Course: Design Primer with Jules Hudson
Boat Building Academy
Lyme Regis
Course dates:
1-5 September 2025
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
‘Professional’ design is often seen as the preserve of the gifted few, but in truth we all have within us the ability to create, to innovate, and to judge good design from bad.
In what we describe as a ‘design primer’, this new course is all about liberating and revealing the designer that exists within all of us. Over five fun filled days, it aims to harness and develop a range of design skills through a series of practical and theory-based exercises.
The course is hosted and led by Jules Hudson. Known to many as the face of the BBC’s rural property series Escape to the Country, Jules is himself a graduate of the Boat Building Academy. A keen maker, home and garden designer all his life, he recently completed the Academy’s Furniture making course and now returns to share his own infectious passion for design with you.
The course aims to develop a basic understanding of the principles of design through an engaging series of projects that will deliver a better understanding of the many factors that can combine to influence and determine what makes a good design solution and what doesn’t. We’ll tackle a local interior design project, develop the generation of ideas on paper and through the creation of basic models, we’ll meet the challenge of an immersive structural conundrum, and finish off with creating a refreshingly simple but creatively complex piece of furniture that you’ll take home at the end of the course.
The course is not aimed at a professional qualification – there is no pass and no fail. It is absolutely about encouraging anyone with an interest in design to liberate their own unique sense of style and taste within a supportive, inspiring and creative environment. Above all, it’s a practical conversation between tutors and students that should be fun, and which aims to prime the hidden designer that exists in all of us to reveal themselves and leave with greater awareness and confidence in their own design ability.
No previous experience is necessary, and all materials and practical support is provided. All you need bring is your enthusiasm and sense of humour. Students will be expected to work both individually and with other course members in a series of changing collaborative exercises, and to contribute fully to the conversation.
Lets talk design, and see what we come up with!
Zone South West