I studied for a university credit-rated Professional Certificate in UI Visual Design with the UX Design institute in 2021.

Where UX designers are in charge of how the user interface operates, UI designers are tasked with deciding how the user interface will look.

This course was everything that I wanted it to be- a digital version of my existing art direction skills in typography, colour, and shape. I am very proud of my 97% exam pass mark, but hopefully my enthusiasm also comes across in my work- see my Bank UI case study.

Skills I have learned in this process:

• How to design user interfaces that are intuitive while also Infusing brand values

• The importance of, and how to apply hierarchy & consistency

• Tools of the trade, specifically Figma to design and collaborate in

• Creating mood boards and inspiration

• Maintaining balance and order with structure, grid systems, margins, gutters, padding and alignment

• Responsive website design and their breakpoints

• Design principles such as proximity, chunking, similarity, symmetry, continuation, affordance and visual hierarchy

• Choosing the right Interactive elements such as navigation and components

• The design of input controls and informational components that remain on brand

• Choosing fonts and colours for their accessibility and how to authenticate them

• How to create a colour palette of primary, secondary and accent colours

• Design Icons that are within a brand style

• Working as part of a team with UX designers, UX writers and developers

• How to present designs and hold critiques

• UI Visual Design extends my knowledge on how to be visually minded and have an eye for detail- Creative and systematic