get yourself career-ready

Become more recruit-able!! A Retail Design Project carefully crafted to help participants bridge the gap between their student design life and the realities of professional design practice. 

• Build confidence in creative problem-solving.
• Experience designing as a team.
• Learn retail specific design frameworks.
• Improve how you communicate the value of design.
• Understand how it is to design within a professional practice culture.
• Develop your presentation skills.
• Strengthen your CV and portfolio with 'real-world'  retail design challenges.
•  A 1-hour CV and Portfolio health-check consultation.
•  Enhance your recruit-ability and stand apart from the competition.

• Participants will play the role of Designer within a group.
• The group responds to a 'real-world' retail design challenge.
• Each group is made up of 3 to 5 participants with different backgrounds and reference points.
• Each participant will be required to adopt a specific role within their group taking on relevant  responsibilities. 
• Each group is hosted by an experienced Retail Design leader who will act as Coach and Creative Director throughout the project.
• Final presentations.

• Design students and recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in Retail Design are encouraged to apply. Applicants typically have backgrounds in Interior Architecture and Design, Interior Design, or Retail Design. 
• Graduate applicants are required to have achieved at least a 2:1 grade in their undergraduate degree, while current students should be able to demonstrate a similar academic standing. 

• £399 per participant.

• Next intake starts May 2026. Final dates to be confirmed.
• 12x weeks (from Start to Finish).
• 1x 3 hour online session per week.
• 1x day per week independent design work.
• 1x day, face-to-face, group store tour in London (if feasible).
• The project is part-time and has been designed to enable participants to live their best summer lives in and around The Summer Project.

• A Certificate, Trophy or Medal. This is about the design process, your learning and the resulting design project.
• The Summer Project is a celebration of creativity and original ideas. The expectation is that participants involved come to the project already with the necessary skills to communicate their ideas. Whether your strength is hand sketching, 3d modelling, technical drawing or something else, these skills are not taught as part of The Summer Project.