Students benefit from creation of Design Collective

Students benefit from creation of Design Collective
Design Collective

HND Graphic Design students – based at the Stirling Campus - are reaping the rewards of working on live briefs for real clients whilst studying at Forth Valley College.

The first and second year HND Graphic Design students – guided by lecturers Hannah Keba and Kirsteen Wright – recently formed the Design Collective to work on real projects pitched to them from organisations in the local community.

Recent clients have included the Community Schools 2008 Charity who needed a new logo designed, Alloa FC who needed poster design for billboards, a publication for the GOSSIP collective and also marketing materials for the College events spaces.

A group of second year students involved in the Design Collective – pictured here from left to right – Owen McArdle (19) from Tillicoultry, Joanne Griffin (33) from Alloa, Cat Kerr (31) from Falkirk, Aran Sampson (26) from Callander, and Shannah Dickson (21) from Airdrie – were happy to show off some of their recent work.

Owen McArdle (19) a second year HND Graphic Design student, from Tillcoultry, said: “I think it has been important for us to work on live projects through the Design Collective. The experience of working on live briefs gives us an ideal insight into what it will be like in the workplace, dealing with actual clients. It is slightly different to working on class projects as we need to liaise with the client closely and work to quicker turnarounds and deadlines.

“We have produced designs for business cards and book covers and used techniques such as printmaking and heat press as well as taking photographs. I feel we as students have come on leaps and bound because of this. I really would recommend this course. I applied for university before College and didn’t get in, now as I am about to complete my HND at Forth Valley College I have three offers from universities to complete my degree!”

Cat Kerr (31) also in her second year of the HND course from Falkirk, said: “The best bit for me has been the group element, where we assign ourselves different tasks and collaborate to see the project through to completion. Someone might be given the role of Project Manager and everyone will have a role to play. This gives everyone the experience of working on a live job with all the back and forth with clients, the time delays and the unexpected issues that arise… just like the real workplace.

“I would thoroughly recommend the course and the College. The lecturers are great and I would definitely say that I am now, near the end of my course, in a better position to get a job than I was before I started.”

Hannah Keba, FVC Creative Industries Lecturer, said: “The Design Collective has been a pilot project designed to give our HND Graphic Design students the opportunity to put their skills into action, where students have been able to opt-in and have selected the design jobs they wished to take on.

“We are immensely proud of all the participants who have been enthusiastic contributors. Many have been able to explore different ways of generating income from their work, and all have interacted with clients and created professional projects to be proud of. We plan to develop and grow the Design Collective into a self-sustaining business, and we are currently applying for funding to support this.”

Link to applying for HND Graphic Design https://www.forthvalley.ac.uk/courses/creative-industries-and-media/hnd-graphic-design-visual-communication

For more information about this project please contact hannah.keba@forthvalley.ac.uk or kirsteen.wright@forthvalley.ac.uk.