Weekly Design Challenges: Build a Strong Portfolio Through Structured Briefs
A course by Mars Kerr , Graphic Designer
Joined November 2025
Graphic design challenges for branding, packaging, poster layout, and menu design to build a strong portfolio fast
Weekly Design Challenges: Build a Strong Portfolio Through Structured Briefs is a deep dive course for designers who want consistent, practical projects instead of passive tutorials. Guided by Mars Creates, you work through four real-world graphic design briefs that help you build a polished, diverse portfolio while sharpening your workflow.
Each week focuses on a different project type and set of skills. You design a minimalist branding sheet for Nova Brew, complete with logo, color palette, typography and mockups. You create bold packaging design for a hydration drink, learning layout, hierarchy and dieline fundamentals. You build a modern, typographic event poster using grids, Swiss-inspired composition and strong hierarchy. Finally, you design a clean restaurant menu that trains your eye for typography, spacing and legibility.
Throughout the course, you practice interpreting design briefs, defining audience and tone, and making fast, confident visual decisions. You can follow Mars step by step or push each brief in your own direction, experimenting with style, color and layout. The tools are flexible: you can design in Affinity, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign or similar software, and you will see how to turn each piece into realistic mockups using Kittl and other resources.
By the end, you will have four finished pieces ready for your portfolio that showcase branding, packaging, poster design and editorial layout. More importantly, you will have a repeatable process for tackling design briefs, from concept to presentation, that you can apply to client projects, agency work or personal case studies.
What will you learn in this online course?
5 lessons & 6 downloads
- 29 students
- 5 lessons (1h 6m)
- 6 additional resources (5 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, German, Spanish (Latam), French, Indonesian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Adobe XD
Figma
SketchWho is this online course for?
Aspiring or early-career designers seeking steady portfolio growth through weekly, real-world briefs, including graphic, UI/UX, product, and multidisciplinary creatives who enjoy learning by doing and want structure for consistent practice.
Requirements and materials
No extensive experience required; you only need basic familiarity with any graphic design software, a general grasp of visual fundamentals, and access to a computer with internet, plus enough time weekly to complete short, focused challenges.
Mars Kerr
A course by Mars Kerr
Mars Kerr is a multidisciplinary creative entrepreneur specializing in digital content creation, online education, and scalable creative businesses. With a strong background in personal branding and audience-driven growth, Mars helps creators transform their skills into sustainable digital products and services.
Through a practical, systems-focused approach, Mars teaches how to structure offers, communicate value clearly, and build efficient creative workflows that support long-term growth. Their work combines strategy, creativity, and execution, empowering creatives to turn ideas into viable, well-positioned online projects.
Content
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Weekly Design Challenges: Build a Strong Portfolio Through Structured Briefs
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Course Overview and How Weekly Briefs Will Build Your Portfolio
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Week 1: Design the identity of Nova Brew in a quick branding challenge
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Week 2: Design a bold packaging for the Glo Up hydration drink
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Week 3: Design a modern event poster with strong typographic hierarchy
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Week 4: Design and present your Garden and Grill menu
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Final project
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
What are Domestika's online courses?
Domestika courses are online classes that allow you to learn new skills and create incredible projects. All our courses include the opportunity to share your work with other students and/or teachers, creating an active learning community. We offer different formats:
Original Courses: Complete classes that combine videos, texts, and educational materials to complete a specific project from start to finish.
Basics Courses: Specialized training where you master specific software tools step by step.
Specialization Courses: Learning paths with various expert teachers on the same topic, perfect for becoming a specialist by learning from different approaches.
Guided Courses: Practical experiences ideal for directly acquiring specific skills.
Intensive Courses (Deep Dives): New creative processes based on artificial intelligence tools in an accessible format for in-depth and dynamic understanding.
When do the deep dive courses start and when do they finish?
All deep dive courses are 100% online, so once they're published, deep dive courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
What do Domestika's deep dive courses include?
The deep dive courses are divided into different modules. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with other students, as well as share your work and your final project, creating a community around the deep dive courses.
Have you been given a deep dive courses?
You can redeem the deep dive courses you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
Adobe XD
Figma
Sketch