A COURSE which encourages its students to work on real live design projects while studying is setting its sights on attracting more applications.
Forth Valley College’s HND Visual Communication has built up a reputation for producing high-quality students who can create work of the highest standards, to create concepts which can be used to promote everything from encouraging the public to cycle more to the latest theatre production.
Just last month, three of the course’s students had their designs selected by the Stirling Cycle Hub to promote cycling and they are now prominently displayed at Stirling, Larbert and Alloa train stations.
Tracey Sands (29) from Grangemouth, whose poster design now adorns Stirling Train Station, said: “I have really enjoyed the course and I have gained so much technical knowledge to allow me to move on and feel confident about working in a graphic design environment.
“The range of projects and briefs allowed me to experience the wide variety of areas that visual communication covers and it has really opened my eyes to the career choices that are now available.
“Working on live briefs has been a fantastic opportunity for myself and my class mates as it gave us the chance to work with real people and it really inspired me to produce the best work I could.
“Winning the Stirling Cycle Hub competition was a great experience and it is very rewarding to see my work on display in a public place.
“It was also a valuable opportunity to gain experience in meeting with real clients, explaining my design ideas to them and receiving their feedback.
“Overall, I feel this course has been extremely beneficial to me and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in working in the field of Visual Communication.”
Dale Evans (21),from Falkirk, who produced another of the posters to promote cycling, said: “This project was a good experience of working on a live project for a real client and the subject of cycling brought many ideas to mind for the poster which made working on the project a more enjoyable experience.
“I would recommend the course to anyone who has an interest in graphic design, animation or photography because these are all covered.”
Earlier on in the year, another student from the class had his poster design selected by the Alloa Musical Players to promote their production of the Pirates of Penzanze.
Conor Ross (22) from Dollar, who produced a poster for the Alloa Musical Players, said: “It was a really useful experience to work for a real life client, using the skills that we have developed over the last two years, to produce something that will be seen in public.”
Stephanie Toms a curriculum manager in the Creative Industries Department at Forth Valley College, said: “This is an excellent course and one that thrives on allowing its students to send in submissions for live projects.
“This really gives the students an idea of what it will be like when they enter the workplace and helps them to work to specific briefs, formats and deadlines.
“It really seems to benefit the students enormously and they enjoy pitching their ideas and, if they are successful, seeing their work used in public to promote something worthwhile.
“We are currently looking for more applications to this excellent course and want to hear from budding designers and creative minded people to have a look at this course as the next step on their career path.
“One thing is for sure they can expect to have a portfolio full of live project work by the time they finish their time with us!”
For more information on the HND in Visual Communication please visit the website www.forthvalley.ac.uk
Photograph by Brian Smith.
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Contact: Laura Riley
Phone: 01324403121
Email: media@forthvalley.ac.uk
Website: http://www.forthvalley.ac.uk
