Website Content

The Graphic Design School website is copyrighted. All content—text, images, videos, templates, layouts—is owned by TGDS unless stated otherwise.

Course Materials

Materials used in our courses are subject to copyright protection under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), including:

• Module PDFs and written content
• Instructional videos and software tutorials
• Templates and design resources
• Images, audio, and multimedia
• Assessment briefs and rubrics
• Forum content and contributed materials

Third-Party Content

Some content on our site or in courses is created by third parties:

• Guest contributors and industry professionals
• Stock image providers
• Software companies (Adobe, Canva)
• External resources and references

Copyright for third-party materials rests with the original authors. We’ve made every effort to identify copyright holders and clear permissions for all materials used in our courses.

If you notice an omission: Please notify us at admin@thegraphicdesignschool.com. We’re grateful for any notification and will correct it immediately.

As a Student

If you’re enrolled in a TGDS course, you may:

• Access and view all course materials during your enrolment period (via The Schoolyard)
• Download and save materials for personal study use (on your own devices, for your own reference)
• Print one copy of any article or module for your reference
• Use templates and resources to complete assessments (that’s what they’re for)
• Create portfolio work based on course projects—your final designs are YOURS to use professionally

Fair Dealing (Australian Copyright Law)

Under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), you may use small portions of our content for:

• Research or study (personal use only, not for distribution)
• Criticism or review (with proper attribution)
• News reporting (with proper attribution)

Attribution required: You must credit “The Graphic Design School” and link to the source publication when using our content under fair dealing.

Sharing Course Materials

You may not distribute, share, or provide access to course materials to anyone else, including:

• Friends or family (even if they’re interested in design)
• Social media groups, forums, or communities
• File-sharing sites or cloud drives (Dropbox, Google Drive shared folders, etc.)
• Employers or colleagues
• Other students (even other TGDS students not enrolled in that specific course)

Why it’s prohibited: Course materials are licensed to you for your personal study only. Sharing them breaches your enrolment agreement, violates copyright law, and undermines our business.

Consequences: Warning, suspension, expulsion, and potential legal action for serious breaches.

Retaining Materials After Course Ends

Course materials are licensed to you for the duration of your enrolment only. When your course ends (expiry or withdrawal), you must:

• Delete downloaded materials from your devices (PDFs, videos, templates)
• Stop accessing content in The Schoolyard (your access will be automatically revoked)

Your portfolio work is exempt. Final designs you created as part of assessments are yours to keep forever and use professionally (in your portfolio, with clients, in job applications).

The rule: Course materials are ours. Your final designs are yours.

Reproduction & Modification

You may not:

• Save materials in a retrieval system for later distribution
• Display or transmit materials in any form or by any means without prior written permission (e.g., posting videos to YouTube, sharing PDFs on forums)
• Modify, adapt, or create derivative works from our content (e.g., translating modules, remixing videos)
• Use our branding, logos, or trademarks without permission

Linking to Our Website

You may not link any page of this website to another website without prior permission.

Why? We want to control how our content is presented and contextualized. Unauthorized links can misrepresent our courses or policies.

To apply for permission:

• Email: admin@thegraphicdesignschool.com
• Include: What page you want to link, where you’ll link from, and why
• Response time: Within 5 business days

Software & Brand Names

In our courses, we reference and teach:

• Adobe software: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, XD, Acrobat
• Other design tools and platforms: Canva, Figma, publishing platforms
• Brand names, logos, and trademarks for educational purposes (case studies, examples, tutorials)

We don’t endorse or affiliate with these brands. The use of trademarked and copyrighted names, logos, brands, service marks, images, software, software screenshots, text, and similar materials—even if not explicitly identified as such—is for educational and editorial purposes only.

These materials are the property of their respective owners. Their display in our courses does not suggest any link, relationship, endorsement, recommendation, or other association by or of their respective owners with The Graphic Design School.

In plain English: We teach Adobe software. We’re not Adobe. We show you Nike’s logo as an example of good design. Nike doesn’t endorse us.

If You Breach This Copyright Notice

We take copyright seriously. Here’s what happens:

First offense (minor breach):

• Warning issued
• Required to remove shared materials immediately
• Continued enrolment (if you comply)

Serious breach (e.g., distributing entire courses online, selling our materials):

• Immediate expulsion from course
• No refund of fees paid
• Legal action pursued for damages

What’s a “serious breach”?

• Uploading course materials to torrent sites, file-sharing platforms, or piracy sites
• Selling access to The Schoolyard or course materials
• Creating “course clones” using our content
• Widespread distribution (emailing modules to dozens of people)

Reporting Copyright Violations

If you become aware of someone sharing TGDS materials without permission (on forums, torrent sites, file-sharing platforms), please report it:

Email: admin@thegraphicdesignschool.com

We rely on our students to help protect our intellectual property. We appreciate your vigilance.

Your Assessment Work

Good news: The final designs you create as part of assessments are yours to use professionally.

You may:

• Include them in your portfolio (website, PDF, Behance, Dribbble)
• Share them with potential employers or clients
• Post them on social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Use them in job applications and interviews
• Sell them to clients (if created for real-world projects)

Attribution appreciated but not required: If you want to credit TGDS in your portfolio (“Designed as part of The Graphic Design School Certificate IV course”), we appreciate it—but it’s not mandatory. Your work, your choice.

Course Materials (Templates, Briefs, Tutorials)

You may not share or distribute:

• Assessment briefs (the project instructions we give you)
• Template files provided by TGDS (PSD, AI, INDD files we supply)
• Video tutorials or instructional content (software training, design theory videos)
• Module PDFs or written content (the teaching materials)

Your designs are yours. Our teaching materials are ours. Simple as that.

Example:

• ✅ YES: Post your final logo design to Instagram with caption “Branding project for my portfolio”
• ✅ YES: Include your layout designs in a job application
• ❌ NO: Share the assessment brief PDF that explained the project requirements
• ❌ NO: Upload our InDesign template files to Behance

Need Permission to Use Our Content?

If you want to:

• Reproduce our materials for a presentation, publication, or educational use
• Link to our website from your site (blog, portfolio, business)
• Use our images or content in your work (beyond portfolio use)
• Feature our course in a review or article

Email us: admin@thegraphicdesignschool.com

Include in your request:

• What you want to use (specific page, image, content)
• Where and how you plan to use it (website, presentation, article, etc.)
• Whether it’s for commercial or non-commercial purposes
• Your relationship to TGDS (student, graduate, journalist, educator, etc.)

We’ll review your request within 5 business days and let you know if we can grant permission (and any conditions).

Most requests for non-commercial educational use are approved. Just ask first.