Skillnaija All courses →

Your Style Sheet, Three Designs and a Critique

The capstone project for Design Fundamentals: Colour, Type, Shape & Layout — a free Design course. Pass it and you earn a certificate anyone can verify.

Start the course free Download the project workbook

The project unlocks once you complete the lessons. The workbook is free to download now so you can see exactly what is expected.

What you will submit

One shared link (Google Drive folder, PDF, Notion, Figma or Canva view link set to 'anyone with the link') containing the style sheet, the three designs (flyer, phone screen with annotated grid copy, social post), the written rationale, and the critique with its image.

What to do, step by step

  1. Style sheet (one page): choose a real or invented Nigerian brand, business or event. Define a palette of one primary, one secondary, one accent and two neutrals with hex codes, and state the text-on-background contrast ratio for at least three combinations you will use (they must meet 4.5:1 for body text). Define a type pairing (heading and body font, both free), a size scale of at least five steps with line heights, and your spacing unit. State two shape or line rules (for example corner radius, line weight, icon style).
  2. Design one: a print flyer (A5 or A4) for the brand — built entirely from the style sheet, with 3 mm bleed noted, in CMYK-safe colours, exported as PDF or PNG at 300 dpi. Any tool: Canva, Figma, Affinity, Photoshop, Inkscape, even careful paper and a phone photo.
  3. Design two: a phone screen (a home, product or checkout screen at 390 × 844 or similar) for the same brand, built from the style sheet, with a clear hierarchy, touch targets of at least 44 px, and a 4-column or 8-pt grid visible in a second annotated copy.
  4. Design three: a social post (1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080) for the brand, with safe zones respected, one focal point, and the rule-of-thirds or a centred composition used deliberately.
  5. Rationale (400-700 words): for each design, name at least three principles from the course you applied (for example complementary colour, type scale, proximity, figure-ground, whitespace, rule of thirds) and one thing you rejected and why. Show one before-and-after correction you made using the squint test or contrast check.
  6. Critique: pick one real Nigerian design you did not make — a market poster, a bank app screen, a church flyer, a brand's Instagram post — photograph or screenshot it, and write a two-minute critique using the course's method: what works, what does not, why (naming the principle), and the one change that would fix most of it. Put everything in one shared document or a single PDF and submit the link.

Files to work with

Project workbook (fill in, then submit)The whole brief, an evidence checklist, the grading rubric as a self-check and the link-sharing steps in one file. Opens in Word, Google Docs or WPS.Word · 7 KB

How it is graded

CriterionWeight
The style sheet is complete and usable by a stranger: five-colour palette with hex codes and at least three stated contrast ratios meeting 4.5:1 for body text, a free type pairing with a five-step scale and line heights, a spacing unit, and two shape or line rules20%
The three designs visibly obey the style sheet and are technically correct: flyer with bleed and print-safe colour, phone screen with clear hierarchy, 44 px touch targets and a visible grid, social post with safe zones and one deliberate focal point30%
Colour, type and layout decisions are sound on inspection: palette harmony, readable type sizes and line lengths, consistent alignment and spacing, whitespace used deliberately, no more than two typefaces20%
The rationale names specific principles correctly for each design, includes a genuine rejected option, and shows one real before-and-after correction15%
The critique of a real Nigerian design is fair, names the governing principle for each judgment, and proposes the single highest-impact fix15%

You need 65% overall to pass. A failed submission comes back with feedback and can be revised and resubmitted.

Before you submit: make your link public

If your work lives in Google Drive or Google Docs, open Share → General access and change “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link” (Viewer). Then paste the link into a private browser window: if it opens without sign-in, you are ready. A private link cannot be graded — it is the single most common reason a good project fails.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to finish Design Fundamentals: Colour, Type, Shape & Layout before submitting the project?

Yes. The submission screen opens once every lesson in Design Fundamentals: Colour, Type, Shape & Layout is marked complete. The lessons are where the methods, the Nigerian context and the worked examples the project depends on are taught.

How is the project graded?

An examiner scores each rubric criterion from 0 to 100 and weights them as shown on this page; you need 65% overall to pass. Most submissions are graded within minutes and you get written feedback on what was strong and what to improve.

Can I resubmit if I fail?

Yes. A failed project comes back with feedback; revise the weak parts and resubmit. A passed project is final — the certificate is issued and cannot be re-rolled.

What do I actually submit?

A write-up of what you did (under 5,000 characters) plus a public link to your work — a Google Drive folder, Google Doc, spreadsheet, GitHub repository or video. The link must open without sign-in; a private link cannot be graded. The free project workbook on this page walks you through all 6 steps.

Is the certificate real?

Yes. Passing this project issues a certificate with a unique verification code. Anyone — an employer, a client, a school — can open the verification page and see that the certificate is genuine and which project earned it.

More Design projects

Ready to earn this certificate?

Design Fundamentals: Colour, Type, Shape & Layout is free and self-paced. Finish the lessons, complete this project, and the certificate is yours to share.

Start learning free