Accepting Applications for
Fall ’2026

‍

The graphic design school and the photography & film media school still have a few spots left for fall '26. We're accepting applications on a rolling basis for our two-year graphic design program and our two-year visual media program.  Questions? design.central@seattlecolleges.edu

Come tour the school and join us for an Open House.

Open House Schedule:
Fall Quarter: November 4th, 5:30 – 7:00 pm
Winter Quarter: January 20th, 5:30 – 7:00 pm
Spring Quarter: April 14th, 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Who We Are
Located in Washington State, The Seattle Central Creative Academy houses two strong programs within Seattle Central College. The first program is Graphic Design which focuses on visual design, print design, packaging, environmental design, motion graphics, web design, app design and interactive screen based media. The second program is Film/Video which focuses on photography, motion, film and video. Our programs are 6 quarters (2 years) and at the end of the program you will graduate with a graphic design degree (Associate of Applied Science Degree in Design) or a visual media degree (Associate of Applied Science in photography / film) depending on which program you choose.

‍The Seattle Central Creative Academy, or SCCA, is a state-of-the-art facility unparalleled in Northwest higher education. We are constantly working to be technologically and academically current. As creative communication professionals, we work in a collaborative learning environment and strive to foster networks within our Academy and with the community at large.

Courses Offered

We pride ourselves in keeping our curriculum current with changes and developments on
an annual basis. Here are some of the courses that we are currently teaching.

We also offer short courses in Screen Printing (Silkscreen), Letterpress, Typeface Design, Experimental Type, Portfolio Building, Laser Cutting, and Color Theory through our continuing education programs.

Visual Meda Courses
Graphic Design Courses

UI/UX/AI

Packaging Design

Motion Graphics

Color Theory

Video Editing

Webflow

Branding

Poster Design

Environmental Design

Print Design

Lighting Techniques

Typography

Conceptual Problem
Solving

and more...

Where Our Grads Work

Class Highlights

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Alumni Profile

Martin Brendecke

I’m Martin, and I’m a type designer. Right now, I’m getting a master’s degree at a small art school in France doing type design. I’m really enjoying the school I’m at. I like my work, I like my teachers, I like my colleagues, I like living in France. So I decided to stay for another year. But I’ll be back in the U.S next year.

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Alumni Profile

Tom Van Deusen

I wrote a lot of comic books. I was very involved with the Seattle comic scene. And I think that also was something, and I know a lot of cartoonists that went through the program and that really parlayed well with learning even UX like storyboarding and that type of thing, but also it's really useful to be able to visually display something. And so using those skills, using something I knew how to do.

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Alumni Profile

Megan Bailey

Megan is a 2007 Creative Academy graduate who runs her own graphic design business with her sister in Bellingham, Washington

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Testimonials

The hard work, collaboration, and hours in the Seattle Central Creative Academy equipped me with years of focus and practice as a designer to not only create quality, visual solutions to problems, but to create those solutions collaboratively, welcome critical feedback from my peers and faculty, synthesize that criticism into a better product, and present a coherent solution.
‍Ian Kirschner, Designer at Microsoft

SCCA provides students with a skillset to hit the ground running in a fast-paced, competitive industry. You will leave the program well-versed in all things design, from packaging and print production to web design and animation. If you're willing to work hard and absorb all SCCA has to offer, you'll leave the program as a qualified candidate for any job in the creative industry.
Andy Boice, Art Director/Owner Unsung Studio

This program is incredible. None of that would have happened without the experience and support of the instructors, who diligently keep their fingers on the pulse of a constantly shifting industry, and the camaraderie of my program peers, who have remained some of my closest friends. I even built my own VR experience. I got up early, stayed up late, and ate more burritos than I’m proud of.
Xio Lugo, Art Director at Resource Media

It was like that scene from The Matrix, but instead of Kung-Fu, it was how to use InDesign. There’s nothing like having a full-time job to learn as much creative stuff as you possibly can. It was a really incredible moment in my life that I wish I could do 3 more times.
Todd Durboraw, Designer at Brooks Running

Attending SCCA was the best spent money of my life. It gave me a better education, and more job prospects than my time at a 4-year  liberal arts college. I’m happy to report that I started a new job working on the Digital Product Design team at Nike!
Hilary Painter, Digital Product Designer at NIKE