At the CTCA, we begin with a 6-month course that we call Foundation Semester. This is something all new students do, and it is designed to ease the transition from secondary to tertiary education. This preparatory period nurtures creativity, curiosity, agility, and resilience, equipping students for academic and professional futures. It also allows students to make informed decisions about their specialisation selection made in the second semester.
design laboratories
concept lab
Concept Lab offers students practical exposure to the creative process with a central emphasis on conceptual and strategic thinking. You are guided through the challenges of exploratory thinking-doing so as to develop your capacity for experimentation, curiosity, agility, and creative confidence. This course also introduces you to the fundamentals of working in 3D, and how these formal considerations can influence the conceptualisation of complex ideas. In CL, we emphasise the joy of the creative process rather than focusing on the final outcome.
form labs
Form Lab teaches students how to communicate effectively through visual design. In this course, you will learn about creating and understanding both 2D and 3D designs, using colour expressively, and working with typography – which is the art of arranging text. The course emphasises the connection between how something looks and what it communicates, and you will do various hands-on projects and experiments to explore these concepts.
skills development
digital skills
Digital Skills provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills in order to participate as a creative practitioner in our digital world. The course introduces you to the powerful Adobe Creative Cloud suite, with particular emphasis on Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Premiere Pro. You will be guided through these various platforms and tools through demonstration, experimentation, and practical tasks.
foundational theory
contextual studies
This course introduces students to understanding and using visual symbols and messages effectively. By studying different visual communication techniques, you will become skilled at analysing and interpreting a wide variety of visual media, from films, TV, and music videos to advertising, art and everything in between. This knowledge is an essential foundation to successful communication, and forms a prerequisite for all your years at the CTCA.
academic skills
This rigorous course teaches students how to do independent research and write strong, well-organised argumentative papers. You will learn how to find, analyse and process information gleaned from your research, and then how to structure and present it in academic research projects. The course also covers the importance of credible research, academic honesty, how to properly cite sources, and even how to ethically use generative AI to assist you in your research, idea generation, and editing skills. Additionally, you will learn how to turn your research into persuasive seminar presentations which is a skill you will need for your time at the CTCA.