VelossaLabs · Programme

The Craft Fellowship

Six months inside an AI-native studio, for designers starting from zero who actually want to learn the craft. No stipend, no shortcuts, no watered-down version of this. Real industry-level training, and it costs you nothing.

6Months

1–4Fellows per cohort

2×Per year

£0Cost to you

What it is

The kind of industry training you just don't get in a classroom.

Most design courses teach you how to make things look right. We're more interested in how you think about them, with the same rigour we'd bring to an actual client project.

Over six months, you sit inside a real studio. You work next to senior designers and engineers, and pick up product craft from people who actually practise it every day, not people who just teach it.

It costs nothing. The standard doesn't drop because of that. We only take 1–4 fellows per cohort, twice a year, so whoever gets in actually gets looked after.

Who it's for

College students or career switchers ready to start design from zero. No degree needed, no portfolio either
Anyone who already notices design even when nobody's paying them to care
People who can reason about how a product should work, not just how it looks
Beginners with a sharp eye but nothing to show yet. Honestly, that's exactly who we want

What it is not

A replacement for a job. This is education, plain and simple
A portfolio bootcamp, or some agency "try before you hire" trick
For people who just want to watch from the sidelines
Open to everyone who applies. We keep the selection narrow on purpose

24-Week Programme

What you'll learn

Phase I: Seeing & Making

Months 1–2

Can you tell good design from bad, and actually make either one?

Phase II: Solving & Shipping

Months 3–4

Can you solve a real problem and ship the answer?

Phase III: Leading & Showing

Months 5–6

Can you lead your own work and put it in the world?

The curriculum might shift a bit between cohorts depending on what live projects are running. The structure stays the same. So does the standard.

Application

How to apply

Next cohortOctober 2026

A one-page note about you

Three short answers, plain writing, no bullets: why design, why now, what you actually make outside work or college, and one piece of design out there you have an opinion on.

Three things you've made

Any medium, any platform works: a Behance link, a Drive folder, a sketchbook photo, a GitHub repo. Got nothing to show yet? Three things you wish you'd made is just as good, just tell us what you'd have done differently.

A logic + creativity task

Map out every screen that should follow a login screen. Every outcome you can think of: success, failure, forgot password, two factor, locked account. Then sketch one of those screens, any tool, any fidelity works.

One line, weighted most

If we take you in, what's the one thing you want to be different about yourself in six months? Read last. Counted first.

Applications openMarch & September

Review period14 days

ConversationsRolling, 1 week

DecisionWithin 3 days

Fellowship beginsApril & October

Apply for October 2026

Someone here actually reads your application. Expect to hear back within fourteen days.

Questions before you apply? Write to fellowship@velossalabs.com.

Common questions

The kind of industry training you just don't get in a classroom.

Most design courses teach you how to make things look right. We're more interested in how you think about them, with the same rigour we'd bring to an actual client project.

Over six months, you sit inside a real studio. You work next to senior designers and engineers, and pick up product craft from people who actually practise it every day, not people who just teach it.

It costs nothing. The standard doesn't drop because of that. We only take 1–4 fellows per cohort, twice a year, so whoever gets in actually gets looked after.