) coding
  • Understand how to style and format text and page components through cascading style sheets (CSS)
  • Learn best practices for running or founding a business in the creative industry
  • Develop a business plan, identify resources to help negotiate contracts, navigate taxes and legal issues
  • Understand the theory of human centered design.
  • Develop marketing plans and strategies. 
  • Optimize your use of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, your company’s website, and other emerging social media platforms
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of social media efforts with analytics and metrics

Course of study

3 CORE PROGRAM COURSES

  • DES 200, Business Practices for Creatives
  • DES 205, Design Thinking Methodology
  • DES 150, Effective Design: Color & Typography

TWO PRINT DESIGN COURSES

  • DES 151, Adobe Illustrator
  • DES 152, Adobe Photoshop (required)
  • DES 154, Adobe InDesign

TWO WEB DESIGN COURSES

  • DES 155, HTML & CSS Design (required)
  • DES 165, UX/UI
  • DES 162, WordPress

TWO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING COURSES

  • SM 101, Intro to Social Media Marketing (required)
  • SM 100, Intro to Digital Marketing
  • SM 102, Advanced Social Media Marketing
  • SM 105, Content Creation

All courses are 1 credit unless otherwise noted. A total of nine credits are required for completion of this Certificate Program.

Cost

$500 per class

How to Register

Enrolling in one of PCA&D’s Certificate Programs is simple. Confirm your intent to pursue one of our certificates by filling out an application. Register for required courses on our class site

If you have any questions regarding mapping out a plan, upcoming class schedules, or completing your certificate, please contact the Center for Creative Exploration at 717.396.7833 ext 1005 or email ce@pcad.edu.