You may have seen the recent bubbly ad campaign in magazines with the alluring headline "Learn Graphic Design Fast." At first glance I wondered whether it was the equivalent of the traffic sign, "Slow Children Crossing." Maybe there should be a comma somewhere.
The ad for Shillington College in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, London, Manchester and now New York, has been causing some consternation in the blogosphere: Here are a few responses from a blog in the UK:
"This really pisses me off. This sort of thing damages our industry. This gives the impression that Graphic Design is nothing more than a set of rules, or a program to master, devoid of all meaning beyond eye candy. What this course won’t teach you, is how to think!"
"This sort of thing adds weight to the argument heard all the time from clients who just don’t see the value or artistry in design, very often we’re seen purely as people who know how to use a Mac…"
"For me the heading just says it all. “learn graphic design FAST”, this will probably lead to “design me a logo FAST”, “build me a website FAST”, “do me a poster FAST”…"
But here's what Shillington has to say:
"World class education needn't take forever. It should be well planned, continually adapted to the times and presented by passionate professionals. That's what happens at Shillington College and we have the records to prove it."
And here is word from an alumna:
"I have now finished the course in London, UK. You can take the course here or in Manchester, and they have just finished setting up a school in New York. Of course you can opt to study in Australia where Shillington has a great reputation, but the course content is the same and its the portfolio you end up with that will get you a job."
Look here for student work and be the judge:
"The success of Shillington College is the student's ability to complete briefs that are relevant to current industry standards."
The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Will this instant education ultimately value or devalue graphic design? Is this Just Add Water method a good way of cooking up new graphic designers? Or is adding talent the secret ingredient?
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15 years and counting, and I'm still learning graphic design.
Whatever you think of the course itself, this advertising approach is at best misleading and at worst, damaging.
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Isn't a "fast" degree just "punching the ticket?" I've never completed my degree,but I do have nearly 20 years experience. I'm no Paula Scher but I make a decent living. Though it might have been easier over the years with a degree that "validated" me to prospective employers, I do think most designers will agree that college / university does not truly prepare you for the actual job.
The most important lesson I learnt during my degree was to think, how to approach a problem and how to structure my attempts at a solution. Computer programs can be learnt on the fly, I believe that the ability to understand a project is much more important.
Judging by the sample student work, the Shillington School is providing the goods. The ad is misleading, in that they're offering 3 months of intensive full-time training, or year-long programs... not my idea of "fast" in today's instant gratification world. Most four-year colleges require design students to take way too many courses outside their study area (to make us "more well-rounded" or just to get additional tuition dollars?). A focused course through a trusted training facility looks like a great deal to me, and if the work reflects the students' talent and the teachers' passion and ability to transmit design basics, I'm all for it. Can critical thinking be taught in a short course? If the right professors are lading the training, and students are taught to work to a project brief, it would appear so. This is not dissimilar to many other portfolio-focused design programs.
There are too many things to mention that you learn in school from not only peers and professors but experiences and exploration. This is more than a 3-month immersion. It is sad to have more devaluation of graphic design.
I'm somewhat cynical about the field. In my experience there are a large number of 'graphic design' jobs where knowing some rules and the software is all that will ever be asked and required. It's what I've come to see as the basic thing in many small businesses and in house departments. I went to a 5 year art school myself. In the design program people would frequently pick up How or Print or any other leading design magazines and copy the current design trends for their projects. For a great number of working designers, critical thinking and creativity are the least important skills. These graduates are likely to do very well for themselves.
I don't feel our industry is really threatened by these types of programs; I myself teach Typography in the Continuing Education department at NYU, where they offer design 'certificates'. I teach my students critical thinking skills, history and anatomy, the same way I learned in my four-year BFA at a small art school. So these programs aren't necessarily devoid of critical thinking.
At the moment, the economy is such that most hiring studios and in-house departments are requiring 4-year degrees (plus experience!) anyway, because there are so many in that unemployed pool to choose from as it is. While I'll always advocate for art school, these programs certainly don't devalue my education or my work experience.
These are additional comments left on http://www.printmag.com/Article/Just-Add-Water-and-Talent
Design becomes what everyone was afraid of. Form without content ('essence' if you want). This is the new 'design loveboat' everybody embarks on. It is the New World Behance-ification. To design or not to design - the choice is yours alone. World will go on without you. If there is room for poverty and hunger in this 21'st century - there should be room for Fast Graphic Design. Oh and by the way... if anyone knows of a course on Fast Quantum Mechanics please holler back... Cheers from far far away PS: by the way - the 'pudding' is content-less
By OvidiuHrin August 05, 2010
(please note that my comments are directed at any Shillington College grads or students, but are in regards to the topi as a whole) This topic brings to mind Pat Methany's infamous opinion of Kenny G. The full text is available via a link at the bottom of my comment, but bare with me as I pull a key section to illustrate my thoughts on this: "I [Pat Methany] first heard him [Kenny G] a number of years ago playing as a sideman with Jeff Lorber when they opened a concert for my band. My impression was that he was someone who had spent a fair amount of time listening to the more pop oriented sax players of that time, like Grover Washington or David Sanborn, but was not really an advanced player, even in that style. He had major rhythmic problems and his harmonic and melodic vocabulary was extremely limited, mostly to pentatonic based and blues-lick derived patterns, and he basically exhibited only a rudimentary understanding of how to function as a professional soloist in an ensemble - Lorber was basically playing him off the bandstand in terms of actual music. But he did show a knack for connecting to the basest impulses of the large crowd by deploying his two or three most effective licks (holding long notes and playing fast runs - never mind that there were lots of harmonic clams in them) at the key moments to elicit a powerful crowd reaction (over and over again). The other main thing I noticed was that he also, as he does to this day, played horribly out of tune - consistently sharp." Kenny G's of the design world will ALWAYS be more popular than the Pat Methany's, because they cater to the lowest common denominator. We are artists, folks. If you got into the field for recognition or to illicit immediate respect and awe for being a designer, you were mis-guided. If you thought you'd be able to design without need for EXTENSIVE justification for nearly every choice you make, you were mis-guided. Take pride in making elevated work, and stop worrying about what others think of your profession. And ->please<- stop complaining about how difficult issues like this make justifying your work/cost to clients. If they don't grasp the ROI, move on.
