Whether you are looking to begin your design studies, are thinking of a career change or need help with your current course work, Leading Hand Learning can help you through.

At Leading Hand, we usually hire graduate-level employees. Not only is this great for the culture of our design team but has made us highly skilled in training staff and helping them with decisions about their career and development of specialised skill sets they may be interested in or areas in which they have shown particular aptitude. Years of training our staff and teaching at TAFE and private institutions, has made our Creative Director, Jamie Carroll, an industry-relevant, and highly-regarded teacher.

Jamie Carroll

Jamie Carroll
Teacher, Tutor and Trainer

Jamie is the Founder and Creative Director of Leading Hand Design. Not only does he have decades of experience as a marketer, designer and studio head, Jamie is a qualified and experienced teacher who has helped hundreds of students successfully through their chosen studies and trained numerous members of the Leading Hand Design team from graduate level to polished, industry-savvy senior designers.

In recent years, he has taught entry, mid and advanced levels of graphic design at TAFE NSW Sydney Design Centre, assisting students in their early stages of study right up to finishing off portfolios in readiness for the graphic design industry.

LinkedIn Profile or jamie@leadinghand.com.au

Services

SERVICES

  • Course tutoring
  • Portfolio development
  • Education pathways
  • Professional mentoring
  • Freelance guidance
  • Career counselling
  • Software upskilling
  • Planning and process support
  • Group lessons
  • Corporate branding application
  • Industry standard training
  • In-house design consulting

Services

EXPERIENCE

  • 3 years teaching experience at TAFE NSW Design Centre Enmore and Shillington College
  • 20 years as Founder and Creative Director at Leading Hand Design
  • More than 5 years in client-side roles in marketing at major arts organisations
  • Advertising agency experience in both creative and account management roles
  • Training and mentoring of more than 15 staff from graduate level to senior designer

Case Studies

Thomas
Thomas

Thomas Carr

Enmore TAFE Student

Jamie taught Thomas in various subjects during both his Diploma and Advanced Diploma years at Enmore TAFE.

In his last year of study, Thomas and fellow student Derbáil Kinsella won the Re:Act for Change design competition based around driver fatigue. Jamie’s input into their submission helped take a great concept to a winning presentation.  Thomas is now working full time for Ooh! Media, sponsors of the Re:Act program. A fantastic outcome for this talented young designer!

“Jamie’s knowledge of the industry was a key influence on my studies. He also helped me recognise the important elements of design and how to sharpen them up to make me job-ready.”

Luke Cleland

Leading Hand Designer

I first met Jamie when he was my teacher at Shillington College in 2017. His guidance and experience during my studies really elevated my portfolio and made me believe I could make a career out of graphic design. As it turned out, my career would start with Jamie as my Creative Director at Leading Hand Design, where I have been for nearly six years now.

I can’t describe how helpful Jamie has been and how his mentorship and trust in my ability has given me confidence in my work that helps me every day. The way Jamie imparts his extensive knowledge and skill in design is friendly, impactful and really makes you believe you can be a great designer who can cut it in what is a highly competitive industry.

Isaac
Isaac

Isaac Liu

Professional NRL Player

In 2020, Jamie was approached by Dr Narelle Hess from the Sydney Roosters NRL club to assist one of their players, Isaac Liu, in his studies in Graphic Design at Enmore TAFE.

This appointment was a part of the wonderful CareerWise initiative, a partnership between the National Rugby League (NRL) & the Australian Government’s National Careers Institute to deliver the NRL Vocational Education & Training (VET) Pathways program.

The NRL Wellbeing and Education team has a vision of building better people through their involvement in rugby league and the NRL CareerWise program is key program in achieving this vision.

Because of Jamie’s intimate knowledge of the courses at Enmore both as a student and teacher, Isaac received focussed and relevant tuition to enhance his course work.

Kristen
Kristen

Kirsten Smith

Teaching Colleague

Jamie has a great aptitude for teaching and communicating his extensive industry experience and knowledge.

During his time as a teacher at Enmore Centre Enmore he was a valued member of staff, and well known for his supportive and generous approach to the student cohort.

Teagan
Teagan

Teagan Bortolotti

Online TAFE Student

“Jamie is without a doubt my favourite design teacher I’ve ever had. Even though I’ve only ever met him via video calls (thanks, Covid), that didn’t stop him from being able to deliver lessons that were incredibly useful and engaging.

At every opportunity Jamie would give us new information on designers or design movements to look at so that we were continuously learning, while also encouraging us to try new things. He knows a lot about contemporary design and design history so there was a lot of context, knowledge and experience behind his feedback.

