Saturday mornings,
real critique,
real growth.
Six to eight weeks.
One full day per week.
A small group that will
permanently raise your standard.
This isn't a course you attend. It's a practice you build — in a space designed to push your thinking and hold your work to a higher standard.
What it is
6–8 Saturdays
One full day per week. No distractions, no half-days, no multitasking. You come to work, and you work. The format respects your time by using all of it.
A focused cohort
Between 19 and 25 participants per edition. Enough diversity to make critique interesting, focused enough that every piece of work gets seen, every voice gets heard, and every critique lands with specificity — not vague generalities.
A real practitioner
Not an academic. Not a theorist. A designer who has made real things, shipped them, and knows what it costs to get something right — and what it means when you don't.
How each Saturday works
Every session follows the same arc: review what you made, make more, then hold it up to the light together.
Review and brief
The session opens with a review of the previous week's work. Where did it land? What changed? What's still unresolved? Then the new brief is introduced — with context, constraints, and a clear human need at its centre.
Studio work
You design. Sketch, build, test, iterate. The practitioner is in the room — not lecturing, but available. You can ask for a second opinion, push back on a direction, or work through a constraint out loud. This is not independent study. It's supervised practice.
Critique
Each participant presents their work. The group responds. The practitioner responds. The standard applied is always the same: does this serve the person who will use it? Not "is it nice?" Not "is it on trend?" Does it work for a human being?
What you leave with
A clear brief for the following week. Honest notes on what your work achieved and what it didn't. A sharper question to carry forward. Over time, this rhythm builds a real critical faculty — one that doesn't switch off when you leave the room.
What you'll develop
By the final session, you'll have more than work to show. You'll have a different way of seeing.
The ability to look at any design — your own or someone else's — and know, honestly, whether it serves the person or doesn't.
The language to articulate what's working and what isn't — in critique, in collaboration, and in your own thinking process.
Once you've been held to a real standard, you can't un-see it. The bar stays raised. The questions don't go away.
Six to eight projects worked through with rigour and critique — the kind of portfolio that shows how you think, not just what you can produce.
A small group of designers who went through the same experience. That shared standard creates a lasting connection.
A final evaluation that tells you exactly where your work stands — and what it would take to go further.
This is for you if...
You're ready to be honest about what your work is actually doing.
You want critique that makes you better — not critique that makes you feel good.
You believe design is a responsibility to the people who will live with what you make.
Questions
Apply for the next edition.
Applications take 10–15 minutes.
A short statement, your background,
and a link to your portfolio.