By sam August 05, 2010
All formatting seems to be stripped from comments, rendering my post nearly unreadable. apologies.
By sam August 05, 2010
Hm. Some of the student work is ok. What I noticed, however, is that the graphic for the Byron Bay Food and Wine event (with the colored squiggly lines) is super close to the Ringling International Arts Festival graphic (http://ringlingartsfestival.org) which y'all should come to, by the way.
By paulamurray August 05, 2010
I will say that at least the student work is much better than what you see in most US Art Institutes, but I guess I don't really see a problem in "fast" graphic designers. There will always be a segment of the industry that works in graphic design as a technician role. It's not a good thing necessarily but it will always exist. The culinary industry has its burger flippers and fast order places, there will always be your discount retailers, architects that design homes for a cookie cutter suburb community, it just exists and even without places teaching "fast" graphic design there will be people employed in the segment of the industry for no other reason than it has demand.
Well, I Estudied Art, but that's... My degree doesnt make me a good artist by instant. The only thing is to learn how to use the tools in your hands to make it mean something beyond the materia.
So, if someone can have a degree is not our right to say "it's a good designer" just because went off for some school or something. That's ugly.
I think in the person first, not from where the person studied, when i see a picture or study.
There are some interesting comments on this blog, I thought I’d weigh in with a few of my own.
Although it’s difficult to judge work when it’s out of context, the standard on offer from Shillington College looks around the same standard of pretty much any degree show I’ve been to. If students are managing to achieve that in three months, I take my hat off to them.
University timetables schedule students to be in for around twenty hours per week, but actual contact time with a lecturer, or even group sessions, amounts to no more than about half of a single working day each week. So, do I believe my entire degree could have been condensed to less than a year? Of course. First year was an utter waste of time: none of the projects counted towards the end mark and most of the content was repeated in second year, which itself was stretched out to the point where we spent ten to twelve weeks per project. Third year could easily be condensed too: I managed to fit two jobs around the very few lectures we had and still finish with a 2:1. Not that marks really mean anything: I’ve seen students graduating with a 3rd demonstrate a higher level of understanding with more accomplished projects than some with a 1st.
Any graduate employed as anything other than a Subway sandwich artiste will tell you their degree was an absolute doddle compared to holding down a real job. Before someone levels me for being a slacker when it came to university: I worked hard (particularly in my final year), held several paid placements during various stages of the course, ran several electronic music events and produced some work which was used by a respected record label as part of my major project. What was on offer in terms of course content was mostly fine; there just wasn’t much of it. I don’t regret attending, but the course was lacking in key areas and left me feeling short-changed. I would definitely consider something like Shillington College if were I to study now.
My university degree essentially amounts to the most expensive library card I’ll ever own: input from lecturers was negligible and I consider almost all my learning to have taken place in my own time. With that in mind, do I think it’s possible for a dedicated individual to come away from three months at Shillington College with the same level of understanding and competency as a university graduate? Absolutely. The issue here is not how long the course is; it’s down to a person’s aptitude. Whatever you want, if you’re prepared to put the hours in you’ll find a way to succeed. A university education is not essential to becoming a successful graphic designer, and anyone who considers themselves at their peak after a degree is in for a shock when they start applying for jobs.
One criticism of the Shillington course is that you wont be a professional by the end: exactly the same is true of a degree. If Shillington can give their graduates a good foundation of learning to build upon and also get people into jobs, then surely this is something to celebrate?
‘Learn Graphic design fast’ I think is a response to the ‘Learn graphic design slow’ method which is currently taught at UK universities.
The course was set up by a disgruntled designer who found that he could not recruit designers who had the sufficient basic skills required in a modern studio.
Many on the course have actually finished graphic design degrees without the essential skills required to get a job in the industry. Whilst Shillington can claim to have students with jobs in agencies as reputable as Frost.
Shillington College does not claim that when you complete the course, whether over 3 months or a year part time, that you will be the finished article but does claim to give the basic framework to start a career and from there the skies the limit because in this game we never stop learning.
I have a BA & MA in Graphic design specialising in illustration and found the course focused and unpretentious.
I do think that a lot of designers think themselves rather special and talented and a course like this which demystifies their ‘talent’ is probably threatens their fragile ego's.
And Steven, Pat Methany sucks.
After 4 years at a University level degree, they taught me how to think creatively and problem solve which was great.
But what universities lack is skills based training. I had to learn all the technical stuff on the job. This is terrifying as a junior and time wasting for an employer. I have seen Shillington students folios and had a couple of ex shillington students as interns. they were really great. I think a course like shillington should be implemented to coincide with a university degree.
The last thing you want as an employer is to waste your time on the basics with a junior designer.