He always gave great feedback, and with kindness, which meant as a student I was never afraid to try new things because I knew that my teacher understood it was part of the process. His classes always had a great energy, and everyone was excited to be there.

Mostly, he cares about his work, and cares about his students. Beyond just what you create, it feels like he genuinely wants to see you do well and thrive.”

Olivia
Olivia

Olivia Scullard

Corporate Group Trainee

Olivia is the Head of Marketing for the Australian British Chamber of Commerce. To elevate the standards of her in-house team’s collateral, Olivia reached out to Jamie to provide practical, pragmatic training using real projects and the Chamber’s brand guidelines.

The results continue to benefit Olivia and her colleagues: “Your training has helped our marketing and events team with an overall uplift of our social tiles, programmes and general marketing materials! Your teaching really helped here in terms of knowing how to use the layers to my advantage, getting confident with other fonts, keeping it simple and consistent, using InDesign effectively.

Vanessa
Vanessa

Isabella Clark

Secondary Student

Isaballa’s parents approached Leading Hand Learning to help their daughter Isaballa transition through her last year of secondary studies to university via a Design Fundamentals course at Enmore TAFE. What was to be an introduction to her tertiary studies became confusing and difficult for a young student.

“Jamie helped me during a very stressful time in the last stages of my HSC year with a TAFE course that I found quite overwhelming. His understanding of higher learning and his ability to work with me patiently and supportively meant I was able to finish the course and move on to start my degree at RMIT. I would have found it very difficult to do on my own and am very grateful for Jamie’s assistance.”

Priscilla
Priscilla

Priscilla Larios

International Student

I am very satisfied and excited to have completed my Design sessions with Jamie! A professional with more than 30 years of experience in the Design Industry in Australia.

With these mentorship sessions I’ve fulfilled my doubts and concerns about my graphic design skills and my portfolio, gained a deeper understanding of the different Adobe tools to make my work richer, enhanced colour and printing skills and upgraded on the timelines to develop social media content.

As I move forward in my design journey, I will apply the knowledge and inspiration Jamie provided to me. I am excited about the future, and look forward to applying everything I’ve learned from him in my future designs!

Thanks heaps again for the amazing mentorship Jamie

Pricing

Handshake
Handshake

Hello

1 x 1 Hour Session

Fist Bump

$150

inc GST

An introduction / direction session during which your goals can be ascertained and your next steps determined.

Whether you are thinking about studying design, are already enrolled in a course or have basic skills you would like to enhance, this session can be used to gauge your level of ability to identify what a personalised course might look like or to cover specific areas of learning that you feel are lacking in your skillset.

Alternatively, you can spend your session finding out what happens in a working design studio. We have a team of designers who can field any questions you might have about working in the design industry and what to expect if you become a graphic designer.

Hands On
Hands On

Hands On

3 x 1 Hour Sessions

Fist Bump

$400

inc GST

Your chance to learn the basics of design with a combination of  practical exercises with worksheets and files to take with you to practice on and refer to.

The three-session package can be tailored to your specific needs and focus on particular software in the industry-standard Adobe Design Suite or be a general introduction to design using Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.

This is ideal for new design students who require additional tuition to regular classwork or professionals who want to upskill to enhance their input at incumbent or new positions.

Over three sessions, there is ample time to sharpen up skills, understand design fundamentals and pave the way for more targetted learning.

High Five
High Five

High Five

5 x 1 Hour Sessions

Fist Bump

$600

inc GST

This package can be taken as five individual 60 minute sessions for students or a set of classes for marketing teams, publicity executives and other professionals wishing to hone their design and software skills.

There is no timeframe around when the classes can be taken but, should you require a quick turnaround, the sessions could be compressed into consecutive daily lessons.

Feel free to get in touch to discuss what, how, whe and where your classes can be held or brief us on your needs and we can structure the package for you.

Fist Bump
Fist Bump

Hell Yeah

10 x 1 Hour Sessions

Fist Bump

$1000

inc GST

Gain advanced skills in a particular area or an enhanced general knowledge of design fundamentals and how to execute them successfully.

Held online or in-studio, the 10 pack will take you from novice to insider or fine tune your skills for a new job, promotion or personal project you wish to pursue.

Our industry experience, technical knowledge and insight into what makes great design can help people at all levels. With a personalised course plan or a wholistic skills and theory framework, you are guaranteed to walk away with a deeper understanding of graphic design and a more solid skillset in the relevant software.

Lets Chat